Skip to main content

Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Time for tea

First suggested by 38th & 40th Strood Sea Scouts
Spend some quali-tea time together with this GongFu guide to cha, chat, and chill.

Back to Activities

You’ll need

  • Access to water
  • Tables
  • Kettle
  • Tea
  • Teapot or gaiwan
  • Teacups
  • Jug
  • Tea strainer
GongFu tea guide
PDF – 11.1MB

To watch in full screen, double click the video

 

The GongFu Cha (or KungFu Tea) ceremony comes from Tibet, Nepal, and China. It dates back over 3,000 years, which makes it the oldest form of tea ceremony in the world, and remains largely unchanged.

The aim of the GongFu Cha is to create a quiet, reflective space which is religiously neutral but spiritually engaging. There aren’t strict rules: you could discuss the flavour and type of tea or ask and reflect on life’s big questions.

Before you begin

  • If you want to use the session to chat about a particular topic, it may help to let everyone know in advance.
  • If you want to explore beliefs and values, check out the guidance below to give you a helping hand. It’s especially useful if you’re helping people work towards their Scouts My Faith Activity Badge.
  • Don’t worry if you don’t have any special equipment. We’ve included ‘A basic tea kit’ listing what you need to get started; hopefully you’ll be able to piece together a basic kit from things you already have.
  • If you want more detailed information, check out the attached ‘Gongfu tea guide’.

Start the ceremony

  1. Arrange everything on the table or display area and heat some water.
  2. Carefully pour the hot water over all of the items to wake the set.
  3. Explain what a tea ceremony is, introduce all of the equipment, and tell everyone the discussion topics (if there are any).

This is a good time to pass around the tea hand (or packet of tea) so everyone can see and smell the tea.

  1. Put the tea into the teapot, pour hot water over it, then almost immediately drain the water off again. This cleans the tea from dust and anything else that may contaminate it.
  2. Pour the hot water from the kettle into the teapot for the first infusion. Leave it for the right amount of time.

Check your packet to see how long to brew the tea for (and the ideal water temperature). As a general guide, brew black tea at 85 degrees for 60 seconds, green tea at 70 degrees for 30 seconds, oolong tea at 75 degrees for 60 seconds, and white tea at 72 degrees for 30 seconds.

  1. When the tea’s ready, pour it from the teapot into the sharing jug. Use the tea strainer if you need to and leave the lid off the teapot between infusions.
  2. Pour the tea evenly and calmly into the cups, filling them about a third full so the top’s not too hot to hold.
  3. Pass the cups to the group with your right hand in a clockwise direction.
  4. Once everyone’s tried the tea, they should pass the cups back to the person leading the ceremony.

Encourage everyone to get stuck into discussion as they try the tea and between each infusion.

  1. Pour more hot water over the tea leaves in the teapot and repeat steps five to nine for the second infusion. This time, leave black tea for 65 seconds, green tea for 40 seconds, oolong tea for 65 seconds, and white tea for 50 seconds.

Explain that you’re using the same leaves so people can experience how the tea tastes slightly different with each infusion.

  1. Repeat again for a third infusion. This time, leave black tea for 80 seconds, green tea for 60 seconds, oolong tea for 75 seconds, and white tea for 60 seconds.
  2. Collect all of the cups and move them off of the table. Tip any leftover tea and the wet tea leaves over the tea pets (if you have them), and thank everyone for taking part.

Tea

  • It’s up to you what kind of tea you use: green, white, oolong, or black all work well.
  • We’d recommend good quality loose leaf tea if you can get hold of some – teabags aren’t great for the environment, and loose leaf tea will taste better too.

Tea tray or table

  • You’ll use this to frame your space and create a little stage for the tea performance.
  • Choose something that can handle a bit of spilled tea.
  • You could use a bamboo mat or a piece of fabric. Some people have fancier trays that drain spilled tea away.

Tea hand

  • This is used to present the dry tea leaves before the ceremony.
  • If you don’t have one, you could just pass the packet around instead.

Kettle

  • You can use an electric kettle or a large boiling pan.
  • It’s best to use fresh water that hasn’t been boiled before. Ideally, you’ll get the water to 80 degrees, but don’t worry too much if you can’t be exact.

Sharing jug

  • A glass or clay jug that’s roughly the same capacity as your teapot. You’ll use it to pour the tea into the cups.
  • You could use a jug you already have, as long as it’s heatproof.

Tea strainer

  • To fit over the sharing jug to catch the tea leaves – no one wants leaves in their tea.

Teapot (or gaiwan)

  • You’ll use this to infuse your tea with boiling water.
  • We find that around 200 to 300ml is a good size.

Teacups

  • You’ll need one for each person.
  • Small cups (around 30 to 50ml) work best.

Tea pet (zisha)

  • Tea pets aren’t essential, so you can go ahead with your ceremony without them if you need to.
  • These are small, ornate creatures. Around 900BC, potters started to use the clay left over from making teapots to make small charms.
  • Over time, tea pets change colour (and scent) because of the different teas they’ve shared with people. This is called training a tea pet.
  • Tea pets inspired things like Pokémon.

Young people who want to work towards their Scouts My Faith Activity Badge will need to talk about the origins, history, and teachings of their faith. They could think about at least one point in each section below. It’s up to them whether they want to share their reflections in a tea ceremony or speak to a leader about them afterwards.

Origins

  • Where in the world did your faith originate?
  • Who founded your faith? Was it a single person?
  • When did you start to identify with your faith?

History

  • Are there any significant places for your faith? You could think about buildings, monuments, shrines, or other holy places. Where are they? Why are they important?
  • In your local area, where could you go to learn more about your faith, or to worship with others who share your faith?
  • Where could you go in the UK (or around the world) to learn more about your faith, or to worship with others who share your faith?
  • Are there any writings or drawings from the early days of your faith?
  • How were the teachings of your faith recorded and passed down?

Teachings

  • What values guide the choices you make and the way you live?
  • Are there any sayings or stories from your faith that are particularly important to you? Why?
  • How do you learn about the teachings of your faith? For example, they could be written down, shared by religious leaders, or discussed with family and friends.
  • Is there a person you admire (or a role model) who shares the same faith as you? How do they live by the teachings of your faith?

Reflection

This activity gave people the chance to have confidence in their own faith and beliefs. How did people find sharing with each other? Sharing personal things with other people can be scary, but hopefully everyone was supportive and it helped them to understand each other better. How else can people help others feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts?

This activity was also about communicating. Communicating isn’t just about talking (or other ways of telling other people things) – it’s about listening too. Do people think it’s easy to be a good listener, or does it take practise? Checking in with friends, asking how they’re feeling, and really listening to what they have to say can be a great way to strengthen friendships. Could people try to do this, as well as all of their usual ways of spending time together?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

It’s up to you how you approach the discussion element of this activity. You could let it flow naturally or introduce specific topics. You could even ask people to do some research before the ceremony so they can share some of the things they’ve learned.

  • If anyone in your group can’t drink the tea, see if there’s something else they can drink instead so they can still take part.
  • Keep any discussion as open and inclusive as possible.
  • Not everyone’s comfortable talking in big groups. You could split into smaller groups or pairs to chat, or people could share in other ways, for example, sharing pictures or telling a friend what they’d like to say.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Anyone who enjoyed learning more about different faiths and beliefs could have a go at the Scouts World Faiths Activity Badge.