Brewing basics

Whatever the method, the same things shape the liquor: how much leaf, which water and how long. What happens before brewing counts too: warming the teaware and storing the dry leaf.

A scale, a white gaiwan and a bamboo scoop with dry tea — Illustration

Leaf dose and time work together: more leaf means a shorter infusion. Small, broken leaf releases flavor faster than whole leaf, so it needs a shorter steep. Water makes up more than 99% of the liquor, so its minerals and temperature noticeably change the flavor.

Warming the teaware raises the temperature of the first infusion by a few degrees, and a rinse opens up tightly rolled leaf. How you store tea decides what you start with: dry leaf picks up moisture and stray odors, and loses aroma in light and warmth.

In this section

Leaf dose and time 投茶量 How much tea to use and how long to steep it: ISO and GB/T standards, gongfu and Western ratios, why a spoon is a poor measure, and how infusions change.
Water for tea 水 Which water suits tea: hardness and dissolved solids, tap, bottled and filtered water, temperature by tea type, the reboiling myth, Lu Yu's three boils.
Warming and rinsing 温壶烫杯 Why to warm the pot, gaiwan and cups with boiling water, and which teas need a rinse. Measured temperatures, rinse seconds, and where tea masters disagree.
Storage 存茶 How to store tea at home: green tea cold and airless, oolong by roast level, white tea and pu-erh for aging. Limits from the Chinese standard.
Leaf size Whole leaf, broken leaf, fannings and dust: what OP, BOP and CTC mean, how particle size changes how fast tea steeps, and why matcha is ground to microns.