Traditional Chinese Tea Set (Gong Fu Tea) Explained

This is my favorite way of preparing tea at home, but a lot of people I know are curious and at the the same time either intimidated or don't want to bother learning the traditional way of tea making. Hopefully this video will get a lot more people to try the beauty of "tea tasting."

0:00 Intro
0:43 Parts that make up the tea set
5:27 3 Steps of Tea Tasting
6:07 Brewing temperatures
7:27 Step by step brewing and tips
12:32 Conclusion

We personally picked and brought our tea gears from China, so unfortunately I won't be able to share the place to get the exact same sets. However I took a look through Amazon and these sets have the basic components needed and also have decent reviews:

Mini sets that are great for travel or learning:
Full-sets:
There isn't much choices for pre-portioned teas that I use, but I found some sellers on Amazon that carries some selections:

Below are the tools that I use at home:

Espresso Drinks:

Mugs and Storage:

Pitchers:

Pourover:

Scales:

Cleaning/Filter:

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#XICUPS

[XICups]

Have anyone tried to make this tea in this method? I am curious to know if anyone else prefer teas prepared this way.

[sitarygaming]

The fair/fairness cup is actually not the same one you use to infuse; it is the one that you use to hold and serve the tea after infusing it.
The intent of the fairness cup is to insure everyone gets the same strength of tea. If you were to serve the tea directly from the infusing pot into the drinkers' cups there is generally a difference of strength from one cup to the next. Pouring into a fairness cup helps to evenly distribute the concentration before serving into individual cups.

Hence the name :)

[snicky]

It gave me a big smile when you fed some of the tea to your adorable little tea pet. 😀

[siarabuck]

This was SO helpful! My bf just got me a traditional tea set for my bday. So excited to enter into the magical way of brewing and drinking my tea! THANK YOU!

[soleo.x]

Oh my goodness so that's what the animals are for... my dad collects teas and tea sets and he displays them in our little tea area. He has over 10 sets that he collected over the years and all of them are complete, though I never knew up till now how the little animals that came with them were part of the set

[zyzda]

Absolutely love this! I'm a coffee guy, but always been interested in tea, and not sure where to go to learn. I appreciate you coming at this with coffee as a reference point!

[mitchjohnson]

This was so informative!! I appreciate your practical explanations, and it's nice to see someone specifically reference how common it is in China- usually I don't hear much more than "it's still used in China today, " so I appreciate that personal input! Will definitely be sending this to my friends since they've also expressed an interest in Gong Fu tea.

[perpetuallylove]

I really like your tea pet! The idea of tea pets has completely captivated me.

[AccioPadfoot]

Thank you so much! My husband had bought a tea set (ceramic) that we could not identify until I found this video. We have no 'pet', and some of the other pieces are missing as well. It's just the bowl with tray, six small cups, and what he thought was a 'creamer and sugar' set, which is surely the pot and infuser. We look forward to using it in the proper way!

[michellelamm-faries]

Great information and so very helpful. I'm a newbie so I appreciate you going slow and explaining the process and the reasons why you go through the specific steps. Thank you! I'm hooked!

[tedpreston]

Thanks for making this video! I once visited a tea shop in Ho Hot, and we spent hours chatting around a table, where our host poured tea in this method. I had never seen such a tea shop in the U.S.: hundreds of varieties of tea and a whole wall full of tea pots and tea sets. While I was there, I received many varieties of tea as gifts, and I've been enjoying them, but I hope to enjoy them more by following your instructions!

I'm also glad to know that tea is more valuable when it is older, since my trip to China was 12 years ago, and I still have much of the tea unopened! Sadly, all the tea is labeled only in Mandarin, so I don't know what sorts of tea are in the packages. No problem, though, since they all smell and taste intriguing, whether I know their names or not!

[Ohsnapski]

Wow...I am 27 years old on this earth and had no idea tea could be so intricate lol. I just might get into this, thanks for the video

[judyjean]

this man is cute I want to hug him, thanks

[rlik]

My student from China sent me a wonderful gift of teas and tea set.
This has helped me to understand lot.

[amandah]

This is a fantastic introduction to Gongfu tea brewing! You're really clear about what you're doing at the same time as showing exactly what you're talking about. I love the tea set too, it's really nice.

[kelleskitchen]

This has been SO INFORMATIVE! One of my children has become very interested in this method. I can’t wait to try.

[humnai]

Loved this video! There’s such a relaxing quality to brewing tea so mindfully and serving it in such delicate cups!

[CarinaPiersay]

This is the first time I’ve heard of this. Thank you for posting. I love learning about different customs and traditions. I particularly like the idea of a tea pet.

[Modus_Pwnin]

This is awesome. Such a beautiful set and stories. I'm just getting started into tea, I've always loved it even when I just used low quality tea bags :/ Thank you so much for sharing this.

[orequals]

I just started my journey with Tea. this video was a great primer. thank you!