Sia believes that the Gong Fu Cha tradition is finding traction among younger Malaysians. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
At the beautifully appointed Upper Palace Teochew restaurant in Kuala Lumpur’s TRX, tea master Shirley Sia consults her watch, before determining that enough time has lapsed and she can now pour tea out of a beautiful purple clay teapot into three tiny little cups laid out in a row.
This ceremonial tea set-up is called Gong Fu Cha and originated from the city of Chaozhou (Teochew) in the Guangdong province during the Sung dynasty (960 to 1279). The city is situated prominently close to Phoenix Mountain, which is the birthplace of Dan Cong Oolong tea, which is the tea served at Upper Palace.
In China, the Gong Fu Cha method of brewing tea is considered the best way to extract flavours out of loose leaf teas and was once devised for low-quality teas (originally this only referred to Oolong tea), as gong fu means “best effort”. These days, Gong Fu Cha is typically applied to higher-quality tea leaves.
The essence of Gong Fu Cha is designed to appreciate tea energy (cha qi) by experiencing taste, aroma and appearance.
“Yeah, the ceremonial tea-brewing is a different way of drinking tea, so you appreciate how it tastes at first brew, second brew and third brew,” says Law Siow Fei, the owner of Tanah dan Air Tea Bar in Petaling Jaya.
Law says small pot brewing has become a very popular off-shoot of Gong Fu Cha as it draws from a more scientific approach of tea-brewing. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
According to an article in pathofcha.com, Gong Fu Cha was originally only popular in Chaozhou until the mid 20th century when it was discovered by Taiwanese tea connoisseurs and refined. It then found its way back to China and has since become popular throughout the country, although it remains most popular in Chaozhou.
In Malaysia, people of Teochew descent would likely have brought this tradition with them when they came to the country.
A ceremonial Gong Fu Cha set typically incorporates a kettle, Yixing tea pot (tea pot made from unglazed Yixing clay), pitcher, tea pick, receptacle for tea leaves, bowl and tea cups. These full tea sets can take the form of purple clay, porcelain or mix-and-match options.
Law says when tea is consumed, only 25% to 35% of tea leaves are used, which is why Gong Fu Cha aims to extract flavour in the best ways possible.
According to Law, the temperature of the water differs based on the kinds of tea leaves used. For darker teas, the water temperature needs to be higher while lighter teas require lower temperatures.
First, the kettle is boiled to the required temperature. Law says for dark teas, the water should be boiled at higher temperatures (95°C for the first brew) while for lighter teas like green teas, the water should be boiled to a temperature below 80°C.
Next, the tea leaves are weighed and inserted into the teapot. In traditional Chaozhou style Gong Fu Cha, the ratio is 1 teaspoon of tea leaves for every 237ml of water. The leaves should not occupy more than 80% of the teapot space, before boiling water is poured over in a circular motion.
The ratio of tea leaves to water must be accurate in order to produce the best-tasting Chinese teas.
The tea should be left to steep for a few seconds, before being poured out and discarded. In Gong Fu Cha, the first brew is always discarded.
The next brew is poured into three cups. Three cups symbolise a Chinese character for taste. The aroma should be savoured before the tea is sipped slowly. The process is repeated until the tea has been brewed three times.
According to Law, in traditional Gong Fu Cha, only three cups are laid out regardless of the number of people, so everyone has to take turns, the idea being that people get to enjoy the tea in its different incarnations, based on the brew they get.
With traditional Gong Fu Cha, the first brew is discarded.
Within Gong Fu Cha, there has also emerged an off-shoot brewing method called ‘small pot brewing’.
“It started in Taiwan in the 1980s. And then it spread to China and has become a more scientific way of understanding tea brewing.
“So for Kong Fu Cha, a lot of the practice is saying ‘Okay, my ancestors have been doing this and that’, but they don’t really question why or what. So small pot brewing is looking at the same system and updating a few points,” says Law.
The main difference between traditional Gong Fu Cha and small pot brewing is that the utensils like the tea pot, pitcher and tea cups are warmed up first and the first brew is not discarded; instead it is poured into tea cups. Also the number of cups used is based on the number of people drinking, so tea-drinkers will get to try every brew without having to wait their turn.
In Malaysia, Shia believes that Gong Fu Cha is gaining traction even among younger Malaysians.
“Of course it is more popular among older Malaysian Chinese compared to the younger ones. But I have heard that there are now universities and associations that have courses where people can learn the art of Gong Fu tea.
“Also many young people are very influenced by Chinese social media sites like Xiaohongshu (RedNote), which promotes tea culture, so I suspect that slowly more and more young people will start to appreciate the traditional art of Gong Fu Cha,” says Shia.
