Taiwan Tea Boy
I’ve heard it said that making Chinese tea is complicated and bothersome, but it sure looks like child’s play in this photo! Hey, if a 6-year-old can handle it, there’s no excuse for the rest of you! We had my calligraphy teacher and her husband over for tea today, and the munchkin here stole the show! He’s getting too heavy to sit on my lap and help out, so we bought him his own teapot and cut him loose. He uses a hybrid gaiwan (above, right) – it’s a very cheap pot so breakage isn’t an issue, porcelain can be used for any tea he wants to make, the wide opening provides better access (and leaf observation), the spout & handle allow easy pouring, and (perhaps most importantly) he picked it out himself. The electric tea kettle is too heavy for him just yet, so I pour hot water into a small pitcher that he can use to brew two rounds. This reduces the likelihood of him burning himself or spilling. Fortunately he’s been around the tea equipment long enough to be reasonably safe, and knows to stay away from hot water and expensive teaware!
It’s surprising how easily he can pick up the mannerisms and techniques of tea making, although I must say he’s seen his fair share of the inside of teahouses! (It doesn’t hurt that he loves to hang out with dad either). I coached him some on the basics, but smelling the teapot lid (the porcelain picks up the aroma from the steam and helps to tell how strong the tea will be), and pouring the tea is his own style.
These pictures are certainly worth a thousand words! Here’s round 1:
And once he got warmed up, things really got jumping!
Some of you might be thinking he’s too young to be drinking tea, but he doesn’t actually drink very much, and I water his cup down a bit when he isn’t looking. When he was younger, I would put out a special pot of warm water that I could pour when he joined our tea drinking. In this session, he had a total of 3 one-half cups of Tie Kuan Yin, and you can see in the picture how small the cups are, so I don’t feel that it’s a problem. When I see the junk food and soda some kids his age get, it keeps things in perspective. Besides, I think that including him in some ‘grown up’ activities helps teach him motor skills, patience, cooperation, and social graces. As far as quality time goes, this evening was priceless!
”contemplation” “Hey, Dad!”
Despite all the other excitement of the day (see ‘Name that Snake’ post), Keith put on the best show, and I look forward to seeing him in action more this summer. I was asked if I’m worried about ‘the competition’, but I answered, “At least when I retire I won’t have to worry about who’s going to make tea for me!” And if anyone still doubts the benefits of tea drinking, all I can say is, this next picture should pretty much tell you all ya need to know!
August 20th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Shangguan Says:
Those pictures are priceless. You must be so proud. My daughter is two and has been around tea every day for those two years. She too wants to be part of the tea brewing process, although she just gets cool water and plastic teaware to brew with. We have a lot of fun doing it though.