While in Prague last February for the Prague Tea Festival, I had the pleasure of stopping by the lovely Meetea tea house 🫖

I shared a delicious Bai Mudan (白牡丹) white tea there with two friends, and was happy to introduce them to the gong fu cha style of brewing.

Meetea is a beautiful and cozy tea house, located at the end of a quiet courtyard, and in which we were able to brew tea ourselves.

Because the tea was kept in hot kettles placed over flames, I had to first pour the water into a pitcher and wait for it to cool down a bit before brewing the tea. No precise instructions were given (about the waiting time for the water temperature nor about the brewing time), which encouraged me to rely more on my instincts, tea knowledge, other senses, and general ~vibes~
This is quite close to how I often brew tea at home, but I had never seen this in a tea house, and it was a novel and welcomed experience.

Our hosts were friendly and helpful, and I came back home with a few extra teas in my suitcase!

#tea #meetea #teahouse #prague #gongfucha #whitetea #baimudan #baicha #茶 #白茶 #白牡丹 #工夫茶 #功夫茶

Drinking more of this year's Longjing (龙井茶) green tea that a friend got me back from China!

This one really took me on a journey! 🌱
The aroma of the dry leaves was very sweet and buttery, reminding me of french "sablés" cookies, and this was also present in the aroma of the tea broth itself, but along with the brews it evolved to become more fresh, even gaining some honeydew melon notes.
The taste of the tea had notes of cooked green asparagus and peas, as well as cooked dough. This in combination with its full bodied texture felt like I was having a delicious meal!
Finally, it has a sweet chestnut after-taste, and long-lasting umami notes once the nuttiness faded.

Brewed 80-90°C, not timed, and too many times to count!

Gaiwan & tea scoop bought in Teemaa
Pitcher bought in Nari Tea Lab
Cups by Oondobang
Tea pet by my friend Pirjo

#tea #teatime #greentea #chinesetea #longjing #dragonwelltea #gongfucha #茶 #龙井茶 #功夫茶 #工夫茶