Yìbēi chá (一杯茶) — a pot of tea
A green or oolong tea brewed short and repeated in a small teapot, served in tiny cups that you fill for your neighbors before yourself.
A green or oolong tea brewed short and repeated in a small teapot, served in tiny cups that you fill for your neighbors before yourself.
Before talking seriously, you sit and pour tea — that's how we acknowledge each other. Don't drown the leaves: water that hasn't quite boiled, a short infusion, and you repeat several times, because the first sips are only a beginning. Always serve others before your own cup; an object as simple as a teapot already says how you treat your fellow man. I like those gestures: they seem like nothing, yet everything is there.
- •Green or oolong tea leaves — a generous pinch (infusion)
- •Spring water, just below boiling — enough for the pot (extraction)
Yìbēi chá (一杯茶) — a pot of tea
A green or oolong tea brewed short and repeated in a small teapot, served in tiny cups that you fill for your neighbors before yourself.
Why this dish? Among Ai Weiwei's iconic works are teapots and everyday tea objects reimagined. Tea is the quintessential Chinese gesture of welcome — pouring for others before oneself — a natural extension of his hospitable table.
Before talking seriously, you sit and pour tea — that's how we acknowledge each other. Don't drown the leaves: water that hasn't quite boiled, a short infusion, and you repeat several times, because the first sips are only a beginning. Always serve others before your own cup; an object as simple as a teapot already says how you treat your fellow man. I like those gestures: they seem like nothing, yet everything is there.
Ingredients (period version)
- Green or oolong tea leaves — a generous pinch (infusion)
- Spring water, just below boiling — enough for the pot (extraction)
Ingredients
- Green tea (longjing) or oolong — 5 g (infusion)
- Water at 80–90°C — 200 ml per infusion (extraction)
Method
- Quickly rinse the teapot and cups with hot water to warm them.
- Place leaves, pour a little water to rinse (oolong), then discard this first water.
- Pour water at 80–90°C and steep for only 30–60 seconds.
- Serve by filling guests' cups before your own.
- Reinfuse the same leaves several times, slightly lengthening each infusion.
How it was made : The culture of brewing tea in small successive quantities (close to gōngfū chá) values finesse over quantity. Pouring for others before oneself is an ancient etiquette rule, and tapping two fingers on the table thanks the pourer.
The contemporary twist : Serve in a deliberately ordinary everyday teapot set on a pedestal: the mundane gesture elevated to an object of attention, in the manner of a ready-made.
Ai Weiwei · Charactorium