Do you know the differences between western style brewing with a tea pot versus using a gaiwan, or gong fu style brewing?  The latter can be considered eastern style brewing. We could rehash a comparison, but in our research to describe the differences, we came across a great article. We highly recommend reading Gongfu- (Eastern-) versus Western-Style Tea Brewing — What’s better?  hosted by teasprout.com.

The author makes two strong points between eastern and western style of tea brewing.

One, if you don’t have a lot of tea or time, use a tea pot (western style). You will use less tea and time and make more tea. You can sip and savor your cup of tea. And if you don’t have time to sit and savor, take your tea on the go with you if needed.

Second, if time is on your side and you want to experience the changes in tea with subsequent steeps, take the gonfu (eastern style) approach. You will use more tea and take more time.  You will brew small amounts with each steep, adding more time to each additional steeping. Taking this tea on the go isn’t practical, but is fun to have with friends and is more hands-on.

So, if you have time and want a tactile approach to drinking tea, go eastern style. On the other hand, if you have errands to run and work to do, make a pot of tea and take it with you, the western style way.

Written by Heather Kreilick