Tea Tools
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:07 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
When making kungfu tea, aside from the tea-making and drinking equipment (known in Chinese as 茶器 chá qì), there are tools to help handle the tea leaves and hot tea pot and cups. These are known collectively as tea tools (茶具 chá jǜ).
A full set usually consists of…
Little Birds
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:02 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
I recently bought a new camera, so I thought I would show off two of my favourite teapots. Both are from Lu Yu, the branch of the tea company Tenren which produces high quality clay teapots. Most of the teapots produced by them are limited runs, and in later years…
Elements of the Japanese tea ceremony
Posted by 醉茶生 at 09:51 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
The full Japanese tea ceremony or chanoyu 茶之湯 (also written 茶の油) takes hours to perform and is seldom seen by foreigners, both because of the length of the ceremony and because it requires training even to participate as a guest. The modern ceremony finds its origins in the teachings of…
Sieves
Posted by Miss Neddy at 11:42 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related Teapots
Not everyone has the time and patience to use Yixing clay teapots and drink from dainty little cups the size of thimbles. It is a problem steeping loose tea leaves in larger teapots since the leaves are likely to leak out when the tea is poured.
Sieves therefore are essential…
Kungfu Part 2
Today’s entry is a continuation of the previous one on Kungfu tea:
Wūlóng rùgōng 烏龍入宮：
“The black dragon enters the palace.” The literal translation of oolong is “black dragon”. This simply describes the filling of the heated teapot with tea leaves. If tiěguānyīn 鐵觀音 is used, then the expression…
Kungfu Part 1
Posted by 醉茶生 at 10:23 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
The Chinese word gōngfū 功夫 (more familiar in its Wade-Giles spelling of “kungfu”) has two related meanings. The first is “skill” (most commonly in the Chinese martial arts), but the second is “time”. Gongfu therefore refers to the set of skills that one is not born with, but which are…
The Perfect Cuppa?
Short entry today.
The Royal Society of Chemistry has recently uploaded a news release on how to make the perfect cup of tea. Specifically, the perfect cup of camellia assamica tea with milk and sugar. The author is obviously of the…
A Cup of Kindness
Posted by Miss Neddy at 10:23 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Categories: Tea Related
Lu Yü was brought up in a monastery, and made to study the Buddhist scriptures. This showed in his personality, which was described in the Qing dynasty work “Complete Essays on the Tang Dynasty” 全唐文 (Quán Táng Wén): 见人为善, 若以有之; 见人不善, 若以羞之. “If he saw others do good, it was…
