Beginning the art of tea ceremony

1. Announcement: Welcome, everyone to our video series How to perform Tea ceremony. In this series, I'm going to give you all the steps necessary to perform a tea ceremony, as well as teach you what is tea, how to choose the right tea for tea ceremony. What are the things that you need for tea ceremony and even the history of tea ceremony so that you are well equipped with the knowledge and the skills necessary to start making tea for yourself and your friends. So join us for this course and start bringing the magic of tea ceremony into your life. 2. What is tea: Hello, everyone. My name is Barry and we're here at Dragon Te Temple in Bali, Indonesia. Today, we're going to learn how to perform a tea ceremony. In this first video, we're going to talk about what is T. So what exactly is T? Well, T is the common name for one species of plant, Camila sinensis. When we refer to T, we are talking about one specific plant, Cameia sinensis. Its scientific name tells us a little bit about this plant. Camila means it is in the ameela family and Snensis means China. We know that it is a cameela from China originally. Nowadays, the word tea gets used very loosely and gets used to refer to any plant steeped in water. But to be technically correct, any plant other than the tea plant would be considered an herbal. We don't say the word tea unless there is tea in it. If we are drinking an infusion of mint, then all we need to say is that we are drinking mint. If somebody asks you, what are you drinking and you are drinking lavender, all you need to say is, I am drinking lavender. Just like if you were drinking tea and someone asks you, what are you drinking? You can just say, I am drinking tea. So what are the main types of tea? So there are seven main types or genres of tea. Those genres of tea are green tea, white tea, yellow tea, long tea, red tea, black tea, and Hua Tea. So Hua wasn't always considered a genre or type of tea, but many people nowadays consider Poa its own genre of tea. The difference between all of the genres is simply how the tea is processed after the tea has been picked. Even though they are all the same type of plant, the way that they are handled and processed makes all the different types of tea. Of course, everywhere you grow tea tea will be different and there are some different varieties of tea out there and this all has an effect on the quality of tea. But the difference mainly between all of the genres is simply how the tea is processed and made. So now that we know what T is and what are the different types of T, let's learn how to perform a T ceremony. 3. What is a tea ceremony: Hello, everyone. In this video, we are going to talk about what is tea ceremony. I think it's important to define what is a tea ceremony to distinguish a tea ceremony from casually just making tea. I hear this word tea ceremony used very loosely and usually people are referring to when they are just making tea and calling it a ceremony. I would like to attempt to bring some clarity and some definition to what is a tea ceremony. So what exactly is a tea ceremony, and what distinguishes it between casually making tea? Well, to make it a tea ceremony, there are a few key aspects involved that would help to distinguish it. One of those aspects is structure. I like to see structure as maybe a certain time frame or a clear beginning and a clear ending to the ceremony. I always like to start my tea ceremonies with the sound of a bell and I will end this tea ceremony in the same way. By beginning and ending my ceremony this way, it gives a clear structure, a clear beginning and a clear ending to it. So another key aspect to ceremony would be Ritual implies that there are some techniques or some structure that we are repeating over and over again. By bringing in that ritual that we practice and do over and over again, that helps to define it as a ceremony. Another key aspect to ceremony would be intention and mindfulness. Here at Dragon T Temple, when we do tea ceremony, most of the time we are making it a practice of mindfulness itself. We sit with that intention to cultivate full presence and full awareness when we are doing T. With that intention to make it a practice of mindfulness, this gives an aspect of ceremony to it. I hope this helps to bring some clarity into what defines a T ceremony. 4. What is the origin of the tea ceremony: Hello, everyone. In this video, we are going to talk about what are the origins of tea ceremony? Tea originally comes from China or what is known as present day China. But tea existed long before China existed. The place that tea come from, people have been cultivating and consuming tea there long before it was ever known or became part of China. But we can say tea is originally from China. But tea ceremony itself is not actually part of Chinese culture. It is not technically a Chinese invention. We as Westerners sometimes we imagine that everybody in China is sitting around doing tea ceremony. But the truth is tea ceremony is not actually common in China. Tea is ubiquitous in China. People are drinking tea everywhere every day. The taxi driver you get in is drinking tea from a bottle. You might go to a laundromat and they might have a tea table and they might offer you a cup while you're waiting for your laundry. Tea is everywhere, but tea ceremony itself is actually not a common practice. Then where does tea ceremony actually come from? Well, tea ceremony itself is actually more of a zen tradition. It was actually the Zen monks who invented and practiced tea ceremony regularly. How did this occur? How did they invent tea ceremony? Well, to be a Zen monk and to practice and live a Zen lifestyle, that means that basically your life is ceremony for a zenmnk eating breakfast, brushing teeth, mourning rituals, everything can be a tea ceremony because their life has structure. Their life has so much ritual and everything they do, they make a practice of mindfulness. That is how tea became a ceremony. When the monks found tea Tea was a perfect compliment to their lifestyle. It fit in perfectly with their daily lives and routine. Naturally when a zenmnk is going to sit and make tea, he is going to bring in all of those aspects that make tea a ceremony. F in fact, there's even a famous saying called han ha we Zen and tea are one taste. This means that making tea or the act of tea ceremony can be an act or a practice of zen itself. So we now know that tea ceremony itself is actually more of a Zen tradition than it is a Chinese or any tradition of any culture or nationality. Although many people say that tea ceremony comes from China. So what is a traditional tea ceremony? Well, the truth is there is no traditional tea ceremony. The only culture or ethnicity that actually has a structured and choreographed tea ceremony would be Japan. But in China, the style of tea preparation, the style of making tea is actually as diverse as the people, the culture, the food, the geography itself. Everywhere you go in China, the tea is prepared a little bit differently. The way that people make tea is prepared a little bit differently. The food is a little bit different. The only culture or ethnicity that has a choreographed or traditional tea ceremony would actually be Japan. So where is tea ceremony done in Japan? It is mostly performed at Zen monasteries because it was actually the zen monks who brought tea to Japan. Brought when they brought zen and the teachings of the Buddha to Japan, they also brought tea, and they brought tea in the way that it was commonly practiced in China at the time. Japan has since carried on that tradition and created their own tea ceremony out of it. And so Japan preserves that style of tea ceremony and ritual to this day, while China has actually evolved and created different styles of tea ceremony. What are the styles of tea ceremony in China? Well, the styles of tea are actually as diverse in China as the food itself. It would be like saying Chinese food when you go to China, everywhere in China, the food is as diverse as the culture, the language, the people, and the geography itself, and tea is no different. Everywhere you go in China, the style of tea, the way that people prepare it, and the way that people perform and prepare tea is different according to the different regions and different places. There is no real traditional Chinese tea ceremony. 5. What do I need for a tea ceremony: Hello, everyone. In this video, we are going to talk about what do you need to perform a tea ceremony. To perform a tea ceremony, there are going to be some vital or crucial items that are absolutely necessary, and then we will have some complimentary items that complement a tea ceremony that add to it but aren't necessarily vital to the tea ceremony itself. Let's start with the vital items. Well, first of all, you're going to need a vessel to steep the tea in, which is a teapot. There are many types of teapots out there. It doesn't matter what type of teapot you have. What you want to make sure is that your teapot is made of high quality materials and is made in a way so that it functions well. In this way, you'll ensure that your teapot actually makes good tea because not all teapots make good tea, like everything, you get what you pay for. If you buy the cheapest one, don't expect a high quality performance out. So another vital item that you will need for doing tea ceremony is a tea tray or tea table. There are two main types of tea trays out there, ones that drain and ones that don't. If you have a tea tray that is equipped with a drain, that will allow you to pour water or tea directly onto the table itself. If your tea table doesn't have a drain, you'll just have to be more mindful of how you pour or spill tea. Another important item, and this is a very important item for me. I never do tea ceremony without it. It is called a gente or wastewater bowl. This is where you can put leftover leaves and all of your waste water, which you will always need during a tea ceremony. This is a very important item. This item can be put on the tea table itself, or I often keep it under the tea table and just bring it out when I need it. Another important item is teacups. Of course, you will need some teacups. For me, it is best to choose a teacup that is made out of glazed ceramic. This gives a neutral quality to the tea and ensures that you're getting the most precise or the truest flavor of the tea itself. One more crucial item to the tea ceremony will be your tea kettle. You want to, again, make sure that your tea kettle is made of high quality materials. Kettle is actually just reserved for heating the water itself, which is why you wouldn't want to use a food pot or something else to heat water because you don't want the taste of anything else. You want pure clean water. You want a kettle made of high quality materials so that it functions well, but also keeps the integrity and quality of your water and doesn't add any additional flavors. In addition to all of our vital components to the tea ceremony, there are some complimentary items too, which I like to use. One of those is cha Do. They call this cha Do or tea tools. Here I normally just use one, but you'll see there is many different tools that are used during tea ceremony. I just use the one simple one, which is just a scraper and a poker. Another non essential item, which I think plays a very important role in a tea ceremony is known as ha hu. Cha hu is your tea presentation vessel. I think it's great in tea ceremony because it allows you to show off the beauty of your tea to your guests. You would put the dry tea into the cha hu and you would be able to pass it around so everybody can visually see the tea, see how beautiful the tea was crafted and even smell the dry fragrance of the tea. So another item would be a tea towel. Always have a tee tile present so that you can wipe up any mess that might occur during the tea ceremony. So another item would be a T pitcher. A T pitcher is not a crucial item because you don't necessarily need it for tea ceremony. You can pour directly into the pitcher or you could pour directly into the tea cups themselves. If you are new to tea ceremony and you are just starting out, I say it is best to start with the pitcher as this makes it easier to do the tea ceremony. If you want to practice a little bit more advanced or as you get a little bit better, you can try pouring the tea directly into the tea cups themselves. One more item that I like to have at tea ceremony is a bell. Remember, I said that I like to start and finish all of my tea ceremonies with the sound of the bell and this helps to give structure. So during my tea ceremonies, I always have my bell present. I hope this helps you in your preparation and for getting started to perform your first tea ceremony. 6. How do I choose a tea for the tea ceremony: Hello, everyone. In this video, we are going to talk about how to choose T for a tea ceremony. So how do you choose the right tea for a tea ceremony? There are many different reasons and ways to choose tea for a tea ceremony. You might want to choose tea according to your guests or the occasion. Of course, you're going to want to serve tea that you think your guests will really enjoy. Another way to choose tea is according to the weather or the present conditions. If it is cold or rainy, you might want to choose a tea that is warm or dry. If it is hot and sunny outside, then you might want to choose a lighter more cooling tea. If you are new to tea ceremony, then you might want to choose a tea that is actually easy to prepare. Some teas are much more forgiving and easier to prepare than other types of tea. If you're just starting out, I recommend that you start by choosing a black tea like shop ware or a very dark oulong or a red tea. These teas often tend to be easier and more forgiving to prepare since they don't bitter so easy. A tea that you wouldn't want to start with would be like a green tea or a yellow tea. Those teas bitter very easy, are very unforgiving, and they take a lot of skill and practice to prepare well. Make it easy on yourself. Choose a tea that's easy to prepare. One general rule for choosing a tea would be to choose a tea that you are already familiar with. Never start with a tea that you've never made before and serve it to your guests. You want to learn the ways of a tea before you prepare it for other people. So I hope that helps you in choosing a T for your next tea ceremony. 7. Steps to perform a tea ceremony: Hello, everyone. In this video, we're going to outline the steps to perform tea ceremony. Step one is to bow. We have the physical prostration of bowing. I always like to start a tea ceremony with a bow because it reminds me of the internal prostration that I need to do to perform a tea ceremony. What is that internal prostration? Remember, tea ceremony itself is a practice or tradition of Zen. In the spirit of Zen, we will do a tea ceremony with compassion and reverence for all living beings. Every time I bow, it is a reminder to put myself in that place of reverence, to put myself in that place of compassion, kindness, openness for all of my guests. That is why I always start with a bow. The next step I like to do is to ring the bell. This isn't a required or important step, but it helps me to give structure to the tea ceremony itself and give a clear beginning. Everybody knows that the tea ceremony is beginning now. The next step that I like to do is to display the T. At this moment, I like to pull out the display vessel holding the T and I like to pass the tea around so that everybody can look at the tea, see how beautiful, how well crafted the tea is, and then smell The dry Began. I will pull it out. I will smell it, and then I will pass it to all of my guests. The next step to the tea ceremony is to rinse all of our teaware. Of course, our teaware is clean, but this is a ritualistic and ceremonial rinsing of the teaware so that we show to all of our guests that the teaware is clean. This also helps to warm our teaware and prepare it to make tea. So first, I will add water to the teapot, and then I will add water to all of the tea cups. Now that I added water to all of my tea ware, I need a place to put that water. This is the point that I bring out the enchu or wastewater bowl. Okay. So now that I brought out the wastewater bowl, I will go ahead and empty my teapot. Speech. Okay. The next step that we will do before we prepare our tea is we are going to add our te to the teapot and give it a rinse. I start by removing the lid. Now it is our natural inclination to hold the tea towards ourself, but get in the habit of displaying the tea towards your guests. In this way, they get to see and observe how beautiful the tea is as you add it to the pot. To rinse our tea, I simply want to add enough water just to cover the leaves themselves. Without hurrying and without any reason to wait, I will immediately pour off the rinse water into my tea pitch. So at this point, I want to make sure that all of my tea vessels and tea ware have been emptied of water so I can make the first steeping of tea. So now that we've rinsed our tea and our tea ware, we are ready to do our first steeping. So to steep the tea, I'm going to fill the teapot to about 90% capacity. How long do I steep the tea? That depends. It depends on how much tea I put in the pot. How big is my pot. What type of T it is. All of these factors will determine how long I steep the T. Knowing how long to steep the T is an intuition that is learned through skill and through practice. I know. When I'm ready to pour the tea, I'm going to pour the tea directly into my pitcher. I always want to make sure I pour all the tea out of my teapot, there's no water left in there and the tea doesn't continue to steep and get bitter. Next, I'm going to pour the tea into the tea cups. Here I can go ahead and serve the tea to my guests. M. Now I want to re steep the tea. I have a couple of options here. To steep the tea again, I can pour directly into the pitcher and then pour into the cups, or I have the option to bring the cups back to the table first before I pour tea into them. There's no right or wrong. It's up to you to choose. I always like to bring the tea cups back because it helps to bring more structure to the tea ceremony and it helps to bring more togetherness as we are all drinking our cups at the same time. So now I'm going to do another steeping. How many times can you steep the tea? Well, that's actually up to you. As long as the tea has good flavor and you are enjoying it, you can continue to steep the tea. If you are no longer enjoying the tea, then you don't have to repeat steeping it any longer. How many times you steep the tea is up to you. When we finished steeping the tea, I like to bring all of the cups back to the table so that we finish the same way that we started. This brings in the aspect of structure and also ritual. It also tells all my guests that the tea ceremony is ending. Remember, there's not one right way to do it and it is up to you to decide how you want to conclude your tea ceremony as well. And the last step to the tea ceremony is to conclude with a bow and a ringing of the bell so that all of my guests know that the tea ceremony has now been concluded.