bRUNCH WITH CHAOCHA
BRUNCH | TEA | KNOWLEDGE | NETWORK
video at the bottom
CHAOCHA's last workshop in 2020 was held on Dec.13th at a beautiful restaurant & bar in Shenzhen Bay. We invited 12 guests for "Sunday Brunch with CHAOCHA." Everyone was able to get to know each other throughout brunch before the workshop, and then later discover the amazing gongfu brewing together while sharing tea.
We started with an anecdote -- our president Mr. Xi gave a small speech in front of a Chaoshan historical street in October and told people how he likes to drink tea in gongfu style. We then gave a brief intro of loose leaf tea and the two teas we were about to brew: Moonlight White and Iron Goddess.
We explained that gongfu brewing uses more tea leaves, a smaller brewing vessel, and keeps the steeping time within a few seconds, unlike other brewing methods that use smaller tea amounts, large vessels, with a long steeping time. We went through the brewing tools and their benefits, showing our guests all the key points when using the gaiwan and explaining how tea sharing should go.
Our workshop this time was more about teaching the brewing technique and less about tasting tea. However, our guests seemed to really enjoy our teas!
We explained that gongfu brewing uses more tea leaves, a smaller brewing vessel, and keeps the steeping time within a few seconds, unlike other brewing methods that use smaller tea amounts, large vessels, with a long steeping time. We went through the brewing tools and their benefits, showing our guests all the key points when using the gaiwan and explaining how tea sharing should go.
Seeing our guests enjoying and sharing tea in gongfu style brings us so much joy.
We concluded the workshop by explaining the meaning of "gongfu." Many misuse the translation of "Kungfu" and take it as a tea associated with martial arts. But the correct translation of "gongfu" in Chinese is "effort." Aptly named because brewing in this style requires so much effort. Yet it's something still thriving after one thousand years as it's a great way to show appreciation to your loved ones by making the effort to brew tea for them.
Most of our guests agreed that gongfu brewing is great to bring out the best of the tea and is sociable as they can interact with friends and family during the tea section.
Last but not the least, even though we think gongfu brewing is arguably the best way to brew tea, CHAOCHA still encourages everyone to brew tea in any style or method that suits their lifestyle. As tea is a universal language, all we want is to share it with more people.
CHAOCHA is a tea brand founded by Swan, who grew up in Chaoshan--an area where people enjoy brewing loose leaf tea in gongfu style (Gong Fu Cha) from day to night. After moving to Shenzhen and living there for almost 10 years, Swan slowly realized how much influence Gong Fu Cha has had on her self-awareness, family bonding, and social connection. She decided to break the stereotype of tea being something boring and traditional, reintroducing tea drinking to more people and helping them discover the possibilities of tea.
In addition to providing high-quality tea with great taste and customized teaware, CHAOCHA offers fun and interactive workshops; tea sessions for events; team building programs for companies; afternoon tea for hotels and restaurants, and more.