What is Gongfu Tea Cups?

Gongfu tea is a Chinese folk custom of tea tasting. Popular in Chaoshan - Guangdong, Zhang quan - Fujian and other places. Gongfu tea is named for its exquisite way of brewing tea. Gongfu tea has been spread for hundreds of years. The earliest Gongfu tea was popular in Guangdong and other places, and then gradually spread to various regions. The most important item in Gongfu tea is the Gongfu tea set, which refers to the special teaware for brewing tea, including teapot, gaiwan, tea cup, plate, tray, etc. Gongfu tea is popular in Chaozhou and Shantou of Guangdong Province. There are dozens of different styles of Gongfu tea cups.

Gongfu tea is one of the the tea custom of Han nationality, popularize in Chaoshan of Guangzhou, Zhangquan of Fujian. Of course, Gongfu tea is matched with tea cups perfectly. There has a four words incantations choosing tea cups: small, light, thin, and white. The tea customers often using the tea wares that bottom with white flat, blue flower and wide mouth. And the cup written “please collecting if a deep cup” should be precious. The Gongfu tea cups with white jade color, foiling the color of tea, will make the tea aroma be fully perfumed. And just as said just now, if it is deep, we could sip the water at a breath. In fact, the white but thin-walled porcelain tea cups is the best choices, which do not affect the color and tasty of tea, and convenient to clean.

The Style of Gongfu Tea Cups

There are many kinds of Gongfu tea cups. The different materials Gongfu tea cups has different characteristics and functions. Here we will introduce some common types Gongfu tea cup for you.

1. Purple Clay Gongfu Tea Cups

Purple clay Gongfu tea cup is made of a porous material with double pore structure, which has fine pores with strong adsorption. It will keep aroma and taste of tea, and the tea is not easy to moldy and rancid. Even you just pour hot water into the tea cup without tea leaves, the water has strong tea flavor.

2. Ceramics Gongfu Tea Cups

Ceramic tea cup is suitable for all kinds of tea. There is no chemical reaction with tea, don't worry about your body will be hurt. The tea brewed has better color, fragrance and taste. And this kind of tea cup is generally beautiful in shape, exquisite in decoration, and has artistic appreciation value.

3. Glass Gongfu Tea Cups

Glass Gongfu tea cup can resist high temperature, it can be immediately pour the hot tea into the cup, and the glass does not contain antimony and other metal oxides, which will not cause harm to your body. Glass tea cup also has the characteristics of beauty, practicality and convenience. What’s more, you can watch the the color of the tea soup clearly.

The Benifit of Gongfu Tea Cups

And there is question may be raised: Why do Gongfu tea must be brewed by a small cup? With such a small cup to drink, it is difficult to quench thirsty. So let me to make a introduction for you as following:

Firstly, for Gongfu tea, only to drink slowly, could the verve of tea be tasted. So the cup will do small.

Second, the bubbling Gongfu tea is in a boiling hot, the small cup is convenient for heat dissipation.

Third, The Gongfu tea is too thick to drink, only drink in small sips could won't hurt a stomach.

Fourth, the charm of Gongfu tea is to taste. So the small cup will be the best choice. And just as the difference between beer and alcohol.

Fifth, the good tea is rare, so as the inferior tea in ordinary family. So using the small cup to serve guest, which neither injury valet, also take the saving start-up into account.

Sixth, For the Chinese tea culture, probably, the ancient has already thought the factor of the connotation of environmental protection and the rational and scientific utilization of water resources. Actually, the land of Chaoshan is more drought than other places, which is also reflected in the usual diet.

Seventh, It is easy to drunk if drink Gongfu tea over. So the small cup is to reduce the quantity completely.

Eighth, Gongfu tea ceremony is closely related with "Zen Master", however, the "zen" and "big" is always separated.

As we all know that the Gongfu tea is very popular in the area of Gongdong and Shantou. The more exquisite people is usually choose the small ceramic pot made in Yixing and the clay tea cups made of porcelain glaze, which diameter is just the size of silver, just like a small glass. Putting the little ceramic pot with water and Oolong tea cook on hibachis or small alcohol stove. After boiling, using tea pot to fill full of every small cup. And at this point, you could lift up the small cup to taste the aroma slowly. And for the step of enjoying tea, please pay attention not to fill a cup of tea one by one. You should fill in turn according to the quantity of cups. So, for the Gongfu tea, except the time we paid to bubble tea, we also need some time to enjoy the tea.

How to Select Gongfu Tea Cups?

The gongfu tea cups become popular because it is exquisite. It can not be careless at all on selecting gongfu tea cups. The key point to brew a good cup of tea, the gongfu tea cup is naturally the most important thing. But many people don’t know how to select a good tea cups, as they might think that the quality of Gongfu tea cup is not important. In fact, the gongfu tea cup plays a important role in processes of brew tea. Generally, the value of tea set are partly determined by the gongfu tea cups. So here are four methods to introduce how to select good gongfu tea cups.

1. The rim of the cup should be smoothly. You can invert the tea cup on the flat plate, press the bottom of the cup with the index finger and the middle finger, and let the cup rotate in the left and right directions. If there is a knocking sound, the mouth of the cup is unsmooth. If there is no such a sound, the cup is smooth.

2. The bottom of tea cup should be smoothly. The identify method is the same as above.

3. The size of the tea cup should be matched with the teapot. For a small teapot, the capacity of the tea cup is 20 to 50 ml, The height of the tea cup is higher than 2.5 cm. If it is a large teapot, the capacity of the tea cup should between 100 and 150 ml.

4. The cup body can be selected according to your personal like. There are many shapes of gongfu tea cups. You can select what kind of you want. Of course, it is better to pay attention to the quality, avoid buying inferior gongfu tea cups.

How to Clean the Gongfu Tea Cups?

1. After drinking tea, remember to pour out the tea and thoroughly clean the inside and outside of the cup.

2.If you find that the tea cup has tea stains on it, you can squeeze a small amount of toothpaste on the top of the tea cup, and evenly spread the toothpaste on the surface of the tea cup by hand or cotton swab. Wash the tea cups with water after a few minute.

3. Chipping the potatoes, put them into a cup, pour hot water into the cup and soak them for about 10 minutes. Then the tea stains on the cup can be easily removed. Potatoes contain starch, which has a strong suction capacity, so it is easy to remove the stains in the cup.

4. Put a small teaspoon of orange powder or orange juice into the tea cup, fill it with water and place it for 2-3 hours. In this way, the adhesion is lost between the tea stains and the tea cups , and it is easy to remove the tea stains.

5. Soak with biological enzyme. Add appropriate amount of water into the container, add some biological enzyme into it, put the tea cup into the container, soak it for about 20 minutes, and then rinse it with water. It is very simple and convenient, and there is no need to wipe with brush or iron wire to avoid avoid damaging the tea cup.

How to Take Care of the Gongfu Tea Cups?

1. Hold it carefully when using.

When using gongfu tea cup to drink tea, you need to hold it gently. Don't suddenly put the cup heavily on the table, which is easy to break.

2. Wipe it with a tea towel.

After cleaning with water, wipe the inside and outside of the cup with clean and soft tea towel, and then place the cup to a clean place.

3. Wash with toothpaste.

With a long time use, Gongfu tea cups will accumulate some tea stains, and many people will wipe them with steel balls or rough tools, which will cause damage to the surface of gongfu tea cups. It is suggested you can applied toothpaste on the surface, and then wait for about 5 minutes, and gently wash it gently.

"Three pleasures" and "Four charms" of tasting Gongfu tea

Three pleasures

The first pleasure is tasting alone and feeling immortal, that means one stay alone among green mountain and clear water or in an elegant tearoom and has his mind wondering in universe feeling the ling the integration of soul and nature and forgetting the mortal world.

The second pleasure is that two friend tasting together, and delighted by the communication of soul instead words.

The third pleasure is that tasting together for obtaining wisdom. Confucius told us "if three of People tasting together can obtain lots of knowledge that we could not learn from books by communication and mutual-enlightenment.

Four charms

Du Jun, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, described in the preface of his poem contains "four charms": profound, tranquility, ethereality, and lofty. All this characters focus on aesthetic conception, is a summary of tea ceremony aesthetics and culture, and has nothing to do with material demand.

Lifting the daily material life into the cultural height, gongfu tea ceremony is the art of tea drinking and art of living and life.