Unveiling the Most Luxurious Gong Fu Tea Table

Hey teaheads! This is Don from Mei Leaf, and today I am giddy with excitement to share with you the latest addition to my personal tea collection, which has already become the most prized centerpiece of our tea life. Under this cover is my personal Gong Fu tea table, and before I reveal it to you I wanted to briefly talk about how we got here, because this is the result of over 15 years of desiring a Gong Fu table, and over two years of work to make this final piece. Of course, most of the time you brew Gong Fu tea on a Cha Pan, or water tray, and we are continuously using our Gong Fu vessel, Gong Fu satellite, and Gong Fu code. These are our signature Cha Pans, and I'll stick links to videos about them, and to the product pages, below. However, if you have the space, and you can afford the luxury, a Gong Fu table where you can freely brew and pour water directly on the table is the ultimate in Gong Fu furniture. I've been trying to find one for over 15 years in China, but I never found the one that was right for me. Often they were too large and bulky, or they just wouldn't suit my home. They tended to look a bit mass-produced, or they looked a bit corporate-looking, or they had stylings that were very traditional Chinese, and just not to my taste, and wouldn't suit my home. So in summer 2019 Celine and I decided that we were going to try to commission someone to make our perfect, custom-made Gong Fu table. We wanted something that was unique, a one-of-a-kind table designed to our exact specifications for form and function. And while researching tables we fell in love with the so-called river tables. Maybe you've seen them, made from slabs of irregular, reclaimed pieces of wood with a natural, live edge, and filled with resin for a glassy feel, and a sleek, modern look. These tables seemed to encapsulate the natural and traditional with the modern and the sleek. So we trawled through the internet and short-listed some table-makers, and wrote to them with our ideas. A few replied, showing interest, but it was pretty clear early on that one man showed the skill, passion, professionalism, and attention to detail that we were looking for. His name is Marek, and he makes spectacular tables in Poland. Marek traveled all the way from Poland to London to visit us in February 2020, to experience the Gong Fu session first-hand so that he could understand the use case. And then we got to work trying to find that special piece of wood that was the right size, and shape, and quality for our table. Eventually we found this beautiful, thick piece of ash with natural holes, and a live edge, and with a lovely crescent-like shape, which would naturally fit the dynamic of a brewer and his guests. Marek had to dry the wood, and then flatten it so that it was perfectly even. He then had to prepare it for the all-important resin pour. We spent a while trying to decide on the colors, and eventually we chose a particular shade of blue, which coincidentally is similar to the Mei Leaf blue, but that was actually chosen specifically because we felt that it would match the shade of the wood, and give enough color without it being too garish, or over-the-top. Okay, so before I go on I think that it's time to reveal the table to you. You ready? Here we go. Check this beauty out. It is truly a masterpiece produced by Marek. Visually, I think that the resin color and the wood match perfectly together, and when you get some sunlight hitting the floor the color glows through and shifts through the day. It's amazing. The details of all the wood and the live edges of the table are just a joy, and sort of remind me of something that I love in tea, that tea represents a microcosm of the whole of nature. You can find details in this. I'm constantly seeing new details in it which just are remarkable, marvelous. And the feel of the actual surface is sublime, smooth, and glassy on the top, yet natural and textured around the sides. I mean, it's a table that you just want to touch just as much as you want to look at it. Later on I will be sharing details of Marek, so if you're currently drooling, as I would be if I saw this online, then hey, you too can bless your home with your own custom-made Gong Fu table like this. So you can see that Marek had to mix the perfect color resin, and pour it into place, then let it set, and then grind it down to make it perfectly flat. Then we had to decide how we wanted the water to drain. I wanted all of the water to flow towards the brewer. Since the table is this crescent-like shape I felt that this was the position, the perfect position for the brewer, and this little curve of wood here was the perfect spot for drainage. So we made the drainage point here, and then I wanted the gradient here to be almost imperceptible, or imperceptible to my guests. But yet, anywhere that I poured on this table it would drain down into this hole. So I had to ask Marek to really carefully take his time to carefully sand a gradient, leaving a smooth and rising barrier here next to the brewer, to just funnel in all of the water that it collects and go into the drainage hole. I mean, it is exactly as I had imagined. We then had to work on the legs, and we decided on three legs joining to make a Y-shaped base. This allows plenty of legroom for everyone, and gives the table, I think, a modern and angular profile. Then we had to figure out how to collect the water, and I really wanted a solution that was invisible, rather than having a bucket sitting under the table. So we came up with this really clever system. Basically, the water drains into this hole, and through this filter to collect any leaves, and then goes through a tube which is removable, and that tube is tacked onto the leg so you can hardly see it, and then it goes into a water-collecting unit which looks like it's part of the table base. So it seems completely invisible. A lot of people go, where's the water going? And they only can figure it out once they see how it all works by looking underneath the table. And this container at the bottom is removable, so all you have to do is unscrew the tube and you can remove it. It's so simple, and so clever, because it just looks like it's part of the table base, and it stores around, well, over 2 liters of water. So that will give you, I mean, at least six full-on Gong Fu sessions before you need to empty it. And to empty it all you do is literally take it out, and go over to the sink, and pour it away. Really, really, really simple, and yet super-sleek and clever. So at this point the table seemed like it was done, and this was around December 2020. Bear in mind that there were many, many other processes involved, and I'm just giving you a very brief outline of all the different steps, and all of the different work that Marik did, and all of the discussions that we had together. So from finding the wood until this point, when I thought it was ready, it was about nine months of work, and I thought that I had found my table. I thought that I had made my table, but then we were hit with a big, big snag. The varnish coating that we used was meant to be heat-resistant up to about 120 Celsius, or 250 Fahrenheit, so we figured that that would be fine for Gong Fu brewing. Well, we were very, very wrong. When we tried out the table just pouring boiling water on the table left marks, and leaving a hot cup on the table left rings which you could not remove. So after just one or two sessions the table was marked up, and we were both devastated. Marik and I then set about on a journey of research and trials to find out if there would be any final surface for this table that was clear and glassy, showing off the wood and the resin applicable to the table, and was truly heat-resistant. We purchased and tested countless different varnishes, enamels, resins, and finishes, and it took us a further nine months, and nothing worked. Our test, for those of you who want to know, was to take this Mei Leaf Porcelain blue cup, fill it with boiling hot water, and leave it for 15 minutes without touching it. Even the most expensive kitchen countertops' resins could not handle that, and would leave a mark on the surface. Despite all their claims on the spec sheets, and videos of people putting hot-frying pans on the surface, it just did not happen. It was looking like my dream of a Gong Fu table was not doable. And then, in literally our last throw of the dice, Marik found a finishing material which had a really interesting property. Firstly, it was very heat-resistant, but just like the others it would leave a faint mark if we tried the porcelain test. But the magical thing about this material is that it responds to heat, and returns to its original state when heated. So we tested it out, and we were both amazed to watch the marks disappear, simply by pouring boiling hot water on the table. Now I've shot, yesterday, a brief example of this, showing you the sort of mark that you can expect. Very faint marks that you can expect, and you can see that the mark disappears when water is poured on it, boiling hot water. So not only does the finish itself handle you pouring boiling water over it, it actually loves it, and it is my way of cleaning the table after several sessions. Just boil up some water, and pour over the water, especially over any marks, and they disappear. It's amazing, and I'm so thankful for Marik persevering and finding this incredible finish, which still looks glassy, clear, and shows off the wood and resin, but can handle the heat, and can be looked after. So after two years of dreaming, searching, designing, and troubleshooting, we finally have this table in our home, and I can tell you right now that in the last three weeks since I've had it it has exceeded all of my expectations. But more on that later. Right, before I go any further let's brew some tea on this baby so that you can see it in action. Okay, so I'm going to be drinking some of this, our day-drinking Diva, fresh in. If you've not seen this video then I'll put a link in the description below. The first thing that I love about this table is the amount of space I have. So suddenly, brewing Gong Fu style becomes even more free-form. So you can decide what you want to put where, and obviously you could have certain locations that are designed for certain things, but I wanted to keep it very open, very, very free-form. I love this extra feature here. I sometimes like to put the pot of my next brew, or maybe I'm going to display the tea here that I'm going to be drinking. This is the starting point of the tea. At the moment I'm just going to break up some tea here. But yeah, it's great the space that you have with this. Obviously, if you get your own then you can specify the size according to your space, and how much space you have, and how big the piece of wood actually, naturally, is, of course. But I think that this size is just about right, and I can't quite recall the size, but you can sort of guesstimate here. It's about 50 to 60 centimeters in width, and the length is about a meter, just over a meter, or something like that. Okay, so I'm not going to do a full session, but I just want to show you how it all works. I'm going to pull out my latest Zany pot, which has just come in, and I will try my best to get this baby up online at the time of release. But I'll do a separate video about it. You can see I have my water here sitting with charcoal, so that I don't even have to get up. Just boop! Fill up the kettle. Okay, so I am going to get a coaster here. So let me talk to you about this. Whilst I said that the surface is heat-resistant, and you can clean it, first of all, I don't want to push the boundaries of it, and I know that clay stores heat for such a long period of time that if the clay pot, with it being heated up first, and then sitting with hot water, it just is pushing it a little bit. So I like to do this, have a little coaster. I also think it looks really, really nice, but you can certainly pour water liberally, and I'll quickly show you the drainage here. So basically, anywhere that I pour here it will drain down into the hole. I have little hooks around the table, like one hook here with a cloth, so that I can always just sort of mop up if I need to. But it drains really, really nicely. We worked on the gradient so that it was steep enough that it drained the majority of the water. You can see it's still flowing down, but it wasn't so steep that it felt uncomfortable for guests, that things would fall. When you're sitting on this side it really feels like it's flat, and over here it is completely flat, and then you've got this dip going down here. So all of this area around I wanted to make sure was flat. So if you had a little book, or something, or you wanted to put something here it wasn't going to feel like it was going to topple. But even here, the gradient is really, really almost imperceptible. It's only when you start to see this little barrier that you realize how much gradient there is. There's lots of space for teapets. You can just pour liberally around. That's what I love about this. And you know, no worries about tea getting wet, because you can just put it to the side. You can even show it off by leaving it there. I am just starting to really get to know how I'm going to use this table. So let's see. Some leaves go in. Yeah. Nice session. Put that to the side. Now I intentionally made it so that the kettle was on my left-hand side, which might confuse some people, because you think, well, I'm right-handed. Don't you want to pour with your right hand? And the answer is, if it's on my right I would pour to pour with my left and hold with my right. That way it feels more fluid, and also you can get the Gai Wan lid, or the pot lid, on quicker, as opposed to pouring with the right, and then getting the lid and putting it on. So I just find that this is a more balanced way. And it sort of reminds me to slow down as well, because pouring with my left hand I'm not so confident with. Let me just pour this away, and in goes this tea. So we'll just do a brew while I'm talking to you. So we had sort of designed this part here as the space for the kettle, but I just love the table so much when it's clear that I've gotten just a little side table that I had lying around the home, and I'm actually going to be ultra-luxury. I'm going to be asking Maric to make me a matching kettle table, but that's another step in the flamboyance of this home at the moment with tea. But yeah, I mean, that's what I like. That's how I designed it for the kettle to be here, but if you make your own you can have a think about that, whether or not you want to do that, or just have a side table like I have. This works very, very well, having the kettle on a little side table a bit further down as well. It's very, very nice. Okay, let's pour this away. So that's the layout. I wanted to make sure that the gradient was smooth, that there was flat sides. As I said, I've got little hooks on the legs just to sort of keep like my towel, and I can also hook my little tool here so it's always ready. So those are little flourishes that you can add yourself. As you can see, brewing here is just bliss. You've got all of this space, and you can just brew at leisure. If somebody pops up you can grab another cup, just put it out for them, and believe me, you can fit more than three people here. We've got it set up for three people with these ultra-comfy chairs, which was a must for us. Really, really getting some comfy, comfy chairs in so that you could really lounge, and just sort of get yourself sort of settled in to this space. Cheers, everybody. Mmm! Wow! Day-drinking diva. It's always going to be a fun day when this one comes out to play. Yeah, so what else? Oh, also, we've made this up to you, but we've made this a no-mobile-phone zone, and that's another reason why the side table is useful. So people put their mobile phones there. I'm not like enforcing that. People can't look at their phone. It's just that I prefer no phones, or laptops, on the table. I think that... And naturally, people seem to not want to put too many things on the table. It's great. You can bring out lots and lots of tea. You can show off other tea while you're drinking tea. You can have multiple sessions on the go. You can bring food and snacks out, obviously. You know, it can be you wish. It's versatile, and yet very, very specialist. So, do you want one? Well, let me tell you why this tea table has, in... As I said, we only received it a few weeks ago, but in those three weeks this table has become, I think it's fair to say, my most prized tea possession. And the reason for that is, well, I can assure you it's not simply because it's new, and me just being excited, or because I've been working on it for a long time. It's more than that. It's much more than that. Of course, I expected it to look beautiful, and I hoped it would look as good as it does, and that it would perform as perfectly as it does for my tea brewing. But what I did not expect was how much this table has become like a centerpiece for our home. Firstly, whenever guests, or family visits, or just hanging out with Celine and my daughter, everyone always sits at this table. They no longer sit on my sofa, which is inevitably facing a TV. Instead, they are drawn to sit around the Gong Fu table, and inevitably we drink tea, and have long conversations, and forge deeper bonds. It's like this tea table has become the replacement of a fire pit, or a fireplace in a home. You know, people, whether or not they want to drink tea, naturally are drawn to it, and it becomes a place of conversation and sharing like I would never have imagined before. It's just remarkable. Personally, whenever I come downstairs in the morning this table just calls me like a tractor beam to sit and have tea. I find myself watching less TV, sitting less in front of the computer screen, and instead I am sitting here savoring tea, engaging in thought, observation, and sometimes just unexpected meditation. We all know the transformative power of tea, but having a comfortable and beautiful space designed for tea in your home somehow anchors you to all of that positivity effortlessly. So if you have the space, and the money, I highly recommend getting yourself a Gong Fu tea table. Marik and I have done all of the hard work for you, working out all of the design requirements, technical issues, and finding solutions to problems. We have this first production made and tested, and I can wholeheartedly give it the thumbs-up. All that you would have to do, if you wanted one, to make your own table is make it yours, suit it to your tastes and your home. Marik can source all kinds of wood. This is ash, but he can source oak, black oak, walnut, acacia, larch, and others. The possibilities are endless, and I even get excited thinking about another table, to be honest. Then you just have to work out the layout, where the drainage goes. I strongly advise that you select your chairs early on, so that Marik can make the height of the table perfect for your chairs. I also strongly suggest that you get yourself some comfy lounging chairs, because you and your guests are going to want to sit at this table for hours on end, chatting, sipping, and living the tea life. I can promise you that. So if you want to explore the possibility of your own unique Gong Fu table then head over to www.resinwoodsdesign.com. I'll put a link in the description below. Make sure you click on that link. The website is about to be launched, but you can still reach out to Marik immediately using the form on the holding page. I strongly suggest that you get in there early, before the website launches, and start your conversations, because each table will be handmade only by him, and he can obviously only take on a limited number of jobs at a time. I think he will have a bit of a queue. He's actually going to limited-edition number them as well, underneath the table. Please bear in mind that if you order a table you'll be ordering from Marik. This is not a Mei Leaf product. It is clearly the result of my 15-year obsession with finding the dream tea table, but you would be dealing directly with him in Poland. I guess that a lot of you are wondering how much this Gong Fu table would cost, so I asked Marik to give me a ballpark figure. Of course, the cost will depend on the wood, the size, the intricacies of your own particular designs, etc. But Marik has said that this one here would probably be around the 3,000 Euro mark. So I just wanted to give you some price guide for anyone interested in having their own, and why wouldn't you? Yes, it is a luxurious purchase. Yes, it is certainly not something that everyone can afford, or have the space for in their home. And yes, you can brew Gong Fu tea on much simpler setups, but hand-on-heart I can say that this table has managed to elevate even my experience of tea, and I will treasure it for the rest of my days. That's it teaheads. Check out our other videos, taste our teas wherever you are in the world by browsing MeiLeaf.com, and come visit us if you're ever in London. Other than that, I'm Don from Mei Leaf. Thank you for being a part of the revelation of true tea. Stay away from those tea bags, keep drinking the good stuff, and spread the word, because nobody deserves bad tea. Cheers!