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.

Sencha

Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)Synthesised parameters

Water temperature

6575 °C

Typically 70 °C

Leaf for 250 ml

7.510 g

Typically 8.8 g

Ratio

34 g /100 ml

No rinse

Infusion schedule

A session of 3–5 infusions is typical. The schedule below is authored to 4; beyond that, extend each steep noticeably rather than repeating the last time.

  1. Infusion 120s
  2. Infusion 210sShorter than the first — the leaf is already open.
  3. Infusion 325s
  4. Infusion 445s

Equipment

  • GaiwanA small pot works equally well; the gaiwan is conventional rather than required.
  • Fairness pitcher (cha hai)
  • Tea tray (cha pan)
  • Tea scale

Vessel: 100 ml gaiwan.

Note: Short-steep sencha is a real practice but far less standardised than the western approach; use these as a starting point.

What this does not tell you

  • These parameters are a synthesis of common practice rather than recorded practice for this specific tea.

  • 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: Western brewing (teapot or mug) · Kyusu brewing (Japanese style) · Flash-chilled iced tea

Methods TeaHQ describes but cannot give numbers for

1 of 15 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.