Don Mei : Hey Teaheads. This is Don from Mei
Leaf. In this video : Why you should switch
to Gong Fu tea brewing. In this video I'm
going to be tasting a raw Puerh tea, and I'm
going to be giving you my thoughts on why
Gong Fu tea brewing is "the" superior way
of brewing most teas in terms of the quality
in the cup. This video is going to go under
the "Basic Tea Education", and the "Single
Tea Tasting" playlists. If at any point in
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So I know a lot of you out there already do
Gong Fu brewing. You already know what's up.
But keep watching, because you are my Gong
Fu ambassadors. I want you to go out and spread
the word about Gong Fu brewing - if you're
not doing so already - and hopefully some
of the things that I'm going to say will help
to convince some of your friends to "go Gong
Fu". Before we get into it, I'm going to tell
you a little bit about the tea that we're
drinking today. This is young Gu Shu, 2016
- the successor of young Gu Shu 2015. Every
year we try to bring in a raw Gu Shu Puerh
tea. For those that don't know, Gu Shu is
ancient [Puerh] tea tree material. These teas
have been selected especially for their ability
to be drunk young. This is why we call it
"young" Gu Shu. So, [it's a] young Gu Shu,
2015 [which] came from Jing Mai mountain,
[and] was a very successful harvest for us,
and I think the last few packs are still in
stock, but we're about to run out. So, young
Gu Shu 2016 is now in stock. Let's SCOPE this
tea so you know a little bit about it. SCOPE
stands are "Season, Cultivar, Origin, Picking,
and Elevation". The season for this tea is
spring. This is a spring 2016 tea. The cultivar
- or variety - is the Da Ye Zhong, Assamica
variety, which is the classic Puerh variety
for the most rich and complex Puerh teas.
"O" stands for origin, [and] as I said, we
previously got our 2015 young Gu Shu from
Jing Mai mountain. This one comes from Xi
Gui mountain. We tried to find another one
from Jing Mai mountain, [but] for some reason
- I don't know how you [other] Puerh-heads
felt out there - Jing Mai 2016 wasn't great
for us this year. So we searched around a
lot and we found a worthy successor in the
very much revered Xi Gui mountains in Yunnan
province. So this [batch] comes from Xi Gui.
[For] the picking, this is a bud and up to
three or four leaves. The amount of leaves
they pick doesn't really matter, because it's
always sorted out afterwards [where] they
take out the Huang Pian, the "yellow leaves",
[and] so any leaves that are not tender enough
to make tea they'll take out, but it's usually
three or four leaves. Finally, [for] the elevation,
this is an 800 meter elevation tea. So [now]
we've SCOPE’d this tea, and we're going
to be tasting it in a little bit. Before that
I want to give you my thoughts as to why Gong
Fu brewing is better than western brewing.
I'm not going to be talking today about lots
of aspects of Gong Fu brewing that I love
- for example, the social aspects of Gong
Fu brewing, or the aesthetics of Gong Fu brewing.
Instead, what I want to focus on today is
simply, "Does Gong Fu brewing produce a more
delicious tea." Many of you don't know this,
but I used to work in the music industry.
I was a sound engineer and producer. I spent
many years of my life in sound studios, recording
musicians, [and] mixing music. It's interesting
, because as my passion has turned to tea
I've noticed similarities, and I would like
to present to you a analogy - in terms of
tea and music - which I hope demonstrates
why Gong Fu brewing is superior to western
brewing. So, the leaves represent the music
instruments. There's no point in producing
- or you CAN'T - produce great music if the
musical instruments are no good. You can get
plywood violin, or you can get a Stratovarius.
The leaves are the starting point. That's
the music instrument. The producers and farmers,
out there in the east, are the musicians.
You can have amazing instruments, but if you
don't have the right musicians it's not going
to be able to produce the right sound. You
need the musicians and the musical instruments.
[Finally], the brewer - that's you. The brewer
is the producer, [which is] what I used to
do. Your job is to try to basically take the
musicians and the musical instruments and
get that sound [to be expressed] in the way
that the musicians had intended. To do that
you have some variables. The first is teaware.
I equate teaware to the sound equipment - either
the recording equipment or the playback equipment.
You can have the most incredible music, but
if you're listening to it on tinny headphones
it's not going to be that great, right? So
teaware is really fundamental, and I know
a lot of people out there [who] are teaware
obsessed understand what I mean. You get so
much more enjoyment if you find the right
teaware. So teaware is the equipment. Then
you have three brewing parameters : the temperature,
the water-to-leaf ratio, and the steeping
time. The temperature affects what levels
of different compounds are extracted from
the leaves. In my analogy I equate it very
much similar to equalization. You know on
HiFi - or any nice audio equipment - you'll
have bass, you'll have treble, you'll have
mid-range, [and] you may have multi-band equalizers,
where you can tweak the levels of each band
to make a perfectly balanced and sweet sound.
So, temperature is equated to the equalization.
The steeping time - in other words, how long
you brew for - is equated to the volume. [That
is], how loud you're turning the music up.
Now, if you don't get the equalization right,
it doesn't matter how loud or soft it is,
it's not going to sound right. Similarly,
even if you get the equalization right, if
you turn it too loud it distorts, and the
sound starts to become fuzzy. [It's] similar
with tea. It's exactly the same thing, so
getting the right steeping time is very important.
Finally, the water-to-leaf ratio. This is
where Gong Fu brewing is key, because Gong
Fu brewing - for those [who] don't know - the
main difference between Gong Fu and western
brewing is the amount of leaf - to water - [that]
you use. So in front of my I've got the amount
of leaf that I would use for Gong Fu brewing,
for 150 ml. This is about 7.5 grams of young
Gu Shu, 2016.And here I've got the amount
that I would be using for western style brewing
- for the same amount of water - so 1.5 grams
for 150 ml. So, 7.5 [grams] for 150 ml, Gong
Fu style, and this is 1.5 grams per 150 ml,
western style. You can see, visually, the
difference in the amount of leaves you use.
When we go back to that analogy with music,
the difference is the richness of the sound.
So if you imagine that every one of these
leaves is a violin, you can imagine that a
smaller number of violins - maybe a quartet
of violins - is going to produce a different
richness of sound compared to a whole symphony,
or to a whole string section [of] maybe twenty-four
violins. No matter how much you turn up the
volume you will never be able to get the same
richness of sound from the four violins as
you would from the twenty-four violins. It's
just not possible. This richness, in terms
of flavor and texture, is the key difference
as to why Gong Fu brewing is the best way
to get the most delicious tea. I want to not
just explain that to you theoretically, but
I want to show you, so let's start brewing.
Right. I have here my Gong Fu Guru. Those
of you who know us know the Gong Fu Guru very
well. We have our tea tray here . You know
what? Gong Fu brewing can be as complicated
or as simple as you want, so don't get too
hung up at the beginning - if you're just
starting out in Gong Fu brewing - on whether
or not you need all the teaware, because you
don't. Obviously it's nice to have it, but
you can start just by literally increasing
the amount of leaf you're using to water ratio.
Here I have two 150 ml pots. What I'm going
to be doing is making sure all of the variables
are identical except for time and water-to-leaf
ratio.So I'm going to be putting in here - in
the western brew style [pot] - my 1.5 grams
of leaf. In [the other pot] here I'm going
to be putting in my 7.5 grams of leaf Now
obviously, because I am putting about five
times the amount of leaf in the Gong Fu style,
I'm going to be brewing the western style
five times as long, in order to equalize the
strength. Now this is to show to you that
it doesn't matter how much longer you brew,
you will never get the same richness. So I
have here [some] boiling water - [which is]
nearly 100 degrees [Celcius], or about 210
[degrees] Fahrenheit. We're going to give
them both a quick rinse first. That will heat
up the teaware, make sure we get a nice, even
brew, and it will pour away any of the broken
leaves, if there are any, [as] these leaves
are really nice and whole. So the [tea rinse]
gets poured away. Same here. Right. We're
going to be [brewing] 100 seconds. Here we
go. We start. [DON TURNS ON TIMER] There we
go, 100 seconds. Then this one here I'm going
to be brewing for 20 seconds. You can hear
that [timer] going. I wish it didn't have
a sound. Anyway, no matter. Oh! can I turn
it down? I can. Good. All right. We're going
to allow[these] to infuse. What I'm trying
to do is achieve the same kind of color infusion,
and a similar kind of volume. So remember,
we're turning the volume up every second that
we're leaving this to brew. We're turning
the volume up, but what I hope we'll notice
is that it doesn't matter about the volume
- the taste and richness will be different.
So, forty seconds in, [and it's] time for
me to smell these leaves a bit more. Ah! It's
got an incredible like molasses, and a salted
caramel. It's also got some of the appliness
of the Jing Mai, but it's more of a cooked
apple, and it's got a little bit of [the]
kind of humid forest - you know, the classic,
[humid, warm, summer] Yunnan forest. But [it's
got] that cooked apple, sea salt and caramel,
[which is] kind of like a toffee apple. It's
really, really nice. How are we doing [on
time]?All right. We are nearly there. That's
80 seconds. I want to do this quite geekily
[to] make sure I get this right, otherwise
I know I'm going to get some comments out
there saying I didn't do it properly. Now
we're up to 90 seconds, and we are ready to
pour. Okay. [This] is my western style brewed,
young Gu Shu, 2016. Now let's do the same
here. Let's pour this in. We're going to be
doing 20 seconds here [in this pot] , while
it's still going. It's still going, so I can
see where it's at. I'm excited to taste [it].
This tea has come recently. It arrived about
three or four weeks ago, but I haven't had
a real chance to sit down and have a session
with it yet, so here we go. That [was] 20
seconds. Let's see, first of all, whether
or not the color is about the same. I will
show it with the camera. This goes away, [and
we] take the lid off. Right. Let me just pause
this [timer] for a [second] and get back to
my camera screen here, and make sure everything
is in focus. Right. Here we go. I'm going
to bring this [up] to you and focus it. [This
is] the western, and this is the Gong Fu.
I think I've done not a bad job there. They're
pretty similar in terms of color, although
I can already see - and I don't know if you
can [as it] is probably a bit difficult - but
I have the light going through these tea liquors.
and I can already see [that] this one here
just looks much thicker. [It] just has more
of a thickness to it. You know how they say,
with wine, that some wines just leave a nice
kind of streak on the glass. It just has a
thicker body to it. Let's give it a taste.
Which [one] should I taste first? Let's taste
the western [brewed liquor] first. Cheers
everyone. Cheers, tea-heads. Well, if I was
served this in a restaurant - and you know
restaurants always serve western style, [which]
really winds me up - I would be quite disappointed.
The color of the liquor looks nice, [but]
the texture is quite flat. I am getting some
taste, [which is] kind of a slight, fruity
taste like an Asian pear, [SIPS TEA] but that
warm butter-scotchy, salted caramel aroma
is certainly not coming through. I'm left
with very little sensation in terms of any
kind of grip in the mouth. It's just tasting
quite flat. Let's go with this [Gong Fu] brewed
[one]. I can already see, just by looking
at the bubbles. One of the great ways to figure
texture, in terms of tea, is - even before
you put it in your mouth - when you're pouring
it you see little bubbles, and the way that
they kind of move on the surface demonstrates
a lot about the thickness. When you see that
it's kind of jelly-like, [and] it has a much
thicker texture -- let’s give it a taste
[It's] a world of difference. Now the texture
is very lubricating, slightly oily [and] thicker.
[With the taste] I'm getting that butterscotch,
warm, salty, dark caramel. I'm [also] getting
a slight [pear-like] refreshment. [It's] not
apple so much, but more pear. [There's] more
minerality, [and] so much more texture. When
I swallow I'm feeling that grip at the back
of my throat. [There's] that grip, and just
the sensation that there's a lot of minerality,
there's a lot going, [and] my tongue is starting
to [actually physically] react. It's kind
of puckering and tingling a little bit, [and]
so it's really giving me this intense tea
experience. Remember, as you drink more it
will build up more and more flavor, as you
lay down layer upon layer upon layer of the
minerals, and all of the [other] good stuff
that's in the tea. I don't really want to
go back to this one, but I will. Really, it
tastes very, very weak [and] quite flat. It
has the minerality, sure. It's got some structure,
of course. It has some flavor, and the flavors
are nice. But the level -- I mean, if you
go back to the music analogy, it's even more
than just richness. It’s just like you've
bought tickets to a concert and you’re in
the carpark, versus being in the auditorium.
You can kind of hear it, it's there, but it's
just not very loud, it's a bit muffled, and
the texture and base and feeling in your body
- the physical sensation of the music - is
very, very muted. You're only getting a kind
of whisper of what it should be. Compared
to this one the Gong Fu way of brewing [is]
much thicker, [and] much juicier. Now I'm
in the auditorium. Now I'm tasting - or hearing
- the music properly. It is just a world of
difference, and those of you who brew Gong
Fu style I know you know all of this already.
Once you go Gong Fu you really, really dón't
go back. It's one of those things [that] I
implore everybody out there. Try Gong Fu brewing!
You don't have to buy the whole set [and]
go crazy and spend lots of money on teaware.
Just take a lot of leaf - and don't be scared
- because I see people [who are] putting little
pinches of leaves in, and they're kind of
going, "Oh, [this] is very expensive tea.
I don't want to waste it." But you ARE wasting
it by doing that. You really are, because
ýou're not getting the full flavor of the
tea, [but] instead you're getting a dumbed
down, weakened, diluted version, and the farmers,
producers, [and] sellers, all that we're trying
to do is show you how wonderful this tea is,
and instead what you're doing is "producing"
- or playing - that music back over really,
really bad headphones, at a really low volume,
and it's just not going to give you the flavor
that we want you to taste. So, you're not
wasting tea if you're using a lot of leaf.
Believe me, just keep infusing it, keep hitting
it with water, and you will really experience
the tea. You're knowledge [and] ability to
taste the tea will improve, [and] everything
will improve if you go Gong Fu style. So please,
go Gong Fu. Those of you who [already] brew
Gong Fu, you are the Gong Fu ambassadors.
I want you to spread the word about Gong Fu
brewing. Really. Tell your friends. Get them
to understand that this is "the" way of brewing
tea. This is not some speciality way [which
is] ultra-geeky, [and] only [reserved] for
the higher echelons of tea drinkers way. This
is "the" way that you should be brewing tea.
So, I'm going to keep drinking this. Whoa!
I'm just getting this nice jasmine Hui Gan
- this jasmine sweetness - which is rising
from my throat. Mmm. It's quite a soft finish
- soft to dry - but I'm getting this amazing,
[jasmine-like], floral, [orchid-type] floral
sweetness rising from my throat. [It's] beautiful
[and] delicious. I'm going to keep drinking
this. I hope that I've done my utmost to convince
you to brew Gong Fu style. That's it tea-heads.
If you made it to the end of this video then
PLEASE give [it] the thumbs-up. Check out
our YouTube playlists. And let us know if
there are any videos that you would like us
to make. If you're ever in London then please
come visit us in Camden to say "Hi!" and taste
our wares. If you have any questions or comments
then please fire them over. Other than that,
I'm Don Mei from Mei Leaf. Thank you for being
a part of the revelation of true tea. Stay
away from the tea bags, keep drinking the
good stuff - Gong Fu style - and spread the
word, because nobody deserves bad tea. [WAVING]
Bye
