I have always loved tea. I fell in love with hot tea and learned how to brew it the “British way” or the western way when we lived in Somerset, England years ago.
Recently, I am learning the Gongfu way. What an amazing difference in the taste of tea I have always loved.
It involves lots of tea ware which is fun!!! First, the rinsing of the tea leaves,& feeding your tea pet (mine is a horse -a birthday gift from my sister). That tea water is dumped in the tea board. Then one does a second infusion. The time is quite short -for oolong 20 seconds - not minutes. The tea can then be infused up to 9 times, but only at 5 seconds. The later infusions have even more flavor, which seems backwards!! The temperature of the water makes a huge difference.
I even let the leaves dry on a towel ( if I have only done 3 or 4 infusions) then I use them the next day for the remainder of infusions.
It is a wonderful way to experience tea. I can’t begin to express the difference enjoying loose leaf tea this way opposed to how I have always done it.