Chinese Kung Fu Tea @ The High Tea Club

There's a long, long road in Cambridge called Mill Road that's gone from rags to riches in the four or five years I've been living in the area.When I came to Cambridge all that time ago, Mill Road was infamous for being a little dodgy, a little scary and a good place to get alcohol past 11pm. Sounds awful, but that's the truth of it and I barely went there because it didn't seem the place for me.

Fast forward to today and Mill Road is now simply famous for it's numerous amazing eateries, buzzing bars and up and coming cool, friendly image. It's now the place to be and whilst I still don't go there very often (moving out of central Cambridge didn't help!), I was super excited to get on the Mill Road wagon when an opportunity (offered by Lenka) came up to visit one of the latest new places - The High Tea Club - and try their Chinese Kung Fu Tea Set.

I'd heard a little about The High Tea Club before - opened recently, cute inside, informative owners, offers loads of different teas. Sounded perfect to me, and my interest in Chinese culture made this an even more exciting opportunity and something not to miss.

It was a rainy Tuesday evening when we arrived. Perfect weather for sitting inside and enjoying some fresh tea and dim sum. Danielle, the owner, greeted us on arrival and immediately seated us with the tea set so we could right down to it. Now even though I'm dating a guy from China, I still don't know all that much about their food and drink traditions so not only was I interested in the tea itself, but the ceremonies origins, and it was great to have someone to explain everything as we went along.

First she explained that Kung Fu Tea is a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, different from anything we do here in the UK. It's often a way for people to socialise in China, where they gather in groups of friends or family and enjoy their chosen tea together using traditional methods and crockery. Our chosen tea was Oolong - a tea I've had many times before and one I really, really enjoy. Any tea used for this ceremony is always used in loose leaf form - never a teabag in sight!

To start, the loose tea is first spooned out before being covered with boiling water, then covered with a lid for no more than 5 seconds. This first "brewing" of the tea is used to not only wash the tea and open it up, but heats and washes the cups, infusing flavour into the crockery before the first taste.

The Oolong Tea Leaves open up after their first brewing

The cups are washed and heated with tea

The tea is now covered again with boiling water and a lid, then poured through a strainer and served in the small, heated cups. The pouring through the strainer is something I couldn't quite get the hang of! You tilt the lid and pour - easy, right!? - but me being me, and being incredibly clumsy, I could never get the grip right and kept burning my hand with steam! I let Jason do most of the pouring after that, but back to those small cups!

Before our first tasting, Danielle explained the significance of these small cups: taste. Sipping the tea in a small cup allows you to really appreciate its texture and flavour in little doses. The same goes for the small crockery the tea is brewed in. Less water allows more flavour to develop, so the tea isn't simply drowned and watered down.

The first taste of the Oolong tea had a slightly sour bite at its end, but, as Danielle explained, the second and third cups present a different, more mellow flavour as the tea has really come into its own at this point . This "classic" flavour, as it was described to us, that comes in through the later cups, can last for up to eight pots of tea. The tea is always kept hot as you're frequently pouring it with newly boiled water, so there's definitely plenty of time for plenty of tea and a lot of socialising!

The second tea we tried was Jasmine Pearl. This is a green tea infused with the Jasmine scent from the Jasmine flower. It can come in a lot of different shapes, and this one was obviously a pearl shape, hence the name.

The brewing method is the same - a spoonful of the loose tea, boiling water, short brew time, washing and heating of the cups then the first serving - but the taste very different from the Oolong. Jasmine tea is quite aromatic and the scent and flavour of this tea was really fresh. Just like the Oolong, the "classic" flavour came in the second and third cups. It wasn't overwhelmingly floral, but pleasant on the palate and whilst enjoying it, I got a bit more info from Danielle about how The High Tea Club came into being.

They've only been open seven months and have had a great response from the Cambridge population. The draw is the over 80 varieties of tea they have on offer, the traditional dim sum, and, I think, the great story behind the shop.

Just some of the 80+ varieties of tea on offer

Danielle's family has been trading tea for many generations since the 1970's. Her family owned a tea shop in China and she brought the trade over here for the UK to enjoy. Having a direct source from China makes the tea she serves authentic, and probably taste just that little bit better! She wants the people of the UK to experience Chinese tea culture (like the Kung Fu Tea ceremony) and the great health benefits it can offer. She's so clearly passionate about her trade and educating people on Chinese culture and my favourite thing said she that really summed up the feel of The High Tea Club is that Chinese tea is simply "pure nature."

Now, having Chinese tea wouldn't be complete if we didn't experience a little Chinese High Tea. Us Brits are used to our classic British High Tea - a pot of English Breakfast, a few scones and some cake - but Chinese High Tea switches all that out for some loose leaf tea delights and hot dim sum.

The Jasmine Pearl tea we were still enjoying went perfectly with the dim sum we ordered: Char Siu Pork (roast pork), Pork Sia Mai (pork, prawn, mushroom) and Bean Curd Rolls (pork, prawn, bean curd, bamboo shoots, mushroom). The Char Siu was not the best I've ever had, but still tasty and fresh. The Bean Curd Rolls were great, though. Crispy on the outside and a wonderful blend of flavours on the inside. The last dish, Pork Sia Mai was absolutely incredible. I'd come back and visit just to eat them again and again and again. The prawn flavour really shone through and I couldn't get enough of the pork and mushroom combination either. I'd highly recommend ordering them if you're going to pop in! Worth every penny with a side of Jasmine Pearl!

Char Siu Pork

Bean Curd Rolls

Pork Sia Mai

Something else I'd order, which we unfortunately didn't get to try, is the tea cocktails on offer. They've cleverly created a range of tea infusions mixed with spirits for a selection of unique tea cocktails. The one that kept being mentioned as a favourite was the Jasmine Genie: Gin, Lemon, Jasmine Tea and a dash of sugar. Sounds amazing, right? I'll definitely be trying one on my next visit, and probably all the other options too! I've never heard of anything quite like a tea cocktail, and if you're not drawn in by the flavours on offer, you might just be tempted by the gorgeous cups they're served in. All handmade, and a point of pride for the shop, they're beautiful to look at, and I imagine even better to drink from.

There are so many things that make The High Tea Club interesting and unique. They've come so far in the short seven months they've been open, having been mentioned in Time Out London, becoming a bit of a household name in Cambridge and the surrounding areas (I mention it to people and they've definitely heard of it!) and opening up a new online shop selling their many varieties of tea (new teas always being added, keep an eye out!). I'm really happy I got the opportunity to give the place a whirl before I move away to London and I really hope I can pop in again to try even more of the amazing teas. The Kung Fu Tea set was the perfect way to sit down, relax and chat over some incredible flavours, and to know it was being served by someone with such passion for their trade and culture made it all the more special.

I can't express enough how much I want you all to visit, so all I'm going to say as a final note is: GO! GO! GO! And don't forget the dim sum ;)

Have you ever visited The High Tea Club? What are your experiences of Chinese tea culture?