Don Mei : Hey teaheads! This is Don from Mei
Leaf. In this video : How to brew tea for
lots of people. In this video I'm going to
be giving you my tips on how to bring tea
to the party. If any point in time you enjoy
this video then make sure you hit it with
a "like", and if you're not following us on
all of our socials yet then go click those
buttons. We are coming up to the busy period
in the party season. I'm speaking to you from
December - just before the Christmas holiday
period - and now is the time to plan how you
are going to bring tea to the party. Because
there is nothing more frustrating for any
self-respecting teahead than trying to bring
your passion and enthusiasm of tea to the
masses, and yet it falls down flat, because
yoú can't brew the tea properly, and people
can't experience the true majesty of true
tea. I've done videos before on how to bring
tea cocktails to a party. I'll put a link
in the description below so you can make some
concoctions that can "Wow!" you guests. I've
also done a video on how you can make people
fall in love with tea. I'll put a link in
the description below, too. So you've already
been armed, but this video is all about how
you can bring pure tea to the party; how you
can really express your love of tea and try
to spread the word onwards so that people
get into true tea. So I'm going to be giving
you a few tips. I'll start with my favorite,
and then we'll go down to [my] third least
favorite - but still doable - method. Are
you ready? Let's go. Number one is: Go full
Gong Fu. For those of you in the know, Gong
Fu style brewing is the way to really express
the artistry, beauty, and flavor of true tea.
It is the best way to brew most teas. If you
don't know anything about Gong Fu brewing
I'll put a link in the description below so
that you can find out more. So this is my
favorite tip, [and] this is the one that I
would recommend, is [to] just bring the true
Gong Fu experience to the party. Don't try
to dilute it. Don't try to adapt. Just bring
it to the party, and you will be amazed at
how you draw people in and give them the full
experience. So what I have here is my Gong
Fu Story - our Gong Fu travel set, if you'd
like - and these are still available [for]
Christmas. If you are watching at the time
of this video release then you can certainly
pick one up for the holiday season - but hurry.
So, what I mean is bring out all of the paraphernalia.
Let's really express the beauty of Gong Fu
brewing. Bring out your teaware. I've got
a Usu Mashi here, so I can brew some Japanese
teas. I've got a Gong Dao Bei and a Gai Wan
here, so I can brew up in a Gai Wan. Let's
see, I've got a Jian Shui put, as well, here.
So you can see [that] out of this little bag
of tricks here I can pull out loads and loads
of great teaware, and [what's most] important
[is to] try to bring as many cups as you can.
You can see I've got lots of cups here, right?
Because what you're going to do is you are
literally going to sit, [and] install yourself.
Hopefully, [you'll] have a kettle plugged
in nearby. Find a nice space. You don't need
that much space - [just] something like this.
Get comfortable. Maybe arrange a few seats
around you, and just start to drink tea for
yourself. And I promise you - it is a promise
- [that] you will start to get people coming
to you. They will kind of sit, have some tea,
[then] they'll go and mingle, [and then] come
back to you. You're going to draw a crowd,
and before you know it you are going to be
having Gong Fu style tea with lots and lots
of people. All you need to do is have some
hot water on hand, so you can disinfect cups
easily. Maybe see if you can get yourself
a little bowl, or bucket, to pour away some
water, so you don't have to move too much.
And "Bam!", you have instantly got a proper
Gong Fu session. You can bring your Puerh
teas. You can bring any tea you'd like. You've
got your whole pouch here. There's even more
teas in here that you can bring, and that
way you can really do it properly. We all
know that this is the way to really experience
tea, [with] small sips of strong, concentrated
shots of tea to give them flavor and effect,
and the artistry of brewing Gong Fu style.
Plus, they are going to truly experience the
[unique] social aspect that tea drinking brings
- especially Gong Fu brewing - where you're
really delving deep into the memories, to
find tasting notes, find aromatics, etcetera.
And then you're going to be drawn out to discuss
other things in life, and relationships, [and]
how things are going, in a much more deep,
meaningful way than just simple small talk
with your glass of wine. And I have to say,
as well, that [at parties] - a lot of the
time - there's going to be wine around, or
beer, or other alcohol, etcetera, [which are]
very strong-tasting drinks, and so you have
to make sure that you bring the tea with as
much strength as possible. Because they will
sit down, probably, with a glass of wine in
their hands, and then they're going to be
tasting tea. So make sure that you're bringing
Gong Fu style brewing, because that is going
to bring out the best out of your tea. It's
going to bring the most intensity of flavor
out of your leaves, and that is going to "Wow!"
them much more than if you serve western style.
Now, this is really the key point here. If
you serve this tea - your favorite tea - western
style [it's] extremely unlikely that you are
going to get anywhere near the same result
- in terms of flavor - and result, in terms
of getting people into tea. I'm going to quickly
brew up some tea, just because I çan't resist.
So [I'll] quickly have a little taste of Nectar
Raider, and then we'll move on to our second
tip for you. So, as I said, brewing... [SMELLS
TEA] Oh! [SMELLS TEA] Oh! [It's] sweet. supple,
and creamy. [It's a] delicious smell. I'm
only going to drink one infusion of this,
I promise, but I am going to come back to
it later. And the beautiful thing is that
if you sit here, and you have a few different
bits of teaware, then that's even better.
You can really kind of adapt. You can be brewing
multiple teas, depending on what people want
to try. You can be describing the teas. You
can say, "Okay. This is a raw Puerh.", but
you might bring out a green tea, [or] you
might bring out a jasmine tea. You can adapt.
You can be versatile, depending on people's
experience with tea, and that's really, really
important. You know what? No filter for this
one. It's really, really important that when
you're brewing with lots of people they're
all going to have their own different experiences
in tea. They're all going to have their own
particular tastes that they enjoy, and dislike,
and so you want to kind of have enough options
so that you can draw them in. So you might
want to bring a jasmine tea, or an osthmanthus-scented
tea, or a rose-scented tea, just to bring
people in a little bit. But, of course, make
sure you break out some of the heavyweights
as well. [SIPS TEA] Oh! [SIPS TEA] [This is]
the first tea of the day for me. [It's] always
important to enjoy your first sip. Notice
I'm bringing very small cups here. [That's]
simply because you want to max out the amount
of tea servings you're going to get from each
pour that you make from your Gai Wan, or [from]
your pot. And, of course, I would recommend
bringing slightly larger sized Gong Fu [teaware]
- like 150 to 200 [milliliters] is better
than bringing a 70 to 100 [milliliter] Gai
Wan, and you're going to be busy, busy pouring.
Okay, so [SIPS TEA] bring in the full Gong
Fu session, and if you get tired of brewing,
you know what? [It's a] great opportunity.
Teach somebody. Get somebody to come around.
Get them to learn. They will be itching to
get their hands on the teaware, I promise
you. Maybe start with a pot, so that they're
not burning themselves with a Gai Wan. But
I'm sure that a lot of people want to dive
in, and suddenly, before you know it, you've
got other people at the party Gong Fu brewing.
You can go do your mingling. You can come
back [and] see how they're doing, you can
take over, and it becomes such a great experience.
I promise you, I speak from my own experience
on this. I have brought this Gong Fu Story
to many parties, and it feels a little bit
strange at first. It feels a little bit awkward.
Speak to the host. Just say, "[Is it] all
right if I brew some tea over there - [sitting]
over there on the floor, or at the table?"
Most of the time they'll be very, very happy
for you to do that, because you're bringing
this added entertainment to the party. And
I promise you - I promise you - it will "Wow!"
people. It will really "Wow!" people - so
much more than you trying to serve this Puerh
western style, and trying to serve it up for
everybody. The other thing I would say [to
please not] do [is] please don't make a batch
of amazing Puerh tea, or amazing Oolong tea
- or whatever tea that you love - and make
a big batch and let it sit there for people
to serve themselves. It will not work. The
tea will get cold. Nobody's going to go to
it, because it's not going to draw them in
with any kind of theater or artistry, and
all you're going to do is let the tea down,
and leave people with a "Meh!" impression
of the tea. Okay. So that's your first - and
my favorite - way to bring tea to the party
- go full Gong Fu. The second way is to cold-brew
your tea. So maybe the party that you're going
to doesn't suit a full Gong Fu session. Maybe
it's a small space, and there's going to be
lots of people, so there's no space to set
up. Maybe the host doesn't feel very comfortable
[with] you setting up a Gong Fu session - tat...
tat... tat. Well, you can speak to the host
and say, "What about if I bring some non-alcoholic
tea drinks to the party?" I'm sure most hosts
would say, "Yes, please!" The great thing
about cold-brewing is that you can do it all
in advance. You can get the taste exactly
as you wish, seal it up, bring it to the party,
and it will quite happily sit for the whole
day [and] evening, and it will be fine for
you to drink. These teas will not start to
oxidize too much until about 10 [to] 12 hours
after you start opening it up and pouring.
So don't worry about that. They really will
last a long time, and many restaurants are
starting to cotton on to this idea, and they
are starting to serve cold-brewed teas. The
reason is not simply because you can prepare
it in advance, not simply because it lasts,
but also [because] the format is very different
from tea. Now you can start to place tea within
the whole network of other drinks available:
wine, beer, etcetera. You can also serve these
really well with food, because of the fact
that a lot of people - especially in the west
- think of drinks with food as having to be
cold drinks. It's very rare that you have
hot drinks served with food, unless you go
to a Chinese, and then suddenly it's okay,
right? So [in] this way you can slide tea
into the meal situation, where people can
taste the tea, and because you are cold-brewing
you can get really nice, strong, rich flavor
that you know is going to match and contrast
well with the food. If you don't know how
to cold-brew tea I have done a full video
about cold-brewing. I'll put a link in the
description below. But essentially, all that
you're doing is taking a western style brewing
parameter - so you're brewing with a smaller
amount of leaf-to-water ratio - and you are
putting the leaf in cold water. Usually, I
like to rinse the leaves in hot water first,
just to open them up a little bit, then put
them into cold water, and either brew them
in the fridge, or you can brew them at ambient
room temperature. I would recommend that you
do it the day - or the night - before the
party, store your finished, filtered tea in
the fridge afterwards, and it will quite happily
keep, as long as you keep it relatively air-tight.
So if you've got some old wine bottles, or
you've got some screw-cap bottles, then they
work really, really well. I have here some
"Elder White", which I've cold-brewed, and
some [Mari Oku] Sen Cha, which I've cold-brewed.
I recommend, with [cold-brewing] that you
stick to - in my opinion - white teas, green
teas, and black teas. I do like Oolong teas,
but they are a little bit less suited to cold-brewing,
in general, in my opinion. Obviously, do it
to your own taste. And you can see how it
looks when it's served in these glasses, and
I would serve these in glasses. So you are
literally mimicking the wine and cocktail
service, but with tea. Let's give these a
taste. [SIPS TEA] Elder White is one of the
most fantastic teas to cold brew. The spicy
elderflower notes -- I'm getting creams [and]
I'm getting a little bit of white pepper - but
I'm getting tons and tons of elderflower and
fruit, and then a real depth and sweetness
that comes from long extractions at cold temperature.
[SIPS TEA] Mmm! This would serve perfectly
with fish dishes [or] with cheese dishes.
[It] really is amazing. Don't be fooled by
the lightness and clarity of the liquor. It
is bursting with flavor. And this one here
[SIPS TEA] [is] very, very potent. [It's got
a] really thick mouthfeel. It's got that umami
savoriness, but it's got [tons and tons] of
cut grass - much more than if you brewed it
hot, actually, because when ýou're brewing
cold you're extracting different aromatics.
So you're going to get slightly more of the
fresh notes in the tea than if you are brewing
hot. [SIPS TEA] [This is] a great way to bring
tea to the party. It's going to surprise people,
it's going to interest people, and the wonderful
thing is [that] you can now - if you want
- mingle, [or] do what you want. Put these
in ice, if you want, just to give it even
more of a kind of flare and artistry. Put
it in ice buckets, like champagne. Or, if
you wanted to serve the tea at room temperature
- which might work for more of those black
teas - then serve it just like that, sitting
there next to all the other wines. People
can serve themselves, and if you want you
can mix these with cocktails. So [this is]
a very versatile way of serving tea, and [it]
certainly will surprise a lot of people. Right,
so that's my second tip for brewing tea for
the masses. Finally, let's move on to our
third tip - which is not my favorite, but
still doable - and that is that you brew half
Gong Fu style. Maybe the party that you're
going to is a little bit more of a sit down,
formal dinner party. Often, at those dinner
parties, people are craving - at the end of
the meal - a nice hot drink, and they'll go
for coffee or tea. Now is the time to bring
your true tea to those people so that they
can experience the taste of excellent quality
tea. But it's very difficult to produce high
quality hot tea for 10 [to] 15 people all
in one go, and oftentimes people take shortcuts
and you brew western style. Meh! Not good.
So what I recommend in these situations is
to brew half Gong Fu style. What I mean by
that is that you don't brew with the same
leaf-to-water ratio as Gong Fu style brewing
- which would be lovely, but it's going to
use up a lot of your precious leaves. Instead,
I would take half the leaf-to-water ratio
and double the time. Now I know I've said,
in a million videos, that reducing the leaf-to-water
ratio, and extending time is not the same
thing, and that is true. I stand by that statement.
So, oftentimes what I'll do is I'll take a
full Gong Fu serving in a Gai Wan and I'll
brew multiple infusions, right? So I'll brew
one, and I'll brew another, and I'll brew
another, until this pot gets filled up. It's
not ideal, of course, but it's better. However,
that usually means that you're sitting around
doing a lot of brewing, and it might not suit
the situation. So instead, take a teapot like
this. This is our "Symphony" teapot that has
a filter in it. Or, what I like to do is take
our "Leaf & Bean Brewer", and what I will
do now is brew it, but I'm going to brew it
with half the amount of leaf-to-water ratio
that we're used to, for Gong Fu style, and
I will brew it for double the length of time.
What we're trying to do here is mimic Gong
Fu tea. We're never going to get it exactly
the same, but it's going to be a lot better
than western style brewing. I would recommend
that the types of teas that you choose are
going to be powerful, strong-tasting teas,
like roasted Oolongs, [or] like your Puerhs.
Maybe people are up for some ripe Puerh. [You're
going to have] to judge the crowd, because
some people may be really freaked out by it.
But it's an excellent digestive, as we all
know. [It's] an amazing way to clear and cleanse,
and make you feel good after a heavy meal
- which during the holiday season, let's face
it, they tend to be quite heavy meals. So
you can rinse the leaves beforehand if you
would like. I haven't in this case, but you
can certainly do that - and then brew. And
of course, you can always come back for more
infusions. So don't waste this tea. Come back
for more infusions. Because we are [doing]
sort of half Gong Fu style brewing I would
half the amount of infusions that would get
out of these leaves, but you can certainly
infuse multiple times. So, this is pretty
much done. I would then put this over and
strain it out. As I said, you can do this
in the filter and pull the filter out, but
I prefer to use something like this, because
[with] the filters there's a lot of water
not touching the leaves, and the leaves don't
get enough space to move around. I prefer
this "Leaf & Bean Brewer" because it's [sort
of just] one large vessel. It's like a giant
Gai Wan, if you'd like. Okay, so you can see
that I've made up about half a liter of tea
here, which will serve a fair few people if
you serve it properly. And this is really
important as well. I recommend that when you
serve don't serve more than something like
this much tea, right? Because [there's] a
few reasons for that. The first is [that]
you want to maximize the amount of servings
you're going to get out of your leaves, sure.
But more important than that is that you don't
want to serve a giant cup of hot tea, right?
It's not the way tea should be drunk, because
you're having a very, very hot liquid at the
beginning, and then you're going to have to
wait for it to cool down, and then once it
gets to kind of halfway it might start to
become too cool, and then it becomes less
enjoyable. Think of it like a coffee, or an
espresso, or a macchiato. In fact, I like
to serve [it] after dinner in cups like this
- like small little teacups that mimic the
idea of coffee. [They are] very, very useful,
because people can get their head around what
this means. And if they ask just tell them
that, "This is the way that tea should be
drunk." to improve the stability of the temperature,
which means that they can taste stronger,
more concentrated, shots of tea, just like
an espresso or a macchiato, etcetera. So if
you are going to be serving hot tea for lots
and lots of people, brew half Gong Fu style,
serve in still small measures of less than
200 milliliters of tea, and you will have
a much better result. So from this you could
probably get about four or five servings.
So if I brewed that twice I could be serving
10 people, quite happily, and go back for
more infusions. I'm having a gorgeous "Midnight
Sun" here. "Midnight Sun" [is a] beautiful
Taiwanese roasted Oolong, [SIPS TEA] [which
is] full of those roasty-toasty notes, but
also because it's a Jin Xuan cultivar it has
that creamy luxurious finish - a perfect way
to end the meal. [SIPS TEA] I guarantee you,
if you serve tea like this, that people are
not going to be missing their coffee. Just
don't serve it in large mugs, please. That
will ruin the whole experience for your guests.
So there you go - three tips that I've picked
up over the years on how you can brew tea
for lots of people. I'll put links to all
of the products featured in this video in
the description below, so that you can pick
up any wares that you need before the party
starts. And of course, I'll put links to all
of the videos that I've talked about so that
you can learn more about the different brewing
techniques. I commend each and every one of
you true tea ambassadors out there. Get out
there, spread the word, and "wow" people with
the artistry, aesthetics, aromatics, taste,
and effects of true tea. That's it teaheads.
If you made it to the end of this video then
make sure you hit it with a "like". Follow
us on all of our socials so you don't miss
out on any news and videos from Mei Leaf HQ.
If you're ever in London then come visit us
in Camden to say "Hi." and taste our wares.
If you have any questions, comments, or video
ideas then please fire them over. Other than
that, I'm Don from Mei Leaf. Thank you for
being a part of the revelation of true tea.
Stay away from those tea bags, keep drinking
the "good stuff", and spread the word, because
nobody deserves bad tea. Bye [WAVING]
