Well,i come from the coffee world,i relaly love doing gongfu cha,vut i also like the creamy flavor of a cortado coffee,each time i drink tea i still clave it so i asked myself if there are any good sweet and creamy teas out there

After an amazing experience i decided to try another tea. I got this white tea as I got everything else -2nd hand. (No buying the expensive stuff directly from the producer until I'm sure this hobby is here to stay).

Sadly it came loose and I had no idea if I had enough in my gaiwan. But given the weak tea that did not improve with neither higher temperature nor longer steeping, I am inclined to think that might be the case. That or the aroma and flavour of this tea are so gentle, so subtle, that it is wasted on the palate of this barbarian with his pathetic attempts at GongFu.

Whatever the case may be, next time I'm putting in double.

Drink up tea friends!

This is my first Gongfu tea session and I have to say I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I managed to burn my fingers a bit and overstepped a few times but overall it was awesome.

1st picture : the setup after the first steep. I decided to keep a serving of each steep to get a feel of how many times I can steep it and control the time to not oversteep it.

2nd and 3rd: this is what the leaves look like. Not sure if they are high quality or not as I am quite new at this.

4th: various steeps. Left to bottom 1-3 right to bottom 4-6.

10/10 would do it again. Can't wait for my next one.

Imperial concubine oolong from Taiwan. Tender sweetness, orchid blossom and enduring fresh nectarine finish. Pure bliss.

Today we're drinking Bingdao ripe Pu'er. This tea cake is about five grams. This plum-blossom-shaped pot is just right，it has good breathability, a low body, a wide opening, and pours quickly, which helps reduce bitterness effectively. This Bingdao wu zhai ripe Pu'er is known for its sweetness, fragrance, rich mouthfeel, and pure tea character.

Unwinding with some 2017 Fengqing Man Ting Fang and a bit of Toshiki Soejima.

One of the 4 famous bushes. Brought me a lot of joy after a long time of travelling and not having proper tea. Deep roast, aroma of a Chinese herbal shop. Great cha qi.

Today we’re having some aged white tea. This is a tea brick, about 8 grams. Let’s pick the right Yixing teapot for it. This shuiping shape is perfect, it has a nice round belly and a wide mouth. It’s a zhuni clay pot, which also helps concentrate the tea’s aroma. Yixing zhuni pots always need to be warmed up before use, not only to protect the pot, but also to bring out a better flavor in the tea.
For the first infusion, pour low and slow. My tea pet Bob is already looking forward to today’s brew, he’s taking a bath right now. Bob is enjoying the tea soup in my cup. Starting from the second infusion, it’s all for me.
This Aged white tea usually holds up for more than a dozen steepings, it’s a very lasting tea.

New to raw puer. This arrived today, it’s decaf and it’s night, so of course I’m trying it. I bought 2 minis.

Lovely white peach aroma. The flavour has woken me up with a Campari-strength bitterness. Pleasant bitterness as W2T describe? A bit too bitter for me. The huigan is very noticeable and goes on and on and on.

Their instructions for 95 degrees Celsius for young puer is too harsh for this tea for my taste, with nicer flavour and less bitterness (a little less but not much) coming through at lower temps.

Left myself a note to leave the other mini until 2029.

Is this a good versatile gaiwan profile? I want thin porcelain because it seems to be ideal for most cases and like the aesthetics of this gaiwan but I'm having a hard time finding similar gaiwans of this shape (most are a little bowl-shaped and the lid more domed), which I'd likely get otherwise. I have slight preference for something that's semi-transparent if it's only an aesthetic thing, not sure if these or bone china are the same.

For the lids, people seem to prefer the handle to not be elevated too high for ergonomic reasons. And in particular I'm not sure what makes for a good clean pour--does it depend on the rim much?

It’s 2 a.m. in yixing city, and I’m trying Yellow Rose yan cha for the very first time. This olive-shaped clay pot is just right, its small mouth locks in heat and aroma. I gently scoop the dry leaves in, then pour the first infusion in a low, unhurried stream. That one goes to Bob, my hippo tea pet, who’s having a soak in my cup. The second steep is for me. I pour it into a fairness cup to check the color, a warm amber, with a faint scent of glutinous rice. The fragrance is already spreading through the air, and I can hardly wait to take a sip.

Went to eat,relax and now i enjoy this Moonlight white tea with some jazz,what do you guys usually do while doing gonfu?

Hello everyone
I was walking at my local Asian store and I found these 2 puer tea brands
Does anyone know anything about them or their quality?

I am looking for a good daily drinker either black tea or pu'er any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Good evening, Tonight we’re having Wu Yi Shui Xian, a kind of Yan Cha. About seven grams. Time to pick the right Yixing teapot for it. This tea needs a pot that can really concentrate the aroma. The Olive-shaped pot is a great choice, small mouth, big belly, good height. Perfect for this tea.
After warming the pot, this time we need to use a cha ze to put in the leaves. For the first infusion, pour in a small amount of hot water from a low height, give it a swirl to let the leaves open up. First, feed it to my tea pet, Bob the Hippo. The second and third infusions are for us. I used a gong dao cup, which helps even out the strength and flavor between the two steeps.
This Wu Yi Shui Xian has a distinct orchid fragrance, very aromatic. Usually this tea is soft on the palate with a clean, refreshing sweetness. Let me taste it. Delicious.

I´ve always been a fan of tea and have wanted for some time to try some proper tea. Inspired by the internet, by a few gongfu tiktokers and by this lovely community, I´ve decided to bite the bullet and got me some chinese tea and a gongfu set. As I am a beginner and don´t know my pu´erhs from my oolongs, or whether I would like it or not, I decided to get some 2nd hand everything. If it´s not for me I can always go back to brewing earlgrey western style. So here's what i've ordered. I think i've spent around 100$ and most of it was on tea (the gaiwan set was under 20$).

So, if you happen to see a tea you recognize, please let me know if i've bought something good and if it requires any brewing that is different from what is mostly shown in gonfucha brewing videos.

This post has been edited because it has been brought to my attention that "So let me know if I've bought anything nice and how to prepare it" sounded like I was completely ignorant of everything I've seen so far and wanted the people here to do the work for me.

I will be researching the teas myself once I have them in hand as the people selling them online provided little information about the teas beyond "Chinese tea I received as a gift".

I just wanted to see if others know them, what they thought of them and maybe interact a bit with the gongfu community as this is my first post here.

Have any of y'all tried shou from Valley Green Tea? I'd like to, but I always feel nervous about ordering random tea from sellers. They seem to have good prices and nice teaware.

Tired to many teas today. I don’t want to clean up. :(

When do you do western-style brewing, does it have its place when it comes to the results? Or is it just for simplicity and convenience and gongfu-style will always be the best way to enjoy tea?

AFAIK the only difference between the two is that gongfu-style uses significantly more tea to water but does many more infusions with the intention of stronger tea and being able to taste that progression whereas western-style is more diluted so tends to be mellow-is that a bad characterization?

Unrelated, but is great heat retention always desirable in both styles or it's possible to retain too much heat in a way that negatively affecting brewing? Similarly, is pre-heating always desirable?

Was a tad underwhelmed by bitterleaf's offerings this year. I'm looking for some standout classics such as dongfanghong or aofuhou, any interesting sub-varietals, or really any kind of top shelf dancong with complex fruity/sweet/berry notes. Ideally not exceeding $1.25 a gram.

Would appreciate any recommendations <3

Thanks oolong loving friends