A Complete Guide To Gongfu Cha For Beginners

If you like tea, then you have to try gongfu cha. There are a few extra elements to this Chinese method of enjoying tea, it’s not as simple as boiling water and steeping your tea! There are just a few more steps to this age-old method!

I’ll go over all the steps, and what gong fu tea accessories you’ll need to get started.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

What Is Gongfu Cha

Despite common belief, gongfu cha (also known as kung fu tea) is not a Chinese tea ceremony. It translates to brewing tea with discipline and skill. But it’s become so much more than that!

Gongfu cha brewing method is all about a higher tea to water ratio with multiple, brief infusions. It’s a great steeping method to taste and analyze tea notes.

But, today it’s also how tea is typically served in China to guests and family at home.

For more tips on how to taste tea, check out my post, and you might also be interested in my printable tea tasting guide from Etsy!

a gif of several images put together to show the process of pouring tea from a gaiwain. A kettle starts in the background, then you see the spout pour boiled water into a glass gaiwan (bowl with lid and a plate underneath) that already has tea at the bottom.
Once the water is poured, a hand comes in to lift the gaiwan, holding the lid in place as it's tipped over to pour the tea out into a white ceramic painted mini cup, with green floral design. The gaiwan and teacup are both sitting on a tea boat. The teabot is a wood surface with holes cut through the top, and a black ceramic bowl underneath, to catch all the water that falls through the cracks.

Why Steep Gong Fu Tea?

As I said, gong fu tea is a great way to taste and analyze tea notes.

Because it’s about multiple short infusions (with a lot of tea) you can really see how the tea changes over steeps – from the taste, smell, to look of the leaves and tea liquor.

But beyond that, because it’s a process to steep tea it’s a great way to take a step back from your day and be mindful about what you’re doing.

It can be a nice change of pace, to incorporate some calm and relaxation.

A full gong fu cha set up on a marbled countertop. A black gooseneck and temperature controlled kettle sit in the back of the frame on the left, slightly out of focus. On the right in the back is a white vase with dried and coloured babies breath flowers (yellow, white, and purple). The main focus of the image, in the front, sits a gong fu set, all resting on a black ceramic tea boat, are four small white porcelain tea cups, a white porcelain gaiwan, a clay dog tea pet, and a glass sharing pitcher with a gourd strainer on top.

What You’ll Need – Gongfu Tea Set

There are quite a few extra tea accessories that you can use for gong fu tea steeping .

A Primary Tea Vessel: Gaiwan or Yixing Clay Teapot

A primary tea vessel can be a gaiwan or a chahu (yixing clay teapot). The primary vessel is simply where the water and the tea hang out together.

A gaiwan is a unique Chinese teapot, resembling more of a covered bowl. It requires some practice, but once you get the hang of it, can be a lot of fun to use!

They also have a smaller price tag, which makes it an easier entry point for gong fu brewing.

P.S. I go into more detail about how to use a gaiwan for beginners in another post.

A Yixing teapot is a small (emphasis on small!) teapot that is typically made from clay that’s from Yixing China. These are works of art, so are often more on the expensive side.

The difficulty in using a clay teapot is timing your steep. The clay teapot will keep your tea hotter and it will also take longer to pour out. This means the infusion will continue as you’re pouring, interacting with air for longer, adding an additional factor you have to take into account.

At the end of the day, whether to choose a gaiwan or yixing teapot will depend on your preference.

A black gooseneck and temperature controlled kettle sit in the back of the frame on the left, slightly out of focus. On the right in the back is a white vase with dried and coloured babies breath flowers (yellow, white, and purple).

The main focus of the image, in the front, sits a black ceramic tea boat, with two examples of a gaiwan on top. On the left is a slightly larger, glass gaiwan. On the right is a white porcelain, and slightly smaller, gaiwan. Each of the sit on a plate, adn the lids are taking off, resting on an angle between the bowl and the plate.

Teacups – Chábēi

You will also need a small teacup (Chábēi, or Pin bēi – tasting cups) to pour your tea into once it’s steeped.

This can be a small porcelain cup like these beautiful hand painted cups from Amazon.

But I actually prefer double walled mugs, like these on Amazon, to keep my tea warm as I sip it.

You can also just use any cup you have at home, or even a pinch bowl set, like these.

a close up of someone holding a small chinese teacup to show the size of it and how small it can be. The hand is much bigger than the small white teacup.

Advanced Kettle

For a proper Gongfu session, I recommend getting a kettle with temperature control AND a gooseneck spout…

Temperature Controlled Kettle

Having a temperature controlled kettle is the most important

Tea is best when brewed when your water is at the right temperature for that type of tea, otherwise you risk burning the leaves which leaves your tea tasting quite bitter (read more about the types of tea).

a closeup of the handle of a cuisinart temperature controlled kettle. It has two columns of buttons in the middle, for all the different temperatures, with descriptions: 160 (delicate), 175 (green), 185 (white), 190 (oolong), 200 (French press), boil (black). Then there's a large start button, with a keep warm button below. there's a blue light seeping through the cracks of the buttons, but obviously highlighting 175 (green), and keep warm. Next to the kettle, out of focus, is a double walled glass mug with a yellow green tea liquor brewing and a strainer on top with tea inside

A Gooseneck Spout

A gooseneck kettle allows you to slowly pour water over your tea leaves, from high up, with a lot more precision, and make less of a mess in the process.

The leading kettle in the market is the Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle (or see it on Amazon). You cannot get a more accurate pour and temperature with this kettle.

But, if you’re looking for a more affordable option, the Smart Cosori Kettle does the trick! It’s the top rated gooseneck kettle on Amazon (I also ended up with this one for gong fu tea).

two types of kettles sitting side by side on a black surface with a white background, adding a lovely contrast. The cuisinart temperature controlled kettle is in the back, a stark stainless steel and tall kettle, with a small spout - not very aesthetically pleasing. In front is a black cosoria gooseneck kettle with a thin curved and long spout, the kettle shape is pear like with smooth lines, making it more aesthetically pleasing.

Tea Boat (Chápán)

A tea boat is what you can place your teacup and teapot on. There’s no sugar coating this, you’re going to spill… a lot! A tea boat is just a way to catch all the water, and contain the mess!

You can find all different types of tea boats, I got mine from Sebz Tea house in Quebec City (which has since closed down…). But you can find them on Amazon here.

Again, you don’t need this but I didn’t have one during my first few sessions and I made a mess. It was also more fun to just dispose of the water on a whim!

You can even replace it with something as basic as a plate or a tea towel (which brings me to my next tea accessory you need…).

a closeup of a tea boat used for gongfu cha brewing. It's round, with a black ceramic base. The surface is a slotted wood cover.

A Tea Towel (Chájīn)

A tea towel (like this one here) is very practical and you might even want more than one for gongfu tea. Like I said, you’re going to be spilling water… a lot. Keep a tea towel handy to dry your surroundings as you go so it doesn’t get too wet.

You’ll also want a clean one for when you’re finished your gongfu cha session, to clean and dry everything.

It doesn’t have to be a fancy towel at all, even a simple cotton tea towel will do the trick!

And, like I said, if you don’t have a tea boat, you can place a tea towel underneath your gaiwan and teacup in case you spill.

A closeup of a marble countertop with a gongfu cha set up in the background. A ceramic tea boat with a clay dog tea pet, small porcelain teacup and gaiwan. But the main focus, in the foreground, is a pile of towels. A large green and white plaid tea towel, a smaller yellow microfibre towel, and an even smaller, white with some green crocheted towel on top.

GōngDao Bēi (Sharing/ Fairness Pitcher)

A GōngDao Bēi translates to liberal cup, but it means sharing or fairness pitcher.

This is your secondary vessel. If you’re making gongfu cha for you and at least one other person, you need a fairness cup.

You will pour your tea from your gaiwan, or Yixing teapot, into the GōngDao Bēi before pouring into individual teacups. This ensures an even brew is served to everyone.

You can buy a GōngDao Bēi on Amazon, but this is also another item that can easily be replaced with a common kitchen item such as a glass measuring cup (like this one!).

A traditional sharing glass pitcher, with a handle and a small spout. Behind it is a traditional pyrex measuring cup, it's a bit taller, but it still has a handle and a spout, making it the perfect alternative to a gongdao bei. — *a glass measuring cup is a great alternative to a gongdao bei at the start. It even has a spout and handle for easy pouring!*

A Strainer

You might have noticed that the tea is placed directly in the water in the gaiwan or Yixing teapot. No bag, or steeper, just tea and water!

Well, you can use a strainer before pouring your tea into your sharing pitcher or teacups to catch any small tea leaves that sneak through.

I have a weird squash strainer, but you can get a simple metal one (like this one). And again, you also don’t need one.

You can just dispose of the leftover water with tea leaves at the bottom of your cup by pouring it out into your tea boat (or bowl!). Sometimes I even pour it back into my gaiwan!

A black and wood tea boat sit on a black background that it almost blends in.

On the tea boat is a glass gongdao bei (sharing pitcher), and on top of it rests a hollowed out gourd with a hole on the bottom and a mesh insert to be used as a natural strainer for tea. — *My squash strainer – but you can get away with a simple metal one too!*

A Scale

You do not need a scale, but I like knowing how much tea I’m steeping. This is especially useful if you want to do tea tastings, so you can compare the taste with the amount of tea you used. If it was too strong, next time you add less (and vice versa).

There’s actually no rule for how much tea to use for gongfu cha. That’s because there are too many varying factors – for starters, the size of everyone’s teapot is different.

As a general rule of thumb, the amount of tea you use should simply cover the bottom of your gaiwan. If you’re using a Yixing teapot, you fill it up about 1/3 with tea leaves.

I like using a scale though, especially when I’m doing a tasting or a new tea to know how much I’m using. This way, you can also follow a 1:25 tea to water ratio (1 gram of tea to 25 ml of water)

I use this digital scale from Amazon.

Average weight recommendations for each type of tea

Green & Yellow: 3 – 3.5 g
White: 3.5 – 4g
Black: 4 – 4.5g
Oolong: 4.5 – 5g
Pu’erh: 5g
Ball Oolong: 6 – 6.5g

an overhead ohoto of a scale on a rich brown wood table. The scale is stainless steel round, with a part at the bottom that shows the weight digitally. On top of the scale is a white porcelain gaiwan filled with loose leaf tea leaves.

Cha Dao Set (Tweezers – Chá Jiā)

Cha Dao translates to the way of tea in gongfu cha. It’s a set of tea accessories that help with different elements of gongfu cha. The set often comes with 6 useful tea accessories.

A Cha Dao gongfu cha set (like this one on Amazon) will have:

A ‘vase’ to hold all the accessories
A tea scoop to pick up tea leaves
A funnel to place the tea leaves into a teapot without losing or damaging any leaves.
Tongs (Chá Jiā) to pick up the cups without touching them. It’s a much nicer way to serve tea to your guests rather than hold the teacups directly if they are too hot.
A tea brush to clean tea leaf scraps, and push extra water down the tea boat.
A needle to clean and remove tea leaves from the spout of a teapot.

I don’t have the entire set, instead I purchased a few items that I felt were useful. So out of the set, I only have a tea scoop, and tongs.

a closeup of a hand holding a gongdao bei and pouring out a clear yellow liquid into a small white teacup. You can still see the top of the tea boat with slats in the wood, a gaiwan filled with tea leaves blurred in the background, and the head of a clay dog tea pet just barely sticking up from the bottom of the photo.

Tea Pet (Chá Chong)

This is quite possibly the most useless part of gong fu tea, but it’s also the most fun! A tea pet serves absolutely no purpose other than being a more fun way to pour out your extra tea. Now you can pour the water on your pet rather than nothing!

But there’s more of a spiritual belief behind the tea pet. At the beginning, it’s just clay with no soul, but over time you will cure it with tea – giving your pet a unique soul.

If you get a clay one, they’ll eventually start to change colour and even develop a unique smell based on the tea you use. You can also find ones that change colour with water temperature or pee out water (known as the peeing boy)!

This one on Amazon just makes me so happy though! I got my dog tea pet from Sebz Tea House in Quebec City (unfortunately closed now).

You can collect tea pets, and even have specific ones you use for different teas.

A closeup of the beloved clay dog tea pet. There are little black eyes, its ears are down, and its tongue is sticking out. It's in a seating position looking up. — *I love my dog tea pet as part of gongfu cha!*

What Kind Of Tea Can You Use For Gongfu Cha?

You can use whatever tea you want! Obviously though, it is made for Chinese teas, like pu’erh, black, white, oolong, and even green teas.

Just be sure to follow steeping temperatures so you don’t burn the leaves.

P.S. Don’t know what the difference is between each tea!? Read more about the different types of tea in my post.

Gongfu Cha Method For Tea – Steps

Now that you have everything you need, let’s talk about how to use it all, and the individual steps for a proper gongfu cha session.

There is a process you should follow when using a gaiwan to taste tea.

tea-in-gaiwan-end-up-on-one-side-after-pouring

1. Waking Up Your Tea Vessels

Waking up your tea vessels is the first step in the gongfu cha steeping method. It’s as simple as pouring hot water over everything you will use for that gong fu tea session. This includes your primary and secondary tea vessel, strainer, and teacup.

This serves two purposes: first, it cleans your vessels, but it also warms everything up in preparation for your tea.

The idea is that when you’re ready to steep your tea, the water won’t drop too much in temperature by being poured into cold porcelain. If you skip this step, it would defeat the purpose of heating up water to a specific temperature to steep your tea!

First pour the water into your primary tea vessel. Once it’s warmed up, pour the hot water into your secondary tea vessel. And follow the same rules; once it’s hot, pour that water into your teacups.

If you are serving tea to guests, make sure to wet the rims with boiling water of your tea cups to clean them before use.

gong-fu-cha-session--wake-up-your-tea-vessels — *Waking up your tea accessories for gong fu tea*

2. Preparing Your Tea For Gongfu Cha

You’ll have to measure your tea.

Although there’s no hard rule for how much tea to use. You can measure it out using a 1:25 tea to water ratio, or you can eyeball it.

If you’re using a gaiwan, cover the bottom with tea. If you’re using a Yixing teapot, fill it up with 1/3 tea.

But for a good starting point, you can also follow the weight for each type of tea below.

Green & Yellow: 3 – 3.5 g
White: 3.5 – 4g
Black: 4 – 4.5g
Oolong: 4.5 – 5g
Pu’erh: 5g
Ball Oolong: 6 – 6.5g

Before adding it to your teapot, look at the dry leaves and take notes on how they look and smell.

3. Warming The Tea Leaves

Once your tea is measured and your primary tea vessel is warmed up, add your tea leaves and cover your teapot.

Let your teapot sit covered for a few seconds to warm up and add a bit of moisture to the tea leaves. This will heighten the smell of the leaves.

Once the tea leaves have had time to warm up, open up the lid to smell the tea leaves. You can start with smelling the lid, and then the leaves.

You can also cover it back up and shake your primary tea vessel to further open up the aromas of the tea leaves.

smell-the-lid-of-the-gaiwan-tea-tasting — *Smelling the lid!*

4. Rinse & First Infusion

Now, you can add some water to your tea. If the tea requires you to rinse the tea leaves (like aged tea), add a bit of water and quickly pour it out.

When you do this, if you’re using a gaiwan, you can leave a larger gap to let some of the smaller and broken tea leaves escape. When you pour this tea out, it’s the perfect opportunity to pour out the water over your tea pet if you have one.

Now you’re ready for your first infusion! Add water to your primary tea vessel, remove any bubbles with the lid, and cover it. Wait about 10 seconds and then pour out your tea into teacups or your secondary tea vessel.

a closeup of a hand holding a gongdao bei and pouring out a clear yellow liquid over a clay dog tea pet. Half of the head and body of the dog is a slightly darker red, and it's glistens in the light as the liquid flows over it.

You can still see the top of the tea boat with slats in the wood, a gaiwan filled with tea leaves blurred in the background, and a porcelain tea cup.

If you poured into a secondary tea vessel, you now have an extra step to pour into individual tea cups.

Before tasting your tea, you can also smell the teapot lid and tea leaves again. The aromas might have changed. Take note of the colour and look of the liquor and the wet tea leaves.

Next you’re finally ready to taste your tea!

P.s. You might be interesting in my printable tea tasting guide bundle, complete with a tea tasting journal and guide to amplify your tea tasting experience.

pouring-water-for-repeat-infusion-gong-fu-

5. Continue Infusions

Repeat these steps until you’re done with the tea. With each infusion, you can add more time, especially if you notice your tea is becoming weaker.

6. Cleaning

Once you’re done with your gongfu cha session, you will have to clean your gongfu tea set so that it’s ready the next time you want to use it…

How To Clean Your Gongfu Tea Set: Putting It To Sleep

Once you’re finished with your gongfu cha session, you need to clean everything. Just like you woke everything up, you will now be putting everything to sleep.

This is important so everything gets disinfected, and you don’t get any residual tea stains.

You’ll need boiling water and a clean, dry towel. You should avoid using soap (especially scented soap) that can affect the tea.

If you want to use something stronger than boiling water, you can use melamine sponges (like these on Amazon), which are like the magic eraser.

There are specific steps to cleaning your gongfu cha set as well…

pouring-out-gaiwan-gong-fu-chinese-tea-session

1. Dump The Tea Leaves Out Of Your Primary Vessel

Either dump out your tea leaves onto an extra plate, towel, or directly into the tea boat.

You might need some extra water for this step to get them all out.

2. Rinse Your Vessels

Once there are no more tea leaves, add hot water to your teapot. You can even cover it and pour the water over the lid as well to disinfect and sterilize everything.

Let it sit for a few seconds before pouring it out. Then take a dry, clean tea towel and use a bit of pressure to rub off the tea stains and dry it. If you’re using a gaiwan, don’t forget to clean the bottom and the saucer!

This might take a few passes depending on the tea stains and material.

3. Repeat The Process

You’ll now do the same thing but with your sharing pitcher and teacups. For a bit of extra disinfection on the teacups, make sure the boiling water touches the rims.

4. Dump Out Your Tea Boat & Dry Well

Don’t forget to carefully dump out the water from your tea boat – you don’t want that staying in there.

And then dry it out like you did for everything else!

Now you’re ready for your next gongfu cha session!

Shop What You’ll Need For Gongfu Cha On Amazon

Last update on 2024-12-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API