John Cacciatore is a part-time resident of Albuquerque and owner of DSG Gallery, which is located at: 510 14 Street SW, ABQ, NM 87102. John's wife, Nancy Kozikowski , is an artist and master weaver. John and Nancy purchased a home in Beijing and live part-time in China.
John demonstrated great skill and hospitality as he invited small groups at a time to experience an intimate setting of gong fu cha. He shared wonderful teas that he brought back from Beijing. John brought his authentic yixing teaware and let each person smell, taste and see the wonderful ancient tradition of celebrating GONG FU CHA!
History of Gong Fu Cha Ceremony
The Chinese ritual of Gong Fu Cha first became popular during the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644). Gong Fu means "skill and care" or "to do things well". The term "Gong Fu" could signify the serious practice of any art form, such as the martial art of a related name (Kung Fu). Cha is the Chinese word for tea. The art of preparing and making tea is called Cha Do. When you drink tea in a teahouse or restaurant it is called Yum Cha: yum is to drink and cha is tea.
The Chinese tea ceremony emphasizes the tea, rather than the ceremony. The smell and taste are the important parts of the ceremony. Therefore, with a gong fu cha ceremony, the tea is prepared with great skill and care, but each server may perform the ritual with their own unique style. In this way, the Chinese tea ceremony differs from the Japanese ceremony, which is very formal and precise. The Japanese Tea Ceremony is more of a metaphysical or religious ritual centered around the "ceremony" of the preparation and drinking of tea.
The teaware most often used in a Gong Fu Cha ceremony are very small teapots made from a purple clay that is found in Yixing, in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. Most often the type of tea used in a gong fu ceremony is oolong (which translates to mean "black dragon" tea). The typical gong fu method uses a very small Yixing-style teapot, small thimble-sized cups, bamboo tweezers, a bamboo scoop, and a tray with drains.
Special Chinese Tea Trivia:
Legend has it that tea originated in China over 5,000 years ago in the year 2732 BC, when Emperor Shen Nung was drinking a cup of hot water when leaves from a nearby bush blew into his cup. He was delighted with the result, and thus began cultivating that bush, which was a member of the camellia sinesis plant. (True tea comes from this evergreen plant called camellia sinensis and its 80 sister plants in the same plant family.)
Thus, the custom of tea was born. Until about 600 AD tea was thought of as medicinal and used as a stimulant. It gradually began to be consumed for pleasure and its virtues hundreds of years later.
The Ancient Chinese called tea, "t'u", but in the 7th Centuray AD "ch'a" became the commonly used term. In the 1600's, the English turned the Amoy pronunciation of "t'e" into "tea".
In Gong Fu Cha, the server fills the cups just over half way. The Chinese believe that the rest of the cup is filled
with friendship and affection!
There is a historically based custom of subtly tapping two fingers or knuckles on the table after a host/hostess serves tea. This tapping gesture is a way of saying "thank you".
This custom originated many years ago when one of the Emperor's wanted to see how the common people lived. The Emperor dressed as a commoner or peasant and began visiting teahouses around the countryside. The Emperor brought with him several servants also dressed in common clothing. One day, the Emperor was serving one of his servants some tea, and the servant felt humbled by this gesture, and felt like he should kneel or bow before the Emperor, out of respect and honor. However, the servant knew that he could not do that because it would reveal the Emperor's guise, so the servant told the Emperor..."Whenever you serve me tea, I will tap my knuckles on the table in a respectful bow to you as a thank you ". Thus the custom of tapping fingers or knuckles on the table began!
Xie Xie Ni (Thank You) John for sharing Gong Fu Cha with our guests at Mes Amis Teahouse!