Can osmanthus coffee and Dancong oolong share one brewing method?
Osmanthus coffee and Osmanthus Fragrance Dancong both depend on aroma, and in the oolong's case the brew is golden and bright with a rich floral scent that survives repeated infusions. Chaoshan Gongfu tea is the method that brings this out, and the article sets out its utensils and key steps for anyone starting from scratch.
The core kit pairs a small clay stove, a Yixing pot or thin porcelain gaiwan, a tea boat and small thin cups, with fast pouring and living water. Using 6 to 8 grams of leaf in a vessel of no more than 90 milliliters, a flash brew of 3 to 5 seconds lifts the aroma and gives a full-bodied texture. Traditional Greek coffee, by contrast, is boiled fine-ground and unfiltered.
Osmanthus Fragrance Dancong is a category of oolong tea with a particularly outstanding aroma; the brewed tea liquor is golden and bright, with a rich floral fragrance and good durability for multiple infusions. To truly bring out its flavor, the brewing method of Chaoshan Gongfu tea is worth understanding in depth. This article begins with the difference between Gongfu tea and the Way of Tea, then sorts out the core utensils and key operating points of Chaoshan Gongfu tea, including the pairing of a small clay stove, a Yixing pot or thin porcelain gaiwan, a tea boat, and small thin porcelain cups, as well as key details such as fast pouring and brewing with “living water.” At the same time, drawing on Front Street Coffee’s brewing experience, it helps readers understand how to use 6 to 8 grams of tea leaves and a small vessel of no more than 90 milliliters to complete a flash brew within 3 to 5 seconds, thereby obtaining a tea liquor with lifted aroma and a full-bodied texture. Whether you are a beginner just encountering Gongfu tea or an enthusiast hoping to refine your technique, you can find practical ideas here for reference.
I have kept this question in my mind for a long time. To my shame, most of the time I merely mechanically repeat actions such as pouring water and decanting the tea, yet I rarely stop to think: why exactly am I doing this? Where is the dividing line between Gongfu brewing and the Way of Tea in the true sense? Why must a gaiwan be used, rather than casually grabbing a large teapot? And when faced with a dazzling array of tea utensils, what should I base my choices on? Regarding tea, I have accumulated far too many questions.
Now I want to return to the place where I first set out, to sort out my own path of learning tea more clearly, and by the way think about what a tea lover truly wants to learn when entering a tea class. Seeing people from different places gather together and share this quiet tea journey is truly inspiring. We live in different regions and have different cultural roots, yet a cup of the simplest tea can connect everyone—isn’t that wonderful?
Although I grew up in China, have some common understanding of tea, and run a small tea business, I must admit that I am far from being an expert on Chinese tea. So please do not take what I say as the only standard answer. Just take what you need, and feel free to set aside whatever does not seem suitable. I write these things mainly to record my own process of learning tea, to make it easy to share with others, and to exchange ideas with like-minded people. What I understand about tea now may change ten years from now, but writing it down and leaving it to be tested by time is still meaningful.
If you are new to tea, you have probably heard the name “Gongfu tea.” What is Gongfu tea? It is a traditional brewing method whose core characteristic is placing the same batch of tea leaves into a small teapot or gaiwan and repeatedly pouring water in and decanting the tea many times.
If you ask Chinese people, what comes to mind may be a very popular way of drinking tea in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong: people use a small clay stove to burn charcoal, boil water in a clay pot, and then brew tea using a small Yixing pot or a thin porcelain gaiwan, paired with a tea boat, usually arranged with three small thin porcelain cups for drinking, so that the whole process feels complete. (Attach image). People also use two trays to catch excess water, which we call tea boats. One tea tray has a certain depth and several holes on top to collect the water used for rinsing the tea leaves and tea utensils; the other tea tray is used to hold the tea cups and catch the water that overflows during brewing.
Brewing tea itself requires commitment, patience, focus, time, and skill, and brewing this style of tea even more so. This is also why people call it “Gongfu tea.” It is not as effortless as grandpa-style brewing or Western-style brewing—throwing a few leaves into a large mug or teapot, adding hot water, and that is it. Gongfu tea refers precisely to this specific brewing style.
Gongfu-style brewing emphasizes fast decanting and small, thin tea utensils. By fast decanting, I mean you must quickly pour the tea liquor out of the teapot or gaiwan. Water boiled in a clay pot is very hot and cools more slowly than water boiled in a glass kettle. High temperature helps bring out the aroma of the tea leaves. The moment hot water touches the dry tea, complex aromas immediately rush forward. In this brewing method, generally 6 to 8 grams of tea leaves are placed into the teapot or gaiwan, and if the steeping time is dragged out, the tea liquor can become unbearably bitter. Therefore, when using a gaiwan, the tea must be poured out quickly (within 3 to 5 seconds)!
(Side note: If you switch to brewing with a Yixing teapot, the steeping time can be slightly extended.)
All tea utensils are smaller than those used for everyday tea brewing. The clay pot has a small capacity, usually holding only 350 milliliters of water. Water must not be boiled repeatedly for a long time; it must remain in an “active” state, which is what is called living water. Repeatedly boiling the same pot of water will make the tea taste weaker and also carry away the tea’s aroma. When brewing tea in a small teapot or gaiwan, the capacity generally does not exceed 90 milliliters. The size of the small teapot or gaiwan helps “flash brew” all the flavor out of the tea leaves. Because the tea is brewed in a small vessel, if you want to share it with others, you naturally need to use small tea cups.
The walls of all tea utensils must be thin. When boiling water, a clay pot must be breathable; the teapot or gaiwan must be very thin in order to bring out the tea’s fragrance; porcelain cups must also be very thin, likewise to enhance the aroma. Chaoshan people favor Dancong oolong tea, and this is also their favorite way to brew Dancong oolong. Gradually, people also began to use the same utensils and techniques to brew other oolong teas.
This brewing method originated in Chaozhou during the Song Dynasty, so it is also often called “Chaozhou Gongfu tea.”
If you want to experience the classic flavor of Osmanthus Fragrance Dancong, Front Street Coffee’s Osmanthus Fragrance Dancong is a good starting point; it has a rich and lasting aroma and a golden, bright liquor, making it very suitable for presenting with the above-mentioned Gongfu tea technique.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
