Monday, 26 January 2009, 13:35
On Thursday, we go a chance to go to a tea house, where we learnt about the different kinds of tea and the proper methods of brewing them. First, we got to drink green tea and we were told that the water needed to be at around 70 (?) degrees so that the minerals in the tea would still be there. The first step in brewing tea was so boil the water over a flame that was fuelled by kerosene. When the water started to boil (small little bubbles), then the water would be used to wash and warm the cups. Water was poured into the little tea pot that was used for brewing the tea, then poured into the serving pot, which was then distributed to the little cups (every one had 2 cups, one big and one small. The big one is always filled first, and then the person drinking the tea would have to pour it into the smaller cup. The big one is used for people to smell the tea, as it is supposed to be able to retain the taste better than the smaller cup).
There are a few instruments that are used for handling the tea leaves and the tea cups. The first was a tweezer that was used to empty the hot water from the tea cups. There was also a needle like thing, in case any of the tea leaves got stuck in the mouth of the tea pot, a bamboo scooping thing, and a tray that was used to put all the tea cups which had an empty bottom. All these things were made of bamboo and it is important that the person brewing the tea does not touch the tea leaves because they absorb the “flavour” of the person’s hands.
Lao shi also explained to us about the history of tea, which goes back around 5000 years! We got to try 4 types of tea, but I gave up half way coz I don’t really like tea. :(
Labels: Elaine
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