Brew assistant
Pick a tea and a brewing style. Everything below is transcribed from that tea's own authored parameters — nothing is scaled from another style, because a ratio and a steep time do not transfer between styles.
Water temperature
90–95 °C
Typically 92 °C
Leaf for 250 ml
10–12.5 g
Typically 11.3 g
Ratio
4–5 g /100 ml
No rinse
Infusion schedule
A session of 5–7 infusions is typical. The schedule below is authored to 5; beyond that, extend each steep noticeably rather than repeating the last time.
- Infusion 110s
- Infusion 28s
- Infusion 312s
- Infusion 420s
- Infusion 535s
Equipment
- Gaiwan — A small pot works equally well; the gaiwan is conventional rather than required.
- Fairness pitcher (cha hai)
- Tea tray (cha pan)
- Tea scale
- Tea strainer
- Tea pick (cha dao)
- Tea boat
- Tasting cup
- Aroma cup
- Tea cloth
- Tetsubin (unlined iron kettle)
- Cha he (tea presentation vessel)
- Waste water bowl (jianshui)
- Cup stand (chatuo)
- Tea pet
- Cha dao utensil set
- Tea tongs
- Quick-brew infuser press
- Gooseneck kettle
- Brewing timer
- Tea dosing spoon
- Tea mat (chaxi cloth) — Dry-table brewing works with a gaiwan as well as with a pot; the mat replaces the plumbed tray.
- Celadon tea ware — A pale cool interior shows liquor colour clearly, which matters where colour is part of the judgement between infusions.
- Ru-glaze crackle ware — Crackle-glazed gaiwans and pitchers are common on modern tea tables; the crazing darkens with use, which is the point of buying it.
- Sha diao (clay water kettle) — The same charcoal-and-clay water arrangement, boiling small amounts repeatedly rather than holding a large kettle hot.
- Electric ceramic tea stove — The radiant plate takes glass boiling pots and clay kettles that an induction plate will not.
- Travel gongfu set — Travel sets are usually built round a small gaiwan with cups nested inside it.
Note: Lower leaf and cooler water than an oolong gongfu session. Black tea gives up its astringency fast, and gongfu ratios applied at full boil turn it harsh within seconds.
What this does not tell you
These parameters are a synthesis of common practice rather than recorded practice for this specific tea.
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea, so the assistant cannot tell you how strong the cup will be in that sense.
Leaf weight is a weight. A teaspoon is not — a fluffy white tea and a tightly rolled oolong differ several-fold by volume, so scales beat spoons here.
Other authored styles for this tea: Samovar service · Western brewing (teapot or mug)
Methods TeaHQ describes but cannot give numbers for
1 of 28 brewing methods have no authored parameters on any tea. They are listed rather than hidden: the method exists and is described, the numbers are simply not written yet. Nothing here is estimated from a neighbouring style.
- Herbal infusion (tisane)
Herbal infusion is on that list for a second reason as well: the herbal catalogue is two records held in review, so there is nothing to brew even once parameters exist.