My trifecta of indisposable items that has served up thousands, or maybe millions by now, of teas. The Gai, lid, to hold the steam in and drain the tea. The Wan, bowl that steeps the tea. The Bei, cup, that the liquid tea is poured into enjoy. A familiar sight, also, is the 10 gms of leaves packed into a 3 oz Gaiwan, the Chao Zhou style of Gongfu tea service, parsing down flavors into 5 second steeps at a time. This is the polar opposite of British style tea service of 3 gms of leaves and a 36 oz tea pot and steeped 10 minutes. Which is preferred? One would not mix Chardonnay, Merlot, and Burgundy altogether in a glass and drink it, would they? Because that’s what steeping for 10 minutes does- mixing up all the intricate layers of fragrances and flavors into one cup.
Comments are closed.