One of the most advance tea brewing technique is the Chaozhou Gongfu tea brewing style. There are many variations to it, adapted over the years but the basics and goals are generally the same. Chaozhou tea brewing style typically involved using a small Yixing or Chaozhou Teapot to brew tea.

Whilst its basic principles and philosophies can be explained in minutes, it takes decades to understand and master it. The brewing process looks fast and simple but everything happen in nanoseconds and it require a very high level of skills, habits and profound understanding to move that fast in the correct sequence and order without hesitation. A slightest hint of doubt or hesitation will affect the outcome of the brew tremendously.

In Chaozhou tea brewing, there many advance techniques. Micro vibration is one of them. I often refer to this advance technique as “Vibro”. There are also many other advance techniques and they are often just whispered away as a subtle hint during tea sessions. Beginner may not take these technique seriously and often dismiss them as a passing remark in tea conversation.

Vibro can be done in many ways. A common way is to place the base of the teapot on the rim of the tea boat, tray or plate before dispensing out the brew. The teapot is then dragged along the side of the rim, with its base grinding on the rim thus creating micro vibration in the teapot. The purpose of creating the micro vibration is to further brew the tea at microscopic level. Continue reading Vibro →