Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

Owes its flavors to oxidation levels between green & black tea.


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Mar 22nd, '11, 12:39
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by Tead Off » Mar 22nd, '11, 12:39

Evan Draper wrote:
wyardley wrote: I'm not so sure about the bits crushed during processing being oxidized differently - I'm not a tea producer, but I'd think that most breakage would happen after the tea has been partially oxidized and dried -- in other words, the bits around the edge would be more oxidized, and the bits from the center of the leaf would be less oxidized.
Neither am I a tea producer, but I have read that breakage often occurs during the rolling process. So if I am not too far off, that would be after oxidation and firing (kill-green), yes, but before drying/roasting.
I think this may depend on the type of tea. Breakage can occur at many stages but it is easier to break the leaves after drying because of the brittleness. You can't shape the leaves when they are dry. It has to be done with moisture still in them and they are less likely to break.

Then there is the difference between long and twisted vs rolled oolongs. Long and twisted like Wuyi will have a higher breakage % generally than rolled oolongs. Many people comment on how a tea is more bitter when many broken leaves are found in their package. Is this true or imagined? I find it somewhat true. Most vendors selling higher end teas sell whole leaf tea with little breakage. Broken leaves bug me, personally. Just about every tea I've had that I've considered really good has had whole leaves. The only exception may be some Darjeelings. I would imagine a bag of tea that contained only broken leaves when purchased vs the same tea with whole leaves will taste differently when brewed. Has anyone had this experience?

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Mar 22nd, '11, 13:01
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by David R. » Mar 22nd, '11, 13:01

I restocked an old Shui Xian once but the bag was full of broken leaves. The result was so disappointing, only a shadow of what the tea tasted like. Nothing interesting here. Now I check if there are broken leaves or not in my tea bags, especially for Wuyi or Phoenix wulong. If there are some, it is definitively a bad point.

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Mar 22nd, '11, 13:38
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by tea-awed » Mar 22nd, '11, 13:38

Whenever I get down to the bottom of even my best oolongs there tend to be a good amount of broken bits. The brew is always little more bitter(not that I mind :) ). The same happens when I add the crumbs of a sheng pu beeng that I have managed to mangle.

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Mar 22nd, '11, 18:44
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by Herb_Master » Mar 22nd, '11, 18:44

Three in a row with my own view on the bottom of the bag / broken leaves and bits.

I think it was Gingko on an earlier thread that recommended pouring a new purchase onto a flat sheet of paper and seperating it into pot sized amounts which all had their fair share of whole leaf and broken bits.
My inability to do this evenly and package it neatly and securely has prevented me from trying the advice.

YET I keep reading again and again of many Tea Chatters who compulsively scrunch a few leaves into bits when they prepare a pot of Yan Cha.

Is it the old broken leaf bits that have faded and oxidised ?

Are newly broken leaves (immediately prior to brewing) a different story all together.

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Mar 22nd, '11, 23:58
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by Tead Off » Mar 22nd, '11, 23:58

Herb_Master wrote: Is it the old broken leaf bits that have faded and oxidised ?
Are newly broken leaves (immediately prior to brewing) a different story all together.
This is what I think. Is it all in my mind? Maybe.
Personally, I never break up any of the leaves when brewing yancha. I have tried both ways. What makes more of a difference to me is the quality of the leaves and how they were processed. For me, there is more mediocre yancha than there is good. Breaking them or not, will not improve the quality, IMO.

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Mar 23rd, '11, 15:10
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by David R. » Mar 23rd, '11, 15:10

I have heard that some people in Guangdong perform the chao zhou GFC without breaking leaves.

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Mar 23rd, '11, 16:21
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by wyardley » Mar 23rd, '11, 16:21

David R. wrote:I have heard that some people in Guangdong perform the chao zhou GFC without breaking leaves.
I don't think anyone in this thread has tried to suggest otherwise, have they?

And, as mentioned above, many people only break the leaves for certain teas.

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Mar 23rd, '11, 21:10
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by David R. » Mar 23rd, '11, 21:10

wyardley wrote:
David R. wrote:I have heard that some people in Guangdong perform the chao zhou GFC without breaking leaves.
I don't think anyone in this thread has tried to suggest otherwise, have they?

And, as mentioned above, many people only break the leaves for certain teas.
Sure. Till recently, I was convinced that Chao Zhou style gfc was about crushing some leaves among other rules, cause I had only read articles on the subject including this. It is nice to know more about it. :)

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Mar 25th, '11, 01:09
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by gingkoseto » Mar 25th, '11, 01:09

Herb_Master wrote:Three in a row with my own view on the bottom of the bag / broken leaves and bits.

I think it was Gingko on an earlier thread that recommended pouring a new purchase onto a flat sheet of paper and seperating it into pot sized amounts which all had their fair share of whole leaf and broken bits.
I was trying to be thrifty :mrgreen: But I always wish all the leaves are whole leaves and won't intend to break them.
I have a favorite wuyi shui xian of mine that went through disaster packaging and shipping. A lot of leaves are crushed. But to my surprise, it tastes just fine. But I have other teas that were ruined once leaves were crushed.

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Nov 3rd, '16, 19:10
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by TaoTeaKing » Nov 3rd, '16, 19:10

hi, i write this because i have a question, wich i asked already in a german tea forum... but no one could answer it.
I would be very thankful if one of you could take some time and answer this.

I discovered the Chao Zhou-style about 2 years ago, but only recently i got enough time and patience to really practice it... i also wrote a bit about it in one of my tea tasting notes here:
http://www.truthandgo.com/2016/10/25/20 ... han-da-ye/
By the way, ... for anyone who want to read two very good introductions, i recommend:
Kyarazen: http://www.kyarazen.com/chaozhou-gongfu-tea/
Teamasters: http://teamasters.blogspot.de/2014/05/c ... -step.html

Now here comes my question: why are sometimes people using a second bowl with water in wich they diping the teapot before pouring, when brewing in Chao Zhou style? :?:
What is the concept behind it?

( to avoid misunderstanding ... i don`t mean the primary tea boat /bowl for the teapot or the waste water bowl... but a second bowl with water where the bottom of the teapot gets dipped in shortly)

Is this second bowl filled with hot water or cold one?
Is it about preserving the heat? Cleaning? Cooling down? What is this second bowl called?

I watched so many Chao Zhou Gongfu videos by now... and only very seldom i saw this second bowl... but i want to learn about it...


The screenshot is from a chinese video found here (3:30 min)
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTI2ODYyM ... 1-1-1-11-0

In this quite nice video the "second bowl" is present as well:
https://youtu.be/XQT8FUoBDe4?list=PL-ZA ... Nv9lSGcyxX


i ask this primarily because i`m interested in the history and practice of the Chao Zhou Gongfucha very much, not really because i think i need this for my personal (Chao Zhou style) tea brewing style... also depending on the answer i might will include it :wink:
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Nov 6th, '16, 16:55
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by TaoTeaKing » Nov 6th, '16, 16:55

Still i have no real answer from someone directly equipped with first hand knowledge, but some people where answering to this question wich i asked as well at the reddit tea.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/comments/5 ... s_of_chao/

the best answer was this one...
The guy in the video says the second bowl can be cold or hot water. It used to tweak the intensity of the brew. I've seen many Chaozhou people steep, but never saw they use this second bowl. Perhaps because it wasn't in Chaozhou, will for sure check next time in Chaozhou :)
Still would be glad if someone could elaborate this a bit more :)

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Nov 7th, '16, 13:01
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by kyarazen » Nov 7th, '16, 13:01

TaoTeaKing wrote:Still i have no real answer from someone directly equipped with first hand knowledge, but some people where answering to this question wich i asked as well at the reddit tea.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/comments/5 ... s_of_chao/

the best answer was this one...
The guy in the video says the second bowl can be cold or hot water. It used to tweak the intensity of the brew. I've seen many Chaozhou people steep, but never saw they use this second bowl. Perhaps because it wasn't in Chaozhou, will for sure check next time in Chaozhou :)
Still would be glad if someone could elaborate this a bit more :)

been travelling :)

coincidentally.. the guy you posted the youtube video with the japanese translator.. from his voice it sounds like ye han zhong..

and another caveat.. chaozhou gongfu tea has many different "sects" and "lineages", schools of thought etc, so what you may see from one brewer, may differ from another brewer etc.

let me just solve your question.. by giving you this link on CZ gf tea in the style of Ye hanzhong

http://www.dyee.org/bbs/thread-527011-1-1.html

where you can see...

: 【壹】让茶汤更柔滑
秘密武器:冷水
使用方法:正常冲点、淋罐,在准备出汤之前,用茶巾包住小壶,使用巧劲微微振动(非抖壶)一下壶,幅度不是很大,然后将泡茶壶在盛放了冷水中的壶承之中移转1-2圈,让冷水没过壶身1/2~2/3左右。
真实可信:★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (√)
易玩程度:★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (茶友会推荐)
丛嘉解密:微微振动小壶时,使壶内部的水有了一个微循环,较之正常情况下在同样浸泡时间内,茶叶内含物质被更多地释放出来;通过冷水壶承中的移转动作,让茶壶快速降温,茶叶内含物质释放的就慢了,并压制了涩味的浸出。

which means, to allow the tea brew to be softer and smoother, you can dip the pot into cold water and shake it a bit before dispencing

or
【贰】让茶汤更浓厚
秘密武器:热水
使用方法:在经过多次冲泡之后,茶汤变淡变寡的情况下,正常冲点、淋罐,并将热水注满壶承,让泡茶壶浸泡在热水中,再行出汤。增加茶汤的浓度与厚度。
真实可信:★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (√)
易玩程度:★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (茶友会推荐)

where the use of hot water will aid in creating a stronger brew

from your blogpost you also mentioned "vibro" as described by Teaism in his write up, that is a real, legit and valid method. but it requires skill and sufficient experience in understanding the brew/process.

i've tried the cold water method several times, it works, but i stopped after one of my 60's shuiping tea pots started getting damaged by the cold shock

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Nov 7th, '16, 15:08
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by TaoTeaKing » Nov 7th, '16, 15:08

dear kyarazen,
thank you very much, that is exactly the answer wich i was looking for.
Interesting... maybe i will try it out one day, but primarily my childlike curiosity is now stilled.

It i really a great feeling that via the web there is this precious possibility ... to get in touch with experts like you quite easy... :)

Hope you had a nice travel time.

Here, by the way my setup for this evening...
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Nov 7th, '16, 15:11
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by TaoTeaKing » Nov 7th, '16, 15:11

PS: the pictures (and texts via google translate) are also very very cool, wow! Thank you again :) :idea:

Nov 19th, '21, 11:39
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Re: Chao Zhou style Kung Fu Cha

by ShenGPuer » Nov 19th, '21, 11:39

David R. wrote: I have heard that some people in Guangdong perform the chao zhou GFC without breaking leaves.
This may be late. I commented on Knjitea's channel on YouTube on low quality dancongs in Chazhou tea ceremony, and he said the leaves do not to be crushed as it would release a bitter taste.

Based on what he has said, crushing the leaves is applicable on high end dancongs.

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