How to Serve Chinese Green Tea

Chinese green tea is usually brewed and served in a same cup. Chinese people use a kind of porcelain cup with a lid or a heat-resistant glass. There are many different shapes and types of green tea in China. Recently the proper way of serving each type of Chinese tea was introduced. To serve Chinese green tea, the water temperature should not be too high. As the quality the tea gets better, the temperature of the water should be lower. That is the same rule as Japanese green tea. However, there are differences between Japanese green tea and Chinese green tea. The taste of Chinese tea is much mild and not as strong as Japanese green tea. However, with Chinese green tea, you can enjoy the same tea leaves by adding hot water in the cup for several times. To serve Chinese green tea, it does not require to use tea pot. Also, with Chinese green tea, besides enjoying its taste and aroma, you can also enjoy them by looking the scene inside the cup. Here are the descriptions for serving each type of Chinese green tea: -Flat shape (Long-jing cha) To serve and drink flat shape type of green tea, use a heat-resistant glass. First, put some tea leaves into a glass. Then add 80 to 90 degrees Celsius water and fill the quarter of the glass. Then using your hand, slowly rotate the glass in a circulate motion and enjoy the aroma of tea. After 30 seconds, add more hot water and fill the glass. First, enjoy the scene of the tea leaves slowly falling off to the bottom of the cup, and then sip the tea to enjoy the taste. -Spiral shape ( Bi-luo-chun cha) Pour 80 to 90 degrees Celsius hot water into a heat-resistant glass for third of quarter. Next, using a tea spoon, slowly add some tea leaves into a glass. Then using your hand, slowly rotate the glass in a circulate motion. Enjoy the scene of flowing tea leaves absorbing the moist and then slowly sinking to the bottom of the cup. When the leaves sank to the bottom, sip the tea and enjoy the taste. -Round shape To brew and serve round shape type of green tea, use a porcelain or pottery cup with a lid. Add tea leaves into the cup, and pour a quarter of four 80 to 90 degrees Celsius water into the cup and soak the leaves. Then slowly pour the water and fill the cup. Cover the cup with a lid, and wait for 2-3 minutes. Needle shape(Xin-yan-mao-jian cha) To brew and serve needle shaped tea leaves, use a heat-resistant glass. First put some tea leaves into the glass, and then pour 80-95 degrees Celsius water into the cup from the higher position. The tea leaves move up and down, and they become like bamboo tree standing in the rain. Enjoy the beautiful look inside the glass before drinking it. Flower shape(Rou-shan-yun-wu cha) To brew and serve flower shaped tea leaves, use a heat-resistant glass. First pour a 1/2 cup 90-95 degrees Celsius water into the cup. Then put tea leaves into the water and add some more water to fill 3/4 of the cup. Chrysanthemum flower tea If you use only 3g dried flower, use a cup with a lid. If you use more than 5g dried flower, use a pot for brewing. First put some dried flower, and pour 95 to 100 degrees Celsius water and fill one quarter of cup or pot. Completely soak the dried flower for 30 seconds. Then add some more water to fill 3/4. Then wait for 2-3 minutes before drinking.

(Shigehiro Kodomari)