It's All About Tea — gong fu cha

Tea is a beverage that has been enjoyed for centuries, and its popularity continues to grow worldwide. Nowadays, countless teas are being produced by thousands, if not millions, of producers around the world. Some teas are produced by individual tea masters on their family farms; others are grown on large estates and produced by big tea factories. 

However, not all teas are created equal. Handmade teas, also known as handcrafted or artisan teas, are a cut above the rest. (Read more)

Tea is the beverage we choose when we want to unwind and feel rejuvenated at the same time. Coffee may be the energy drink that gets us going in the morning and powers us when working through the night. Tea is more than just a calming brew, whether black, green, white, herbal, hot, or icy cold. It could be a ritual, a social or cultural event, or even spiritual practice.

The tea customs in different countries give us a unique insight into the cultural landscape of their peoples. They highlight the dominating social values and their evolution over time. Let’s embark on a colorful journey across the continents, discovering the tea ritual and sharing a cup of tea with the world! (Read more)

In the previous part of this article, we traced the practice of drinking tea for focus in ancient times. We talked about the connection between tea and mindfulness in China's most important spiritual denominations.

Today, we'll explore the benefits of drinking tea with mindfulness, backed by science. We will also guide you through an exercise on how to drink tea for focus, ease anxiety, and enjoy stress-free mornings and positive and productive days! Grab a cup and dive in! (Read More)

For many of us, the world is going through unrest. It is easy to get overwhelmed with stress, anxiety, and loss of stability. Our daily reality is constantly plagued by war, inflation, COVID, street and school violence, or social division. The mere thought of those disasters can be hard to bear. It puts our minds and souls under constant pressure.

In times like these, the simple action of drinking tea with mindfulness can be a remedy at hand. Let's explore how drinking tea for focusing evolved from ancient times to nowadays in China's most important religious movements. We will also learn ways to take advantage of those practices to quiet the bustling thoughts, achieve mindfulness, and shift to a better state of calm and gratitude. (Read more)

As most tea enthusiasts already know, there are different ways of making tea. For example, you can brew it western-style or gongfu style. When talking about quality Asian tea, most of us might choose to make our drink the gong fu cha way. We can taste how it transforms throughout multiple brews when we make tea gong fu style.

For this reason, it’s also essential to understand how many brews each tea type can withstand. Furthermore, how to prolong the brew count of each variety. We’ll discuss this more in today’s article. (Read more)