Chapter 14: The Way of Tea (Part 1)

  After Chu Chen entered, he asked a woman in her thirties with a charming demeanor who was standing by the reception counter:

  "Is Uncle Fu here, Sister Xin?"

  The young woman raised her head and saw that it was Chu Chen, so she smiled and said: "It's Xiao Chen, my dad is upstairs, he told you to come up and find him."

  "Alright then, Sister Xin, you're busy, I'll head upstairs now." Chu Chen bid farewell to Sister Xin and went straight up to the second floor.

  The room on the second floor was divided into two rooms of different sizes, with the smaller one used to display antiques. After all, a family-run antique shop wouldn't have too many genuine antiques, and a small room of about 20 square meters would be sufficient.

  The large room is about thirty square meters, and it's a place specifically for receiving guests. In fact, separating them like this also has its advantages. For example, when drinking tea and chatting with friends, the moisture in the air may be negligible, but antiques are very delicate, so even a small amount of accumulated moisture can still cause some damage.

  Chu Chen arrived at the second floor, where he saw Zhu Da Fu and a middle-aged man chatting and laughing together. On the table was a set of tea utensils, with a small stove on one side, boiling water, apparently preparing to taste tea.

  Zhu Dafu was sharp-eyed and immediately spotted Chu Chen at the door. He beckoned to him, saying: "As the saying goes, 'coming early is not as good as coming cleverly'. Come, let me introduce you first."

  After finishing speaking, Zhu Dafu began to introduce the two of them.

  "This young man is my nephew, Chu Chen. Don't look at his age, he's quite skilled in identifying porcelain. Master Song, if you have any needs in this area, feel free to ask for his help."

  Chu Chen hastily shook hands with the middle-aged man and exchanged business cards with him. Then, Zhu Dafu introduced the middle-aged man again:

  "Xiao Chen, this is Song Jun, Master Song. He's a very famous figure in Yixing, a master of crafting purple sand teapots. Not only that, he's also a tea ceremony master. From now on, our good fortune with tea will depend on him."

  Chu Chen said with a bow: "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you."

  Song Jun hastily waved his hand and said he didn't dare to accept it.

  At this time, the water on the stove had already boiled, and Zhu Dafu opened his mouth: "It's rare for Master Song to come to Beijing, next please ask Master Song to introduce us to the way of tea tasting, how about it?" After finishing speaking, he started clapping his hands.

  Chu Chen also applauded and cheered loudly.

  Song Jun saw that the enthusiasm was hard to refuse, so he said: "Alright, I'll talk about it for everyone. Let's first talk about what is the Way of Tea. This Way of Tea is actually the aesthetic way of appreciating tea, so in the end, we still have to talk about tasting tea."

  "In the Ming Dynasty, Xu Ji wrote in 'Tea Fu': 'Tea is nourished by water, water relies on utensils, soup is formed by fire, and the four are intertwined. If one is missing, it will be abandoned.' Therefore, the three most important things for this tea are water, tea leaves, and tea utensils."

  "First of all, let's talk about water. The best should be fresh natural mountain spring water. This time we used the Yuquan water brought by Zhu Lao. In his year, Qianlong Emperor, who was particular about tea, personally investigated and designated Yuquan water as 'the first spring in the world', and wrote 'The Record of Yuquan Mountain, the First Spring in the World'. Today, let's also taste the flavor of this first spring in the world."

  "Next is the tea, this time we are using a strong fragrant top-grade Anxi Tieguanyin. The mouthfeel is overflowing with fragrance, and the aftertaste is long-lasting. This tea is best brewed with chicken broth spring water, which brings out the most flavor. Of course, we don't have that condition now, but our Jade Spring water is a top-grade mountain spring water, so the brewed tea should have a unique flavor."

  "Besides, there are actually 27 kinds of tea utensils in ancient Chinese tea ceremony. Of course, we don't have such conditions now. It's not necessary to prepare all these tea utensils for our daily tea gatherings with friends. As long as the atmosphere is right, it's enough."

  After finishing these three aspects, Song Jun also prepared the tea set and began to brew tea while introducing the things that need attention. This time he demonstrated the pot and cup double brewing method.

  First, the tea is savored. Song Jun holds the tea sample jar with both hands, left hand holding the jar and right hand opening the lid, using a tea scoop to take out the tea leaves and put them into the tea savoring plate. If in a teahouse, at this time an assistant would come from the right side of the main pourer, walk to the left side, pick up the tea plate, present it to the guests for tea savoring, then take back the empty tea plate and put it back in its original place, afterwards retreating to the backstage.

  After appreciating the tea leaves, Song Jun's right hand lifted the kettle and poured hot water into the teapot. After a series of complex yet delightful operations, his right hand picked up the teapot, with his wrist raised to form a 90-degree angle between his hand and arm, and his palm facing himself, pouring the hot water from the pot into the tea cup. This step is called "warming the pot".

  After warming the teapot, Song Jun put the tea leaves into the purple sand pot. The coarser tea leaves were placed on one side of the water hole in the teapot, and the finer ones were placed on the other side of the handle to prevent the fine tea leaves from clogging the water hole after brewing.

  The amount of tea leaves is generally about half the capacity of the teapot, and Song Jun also reminded them that if they are not used to drinking oolong tea, it's better to use a lighter tea, and the amount of tea leaves only needs to be about one-third of the pot's capacity.

  But this depends on the tightness of the tea leaves. If they are tightly packed, you can use less, and if they are loose, you can use a bit more. For teas with many loose leaves, it's better to use less.

  Next, Song Jun's right hand lifts the kettle and pours hot water into the teapot in a circular motion, while his left hand covers the lid. His right hand then immediately lifts the kettle (same action as the last step of warming the pot) and pours the water into the tea cup. The purpose is to moisten the tea leaves and raise the temperature, allowing the aroma and flavor to be fully expressed. This step is called "warming up".

  After this, Chu Chen had already smelled the rich tea aroma of Tieguanyin. The pure and authentic fragrance made him drool with desire, but Gongfu Cha is all about savoring the process, appreciating the rhyme and flavor within, so that when you drink the tea later, it will be even more flavorful.

  Then, Song Jun's right hand lifted the teapot and poured in boiling water to the mouth of the pot. His left hand covered the lid, and after a minute, it was ready to drink. This is the first infusion.

  At this moment, Song Jun also didn't mind, using the warm water in the tea cup from earlier to warm up the tea cup, smelling cup and tasting cup again with his hands.

  One minute later, the tea was ready. Song Jun poured all the tea soup into a teacup and then held the teacup to pour it into the smelling cup, leaving a little bit of tea dregs at the bottom which he discarded.

  Finally, Song Jun placed the Pinming cup back in the Wenxiang cup, with his right hand facing upwards, using his index and middle fingers to hold the sides of the Wenxiang cup, and his thumb pressing against the bottom of the Pinming cup. He then rotated his wrist to the left, turning his palm downwards, placing the bottom of the Pinming cup on a tea tray, and carefully placed the tea tray into the middle tea plate on the left side. With this, the entire demonstration was completed.

  Song Jun handed two cups of tea to Zhu Dafu and Chu Chen respectively, made a please gesture, and everyone started tasting the tea.

  Chu Chen followed Song Jun's instructions, using his thumb and index finger to hold the aroma cup on both sides, rotating the edge of the aroma cup upwards, causing all the tea soup to flow into the tasting cup. He then clasped his hands together to hold the aroma cup, rubbing it several times before bringing it to his nose, opening a small gap between his thumbs to forcefully sniff the fragrance at the bottom of the cup.

  Suddenly a pure and refreshing fragrance reached the lungs, clearing the mind. At the same time, Chu Xun thought back to Song Jun's tea-brewing movements earlier, which made him even more delighted. The movement was elegant and strong, with a hint of masculinity, truly unique and captivating.

  The fragrance began to change, with a hint of musk in the midst of the refreshing scent, making Chu Chen feel as if he were standing in a mature forest, and suddenly it was an array of exhilaration.

  And this time the tea is indeed a top-grade Tieguanyin, with a lingering fragrance that lasts for a very long time. Chu Chen repeatedly rubbed and smelled it several times, and he could still feel that wonderful aroma, which truly lingers on and on, leaving an aftertaste that stays in one's heart forever.

  The fragrance of the tea was so unexpected, let alone the tea soup! The tea soup was a golden yellow color, like a piece of amber placed in front of Chu Chen, making him somewhat reluctant to drink it.

  There is a way of drinking tea in three sips: the first sip is called "drinking", the second sip is called "drinking", and only the third sip can be called "savoring".

  Chu Chen carefully sipped a small mouthful of tea soup, and as soon as it entered his mouth, he tasted a rich and smooth flavor. He savored it with the tip of his tongue, first tasting bitterness, then sweetness after a while. This couldn't help but remind him of the years when he had just arrived in the capital, although it was hard, but very fulfilling, every day he could feel his own progress.

  Chu Chen took another sip, this time savoring the astringent taste of the tea with his tongue. The bitter taste involuntarily reminded him of unhappy memories from his childhood.

  At that time, Chu Chen was often scolded as a wild child. Other children all had mothers, but he didn't. It wasn't until he grew up a bit that he realized he wasn't his father's biological son either.

  That period of time was so painful and helpless, often getting angry for no reason, resenting parents for not coming to find him. For a whole year, he didn't go to school at all. Later on, if it wasn't for the careful guidance of his foster father, his personality might have become extreme.

  The third mouthful of tea soup is to taste the bitterness of the tea soup with the root of the tongue, and after turning back, it brings some sweetness. Isn't this just like the time when I got the Tang Sancai before, regret, surprise, depression, excitement, all kinds of emotions, aren't they just like this mouthful of tea, bitter to sweet?

  After drinking three cups of tea, Chu Chen couldn't help but let out a hearty "good" in his heart. Indeed, it's that "tea-flavored life, carefree and content, bitter before sweet."

  After finishing the first infusion, comes the second and third infusions. The steps for brewing tea are the same as the first infusion, only the steeping time is a bit longer, and the tea soup is still rich and smooth, with a clear sound, just slightly lighter than before, but with a unique flavor.

  After savoring the three infusions of tea, Zhu Dafu spoke up: "Xiao Chuan, how do you feel after drinking this Gongfu tea?"

  "Uncle Fu, Song's Gongfu tea is truly exceptional! The tea itself is excellent, but the art of brewing it is even more impressive. I've finally learned what it means to truly appreciate tea, and I'm feeling utterly delighted and enlightened."

  Zhu Dafu stroked his beard and smiled, saying: "As the saying goes, 'Flowing beauty cleanses the bones, and clear water washes away the heart's impurities.' Today, Master Song has indeed given us a good lesson."

  Song Jun hastily waved his hand, saying he didn't dare to take the credit: "I'm just picking up other people's clever ideas. Without Master Zhu's top-grade tea leaves and exceptional mountain spring water, I wouldn't be able to brew such good tea either."