Lessons from a tea ceremony, ‘gong fu' style

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6 days ago

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On Instagram, I stumbled upon the @theteadrunk, and was pleasantly surprised to find another teahead in Bengaluru. What's more, he was hosting a gong fu tea session. Gong fu is a Chinese style of tea brewing, and is well suited for speciality teas, but rather uncommon in India.
On Instagram, I stumbled upon the @theteadrunk, and was pleasantly surprised to find another teahead in Bengaluru. What's more, he was hosting a gong fu tea session. Gong fu is a Chinese style of tea brewing, and is well suited for speciality teas, but rather uncommon in India.
So last Saturday, I made my way to Sai Karthik (The Tea Drunk) and his wife Maitreyee Bezbaroa's home for an evening of tea, gong fu style. 'I started exploring tea about six years ago and organically moved towards eastern brewing practices because they offered much greater precision in brewing tea," he says. It took him to a tea master in Malaysia, who introduced him to the specifics of gong fu brewing and trained him.
Early this year, Karthik began hosting tea-tasting sessions 'to offer folks a glimpse into tea appreciation." It packs in his learnings, and he generously opens his enviable collection of tea to others. By the time I arrived, the gong fu tray was set up, the gooseneck kettle on the ready, the Yixing teapot, the lidded gaiwan bowl, the little cups, and even a Japanese kyusu teapot, were all laid out. Also Read | India's very own tea ceremony
We began with a peony white from Arya tea estate in Darjeeling, a tea that was wonderfully easy to like, followed by a very tippy black tea from Rujani tea in Assam. This was a familiar favourite for me, but again, I was struck by its sweetness, and how a great Assam black tea needs nothing else to embellish it. With each tea, Karthik shared information about the tea itself, where it came from and what made it worth our time. Bezbaroa had paired the teas with wagashi-style (traditional Japanese confections) small eats, which began with a pandan-coconut jelly followed by some hojicha and chai mochi, chosen to complement the tea. The oolong was the big middle and Karthik had planned this part with three Chinese classics—beginning with the Tie Guan Yin (on the greenish end of the scale) to the Phoenix Dancong (a Duckshit Snowflake that I had enjoyed once and found that I still enjoyed just as much as before) ending with the darker Wuyi rock oolong with its deeply earthy mineral notes. These were paired with a nutty mango tart.
For each of these teas, we did about three steeps, and it gave us plenty of room to pause and take in the spectrum we had covered, along with general chatter and getting to know everyone who had gathered for tea. 'I wanted to contribute to developing Bengaluru's tea scene. We've hosted 12 sessions so far," says Karthik. The last tea for the day was a green, specifically a Japanese gyokuro, with a nice big hit of umami paired with an Assamese koldil (banana flower) curry pufflet.
I had wondered about the three hours for a tea session, but emerging three hours and several cups of tea later, it made sense. It made for a most enjoyable evening, not too demanding if one is unfamiliar and with plenty to discover about tea. Also Read | Gong fu brewing and tea pets Session dates are announced on Instagram @theteadrunk or www.theteadrunk.com; ₹ 990 a head.
Tea Nanny is a fortnightly series on the world of tea. Aravinda Anantharaman is a tea drinker, writer and editor. She posts @AravindaAnanth1 Topics You May Be Interested In