Monday TeaDay 4/26/20 Gong fu and possible gender bias?

[Chip]

Whether you are new to tea or old to tea, you are welcome to share, in fact, you are expected to share what is in your cup with everyone here. See what everyone else is sipping as well.

Yesterday we discussed possible gender bias in tea selections among TCers, which I found quite interesting.

Today's topic is not intended to offend the fairer sex, but I have recently and often wondered whether gongfu preparation has a difficult time crossing the gender barrier. So, do you gongfu brew or don't you.

Don't know what gongfu brewing is, stay tuned and we will see if we can enlighten you. We are all here to learn, after all ... right?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. But it will be interesting to see if there is a gender bias. In the topic, share with everyone whether you gongfu brew or not...and anything you would like to add regarding your brewing practices.

I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

[debunix]

Today, I drank 4 different teas. One green, one white, two oolongs. Only one of them was drunk one small infusions at a time; the green and white teas and one of the oolongs were infused in a small pot that holds about half of my usual mug. So there were many small infusions, but most were combined for drinking.

It depends on where I am, what I'm drinking, and can I make time to drink it as carefully as I can brew it. Most days I have at least semi-gong fu session.

[subdude1]

All oolongs and puers I gongfu. My morning black tea is semi gongfu (not as much leaf with longer steeps, but I do brew it in a yixing pot and usually get 3 or 4 steeps).

[aya_s]

Sorry, I'm lost- how might gongfu brewing have difficulty crossing gender lines? No offense taken, just genuinely confused!

(On a personal note, I have a little yixing clay pot that I always use for my oolongs and I really enjoy that style of brewing. )

[Victoria]

I am female and I do gongfu brew.
Welcome to the forum aya_s!

[dooble]

Oolong and gongfu are a perfect match . I still find it confusing that some teas are feminine for example. I'll happily drink any fine tea though.

[msmeghann82]

Maybe today will be the day I learn what Gonfu brewing is. I've heard of it, just haven't researched what it actually means.

Drinking TeaSource Gold as iced tea this morning. Glad I had some cold brewed and ready to go. To early to successfully brew my own tea.

[omegapd]

Almost never gong fu tea anymore....got lazy.

[CynTEAa]

Semi gong fu, depending on my mood and time allotment.

Happy Monday, everyone!

[artmom]

I'm female and what's gong fu?

MF Marco Polo this morning. Not moving much yet today.

[Victoria]

In my cup this morning - black dragon pearls - Arrrrrrrr!!

Stay tuned Artmom, you will learn all about it soon!
It really is the preferred way to brew OOLONGS.

[geeber1]

I'm female and **bats eyelashes** I need someone to teach me more about Gong Fu brewing.

Nilgiri Blue at home this morning.

[Chip]

Compared to Western style brewing ... and simply put, gongfu style brewing is using more leaf and shorter steeps ... more or less to an extreme level. Often the pot is crammed with leaf and steeps may be as short as seconds.

As a result, a practitioner may get many steeps sometimes over the course of days ... again to the extreme.

This requires some skill and practice. It is a practice of Asian roots steeped in tradtions, Chinese mostly. It often includes a Yixing pot, though some will also use a gaiwan.

I would say I use a semi gongfu style for many teas ... I certainly brew with more leaf than a typical Western style, but not as extreme as full throttle gong fu style brewing.

[debunix]

Gong fu means different things to different people, but in my limited experience, it "boils down" to getting more out of a tea by a series of shorter infusions rather than one long 'western style' infusion. Because not all the flavor elements of a tea leaf are extracted at the same rate, the gong fu style allows you to appreciate some of the different flavors in a single tea more clearly. It is most appreciated and worth the extra effort when the tea has a lot of complex flavors, like an oolong or puerh, where sweet, floral, spicy, earthy, smoky, and fruity elements may vie for your attention as you progress through the series of infusions.

And paying attention to the different layers of flavors adds mindfulness to your tea drinking, which can be extended ad infinitum with additional ceremonial elements.

It's not really about the pots, or gaiwans, or drinking cups, although it's a lot more practical with a traditional small brewing vessel than with a tea ball or brown betty pot.

[Chip]

Sorry, I'm lost- how might gongfu brewing have difficulty crossing gender lines? No offense taken, just genuinely confused!

(On a personal note, I have a little yixing clay pot that I always use for my oolongs and I really enjoy that style of brewing. )

Welcome Aya to TeaChat ... and TeaDay.

I have run this topic several times over the years. Several years ago there was a strong gender bias among members/posters. Considerably more males practiced gongfu style brewing than females and a much higher percentage of males were practicing gongfu brewing compared to females. It was startling how strong this bias was.

However since then, and possibly with the influence of TeaChat, the females are catching up to the males in this practice.