The Spark Collection
Tea in China
Grandpa style
Fruit & milk tea
Business tea
Gongfu tea
Drank on a regular basis by anyone under the age of 40. If you think your local boba shop is cool, it has nothing on fruit teas in China made with fresh dragon fruit and mango. Oh yeah, and classic milk tea for $1 or less.
Who do you think drinks tea like this? Old men of course. Most workers over the age of 50 will have a glass double walled thermos with green tea in it and will keep adding tea and boiling water throughout the day.
If you go to a business dinner in China you will drink 2 things for sure tea in 10oz glass and bai jiu. Both of these drinks are high quality and show how much money the host has and how important the recipients are to the host.
The least drank type of tea in China, but the highest attention to detail. You will typically only find this style of tea at a tea house (there are usually several in a city) or with tea aficionados.
Gongfu Tea
This style of tea originally invented in the Tang Dynasty that was highly ritualized and was performance based for the emperor and his family. At this time, Jingdezhen was finalizing the technology to make the finest porcelain in the world.
​
As time progressed China became the world leaders in tea and as tea culture continued to spread some tradition relaxed. Even as some of the traditions fell away, the main tenants of gongfu brewing remained:
Small Pot & Low H2O
Boiling Water
Fast steeps
High amount of tea
Essential Gongfu Items
pot
+
pour cup
cup
+
+
tea
Most gaiwans (pictured above) or pots will be between 100-300 ml, some being as large as 500ml. While the gaiwan seems intimidating at first it has become a quintessential part of gongfu brewing.
Often the last thing that new tea drinkers buy, the pour cup is one of the most crucial. The reason is pouring from your pot into this vessel will help to not over-steep the tea and makes spilling while pouring into the teacups much less likely.
Typically 50-13ml. Some will come in matching sets, others will be sold as a single standalone cup called a specialty cup(zhu rén bÄ“i).
Tea will always be loose leaf when brewing gongfu style. Since you will be steeping multiple times don't forget to add enough tea. Typically 5 to 10 grams will work best.
Free Shipping over $100 (US Orders)