Tea For 2008

Mali Hsu gazed into her china cabinet, which holds nearly two dozen dollsize, clay Yixing teapots. She was looking for the one that would be best for a tea ceremony to usher in the Chinese New Year, which begins Thursday. She settled on a terra cotta number adorned with a design of bamboo stalks around the circumference of the pot. “I love this teapot that is surrounded with this bamboo design, because bamboo means good fortune, and long life,” she said.

She had invited us to her home to show us how the Chinese perform a tea ceremony, so anyone who might be interested in staging one will know what’s involved.
At its core, the tea ceremony is a social time.
“It’s a time for family and friends to relax, tell stories and celebrate,” Hsu said.

Tea, not food, is the star of the show; so aside from a few small snacks, good tea leaves, a decent teapot, and a knowledge of brewing and sipping techniques, all you need is a desire to get some people together.

But it should be treated as a special occasion, not a family picnic. For our visit, Hsu had spread a lovely yellow satin brocade runner down the center of her dining room table, which is ornately carved with Chinese designs. At one end, she displayed an array of intricately designed canisters of Chinese tea.

As she carefully removed teapots from her glass case, she told us about the custom of a tea ceremony.

The 50-something Taiwanese native, who came to the U.S. when she was 33, said the Chinese tea ceremony is all about a sense of peace and calm. Before it was a common drink, tea was used solely as an herbal medicine to aid digestion. For that reason, the ceremony is often held after a meal.

Unlike the well-known Japanese tea ceremonies called cha dao, which originated in China and focus on symbolic hand gestures, the Chinese adopted another name for their ceremony: “cha yia,” meaning “art of tea.” It’s less ritualistic than the Japanese version.

Still, according to Sevencups.com, a Chinese tea ceremony should encompass six basic components: attitude, tea selection, water selection, tea-ware selection, ambience and technique. Hsu explained and demonstrated each step as it is done in her native Taiwan.

- Attitude: Certainly, Hsu had the attitude of the tea performer, which, according to the Web site, is to be calm and relaxed, and to enjoy the act of making tea.

- Tea selection: The Web site states that “in addition to fragrance, shape and taste, the tea should have a beautiful story and name.” Forget tea bags when you are going to have a Chinese tea ceremony.

“They have a poor tea flavor and are too old for making aromatic, flavorful tea,” Hsu said.

For her ceremony, Hsu looked over her array of tea canisters and homed in on Longjin tea leaves, a green tea that has a mild earthy aroma when brewed.

- Water selection: This is a big deal for making delicious tea; Sevencups.com mandates “pure, light and clean water.”
“Some Chinese references say to use fresh spring water or even clean snow,” Hsu said.

But with the good quality of Colorado Springs water, she often uses tap water or bottled spring water.

“Never use hard water,” she said. “It will spoil the delicate taste of the tea and has less of the healthy minerals of spring water.”
The water should be at a rolling boil for brewing.

- Tea ware: The Web site recommends “useful and beautiful items,” though, any teapot will work.

Hsu selected one of her little clay pots and another clay pitcher. She placed both in the kitchen sink, then poured some of the boiling water over them to warm them. Next, she placed several pinches of tea leaves in the pot and filled it with boiling water.
“The tea will steep very quickly — about 10 to 30 seconds,” she said.

- Ambience: What you want, according to Sevencups.com, is a “clean, comfortable and quiet room.” Hsu had that and more — a table setting worthy of a home-magazine cover. She sat the teapot on a small, embroidered, silk coaster and the pitcher on another small, square coaster. With her dining room decorated in all things Asian, the mood was set for the performance of the tea ceremony.

- Technique: When the brewing time was up, Hsu poured the tea from the pot into the pitcher to release its fragrant bouquet, then poured the tea from the pitcher into small serving cups.
Sipping hot tea is akin to tasting wine.

“First, you smell the warm fragrance of the tea,” she said. “Then take just a little sip and hold it in your mouth before swallowing.”

When the first round of tea was finished, she added more boiling water to the same tea leaves and repeated the process.

“The teapot can be refilled four or five times with boiling water over the same leaves,” she said.
Food at a Chinese tea ceremony is less important than the tea being served.

“We might offer a few snacks at a tea ceremony: dried tofu, dried fish, dried fruit or nuts — sort of like foods you might have with cocktails,” she said.
For the traditional pre-tea meal, we’ve included some easy recipes.

It’s not too late to organize a Chinese tea ceremony in honor of the Year of the Rat. Swing by an Asian market to pick up some tea and snacks, and make a stop at Sparrow Hawk, 12 E. Bijou St., where you can find a good selection of Yixing teapots and serving cups.

This article was taken from: gazette.com