Bringing Tea to Life: Yú Teahouse
Catherine Yung
Interviewed by Jennifer J. Lau
Catherine Yung of Yu Teahouse.
Yú Teahouse.
Why I started a Teahouse
The Chinese character for “tea” is made up of three components. At the top is the grass radical, then below that is the character for person “ren”, and finally at the bottom is the character for wood “mu.” The individual is sandwiched between nature: “grass” and “wood”. And so, like the character illustrates, tea brings an individual closer to nature. This is an important concept to those who want to begin their tea journey.
Respect for tea is the foundation. Tea is not a commodity or purely artificially made. It is a gift from nature, and it has a living quality to it. It is meant to be appreciated. Nowadays, tea might be enjoyed with dim sum as a complement to the food. But tea can serve as the main highlight to an experience. If you choose to pay attention to it, respect it, and savour it, you will see how special tea really is. Each brew is slightly different, even with the same tea leaves.
We all know the health benefits of tea for our body, but many forget that there are mental benefits of tea too! In taking time to enjoy a cup of tea, there is a slowing down of one’s mind and a comforting sensation of relaxation. This is partly why I started my teahouse.
Yú Teahouse owner, Catherine Yung.
Tea Plantations to Louis Vuitton Hong Kong
Another factor was the fact that I was brought up with a tea trading household. My mother owned a franchise of pu-erh teas, and that was the reason I travelled to tea plantations during high school. The environment was harsh at tea plantations, but it opened my eyes to a different community. They led distinct lives and you could tell by the way they greeted you, invited you into their homes, and in the way they sang songs and played without toys. They were happy. I noticed how they were satisfied in simplicity, in contrast to Hong Kong, where I was living, with an abundance of materials but an absence of joy.
Sponsored by Yogatree.
Tea made its way to my heart as I travelled to New York and London, witnessing tea houses with young audiences made me want to do the same in Hong Kong. In 2013 I made my own brand and established our own pu-erh tea collection. Because of the high cost of rent I decided to exhibit instead, and when we gained a following and people began asking about the location of our teahouse, I made the jump.
It wasn’t what people expected yet we received a lot of media attention. We chose an industrial building far away from the centre of the city, and for 5 years we were in this older-style building with iron-gated doors.
In 2017, the Taiwanese bookstore Eslite opened up their Hong Kong location and invited us to be a part of their lifestyle-inspired space. It was triple the rent but it was in Tsim Sha Tsui overlooking the harbour, and we had to take another leap of faith.
Since then we have had the privilege to work with hotels and cosmetic brands for VIP experiences, and most recently to give a unique guest experience to guests of the Louis Vuitton Maison in Hong Kong. I always love these live experiences because in these moments I can tell by the audiences’ line of sight if they are interested in tea culture.
ANother shot of Yú teahouse in a Hong Kong Eslite Bookstore.
“We all know the health benefits of tea for our body, but many forget that there are mental benefits of tea too! In taking time to enjoy a cup of tea, there is a slowing down of one’s mind and a comforting sensation of relaxation. This is partly why I started my teahouse. ”
Classes for Canadian Audiences
Tea must be tasted and experienced. When we teach, we like to have our teamaster on site to do live demonstrations. But because of the pandemic we have had to pivot in order to stay connected with our community.
Sponsored by HKETO.
One of our introductory classes is on tea meditation (茶禪一味) which talks about the unity of tea and mindfulness. If your mind is elsewhere while preparing the tea, the tea may be over-brewed. And if you pay close attention, you will see the size of the tea leaves and be able to adjudicate what temperatures to brew them in. For example, pu-erh tea with its lush leaves can be prepared in higher temperatures. This is just the starting point of preparing tea.
There are six types of tea and 100 different varieties in each type. There are also particular reasons to use certain teapots in brewing different teas! So there is much to learn in tea culture in our modern day world. Hopefully we can open some classes for audiences worldwide in the coming months! Stay tuned!
