Oh dear! I became a real Tea Head!! A couple of blogs ago I mentioned that I was not ready to invest in a special Clay teapot because I didn’t think it was necessary to enjoy tea. That lasted until I visited Mei Leaf last October and completely fell in love with the Gong Fu Guru!! However, this exclusive tea set is extremely expensive and I just couldn’t justify spending so much money on a very tiny teapot!!! I don’t care how cute it was, over €300,- for a tea set is way over my budget!
So…. I can hear you wonder…. that background in that picture does not look like Mei Leaf teahouse……… NOPE!! True….. it is indeed what you think….. it’s my living room!!
YEP!! I got a Gong Fu Guru!! But don’t worry. I didn’t spend over €300,– on this. This is one from the B- stock. Which basically means that they are sold with a discount because there is a small defect on it somewhere. Having said that. It is such a minor thing that I haven’t even spotted “what is wrong” with mine!!! At one point I had the brilliant idea that I was going to visit the Tea House in June. So I thought it would be a good idea to ask if they would set a Gong Fu Guru aside so I could pick it up in June as that would safe me over €40,- on shipping. However they suggested to have a look if they could send it with another courier for less and they made an offer I could not refuse!
So here it is…….. my Gong Fu Guru! The picture is taken when I only had it for a week and a half but you can tell from looking at the porcelain that I’ve used it a lot! It already started to have the characteristic cracks inside the cup to map out my tea journey. To be honest with you it isn’t something I particularly like but I looked at buying the GFG2 without the teaware and it didn’t save me a lot of money. If I had to buy the teaware separate it would still be a lot of money. So I decided to buy the set anyway. I can always buy other teaware in addition to what I’ve got now. But I do love to use it!!
It is very easy to use as well! There is a coloured ABS tray inside that prevents the bamboo from staining and this is also very easy to lift out of the bamboo tray to empty it and clean it. When you’re finished you just rinse the Yixing clay pot and leave it to dry. And you rinse and dry the stainless steel watercatcher and put it back on the bamboo box. It’s such a pleasure to work with it. And of course I had to do a taste test! I wasn’t sure if I could taste the difference between tea brewed in glass or in the Yixing clay pot. But I have to say: I do taste the difference! The tea gets much smoother. More velvet like with a rounder and softer taste. I never thought my taste buds where this developed!
Over the last couple of Months I’ve been using it almost every Sunday and I still love it as much as the first time I’ve used it.
The Gong Fu Guru also contains a glass tea pot which perfect to brew green tea. When it’s nice and warm day I like to drink green tea. You brew this tea at a lower temperature so unlike with oolongs and black tea you don’t need a teapot that retains the heat. I love green tea when it’s warm because it’s also very nice when it cools down. And because the glass teapot doesn’t retain heat as long as the Yixing teapot the tea cools down slightly quicker.
I just love the look of the Long Jin Dragonwell.
So the glass teapot is perfect for this tea. Having said that. It’s such a pleasure to do tea sessions with the Yixing Clay pot!! It is so cute and the taste of the tea is amazing! I can’t wait to go to the Mei Leaf Tea house again to get my hands on new tea. It is not just about the taste of the tea. But is just so nice to just sit and enjoy the tea. From smelling the leaves to pouring the tea into you cup. You really experience the tea.
I am really happy that I decided to buy the Gong Fu Guru after all. It makes drinking tea just a little bit more special. There is still so much I need to learn. Slowly but surely I start to get to know a little bit more and I start to develop a sense of what I like and what I don’t like. And I am just a beginner!
So I am really looking forward to dive even deeper into the rabbit hole and explore the world of tea! I hope you’re coming along on this journey and try some true tea yourself. To speak with Don Mei’s words: Stay away from teabags and drink the good stuff. Because nobody deserves bad tea!
Miranda.
