Prepping for Gongfu/Gaiwan session
I realize how much of a novice I am going to sound like here but stay with me. I just purchased my first gaiwan tea set (exciting!). I am up to date on many of the brewing times and temperatures and things for different teas.
My question involves the actual heating of the water. Thus far in my tea career with Western style brewing, I have heated the water in my kettle until the desired temperature and then brewed a pot of tea. Sometimes I would be able to get 2-3 resteeps but this method only required reheating new water once or twice.
So, when doing such short infusions with such precise temperatures involved, do you have to get new water and reheat it every time to the correct temperature just for one small gaiwan? It seems like a lot of getting up and reheating/boiling when the process is supposed to be a calming/relaxing one. Any tips or tricks for this?
Thanks, and sorry for the inexperience.
It depends on the tea. Sometimes I’m lazy and I just heat it once and try to go through my steeps quickly (this works well when I’m doing ‘lazy man’s gong fu’, in which I pour them all into the same mug).
Otherwise, I have a variable temperature kettle that has a ‘hold’ button, which keeps the water at a temperature that you indicate. I have to say it is my most important brewing accessory.
Most things that you would gong fu (like oolongs & puerhs) are usually brewed with boiling water, so those should be easier for you. Still I really like the flexibility of not worrying about the temperature with my kettle. It is a Bonavita from amazon.com, if you’re curious.
Oh, and I have seen tea shops that keep their water hot by way of a warmed cast iron kettle, if that would work better for you.
I put the water in a thermos and move it to my gaiwan set up. I ran into this same issue when I started. It ruined the joy of the session for me if I had to keep running to the kitchen.
Seriously good idea. I’d never thought of it, but the kettle came before the gaiwan, so I suppose I never needed to be creative!
Wow! that’s a good idea, but I have one question: are you using some special thermo? because I tried to put my tea in a thermo once, and it became all “plastic-flavored”, I thought it was normal, but maybe it’s just my low quality thermo.
Mine is definitely nothing special. I do think it’s steel on the inside but it’s just a carafe that came from Gevalia, probably free at some point. It works great though because the lid has a push button opening so it’s easy to pour from.
I’m kicking myself for not thinking of this. At work I have to keep getting up to reheat water between steeps which is annoying to say the least. I’m going to try this with my double walled tumbler.
I really had to come up with something. My gong fu spot is on my dining room table, which is in the middle of a room. My kettle’s cord is short so it was either deal with an annoying extension cord or figure out something else.
I have been happy after getting my kettle with the ‘keep-warm’ function but never thought of a thermos. I will have to get one so I can break free of that teeny tiny cord and brew anywhere. What a wonderful idea!
I do what Marzipan does. I have a thermos that I fill with water heated to the proper temp. Pre-heat your thermos first so it doesn’t drop the temp. And pretty much none of us knew how to do it until someone told us. Enjoy!
I tend to run to reheat. I just can’t be still for a long time. So I don’t find it annoying. Thermos is a good idea. Some people use water heaters but I’m against it cuz it has non stick coating inside. Otherwise I would get it
Good luck with gongfu. Once i start it I never looked back. Do you have a scale to weight leaves? I find it necessary especially with puerh.
You just asked a question I have wondering for a long time! Thank you. I had always wondered this same thing. The only way I felt I was able to do a successful gwiawin session was with my electric tea kettle sitting right next to me and then it takes the fun out of being able to relax or doing this sort of brewing at work. I had never once considered a thermos. Thank you!
I find with a kettle with “keep warm” there’s zero effort other than making sure there’s enough water there. I keep the kettle alongside my tea set up. I eventually got a second tea kettle for upstairs because I’m lazy to move the kettle. I got a Cusinart and a Bonavita, I prefer the Cusinart as it’s less buttons to deal with.
I think having the temperature drop would effect the taste of the brewing and would be harder to replicate for the next session. When I’m travelling and want gongfu I go with the thermos set up.
Another thing you can do is steep 2 or 3 gaiwan fulls into a pitcher then drink from that. It’s something one often has to do if you got more guests and too small of a gaiwan/teapot to serve them all at once.
When I’m brewing low temperature teas, <175 F, I heat the water in a tetsubin and then place above a teapot warmer. Three candles in the warmer helps it maintain a steady temperature.
For gongfu sessions, once the kettle comes to temperature I brew a pitcher full which is like 3-4 steeps.
When I used to do gonfu sessions I had an electric kettle on the table next to me that would automatically re-heat the water every couple of minutes. Worked really nice!
Thanks everyone for making this newbie feel not so awkward. I am currently doing a session using my heavy duty thermos. Seems to be working out great!
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