Karen Dunlap

I have a small group of friends in New York City that practice gungfu cha. ‘Gungfu’ literally means ‘hard to make’ and cha means ‘tea.’ It’s sometimes referred to as the Chinese Tea Ceremony and it’s a way of tasting tea leaves by making multiple infusions in a gaiwan or a yixing teapot. The more you taste tea in this style, the more you begin to experience the unfolding of time, with rushes of sensation that sparks ideas.

One of my favorite people to drink gungfu cha with is the photographer Michael Halsband. He began learning about tea and making gungfu cha on an extended stay in Hong Kong while completing his Surf Book. Having tea with him, you get Hong Kong technique with touches of his own mischievous style. My favorite move of his is how he uses the gaiwan lid to rock the base plate when he is rinsing everything with water. It’s quick and it makes a clear chime that circles in the air a few seconds.

Last Sunday, there were 3 of us. Me, Michael and Bubba. He made for us his beloved Shui Xian, a Water Sprite Wuyi Cliff Oolong from 2007. Shui Xian is a style of Wuyi Cliff Oolong that is heavily roasted. It is good to let it age a few years – giving the roast a chance to relax. His brewing style is on the strong, aggressive side – and he brought out an astonishing deep, red amber color in the tea. He pushed the taste right to the limit, while still being sweetly complex.

Michael has his tea set-up on the table at the back of his photography studio, in reach of his stereo. Three large windows pour light in. I sit surrounded by contact sheets, work prints and film cameras. My two rivers of interest (tea and photography) merge deliciously for a few hours.

We often talk about following intuition – how there’s a similarity in developing photographs in the darkroom to brewing tea. First, learning technique – then, beginning to break the rules – following your intuition. How the tea starts to guide you on water, how to brew and drink it. Pretty similar to making an art piece – that feeling on knowing what to do next, and when it’s completed.

If you haven’t made tea this way and you are reading this – it is time to experience it. If you don’t know where or how, send me an email. I’ll figure out how to hook you up.

This entry was posted Sunday, November 29th, 2009 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Tea. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.