There is a Chinese saying that, a tea cup is only filled to one seventh of its volume. Nevertheless the tea leaves served in the very first cup are steeped, that is, they are merely covered in order to release their fragrance. The cup is slightly swayed around to fully extract the leaves’ flavour into the water. The strength of the aroma does not, however, come out completely at this stage. Only the second cup will carry the full flavour. The first cup is for “washing” the tea and to smell its aroma; it is not for drinking it. Instead of breathing the fragrance into the lungs, one should bring it up into the head in the space between the eyebrows. The aroma is slowly inhaled. It is in the first cup that the tea leaves are checked for their quality.