My first infusion is always the worst one

In short

For a large class of teas this is expected behaviour rather than a fault. Compressed, tightly rolled and heavily roasted leaf has not opened by the end of the first steep, and the first infusion is doing the work of wetting rather than of extraction.

Likely causes, in order

Most likely first. Answer the question under each one before moving on — several of these look alike in the cup and are told apart only by what was done to the leaf.

1. 1. Tightly rolled or compressed leaf that has not opened

   Leaf quality

   Check: Is the leaf still in pellets, or still in cake fragments, after the first pour?

   Fix: Rinse briefly with hot water and discard, then start. This is standard practice for rolled oolong and for compressed dark tea, and it is a wetting step rather than a cleaning one.

2. 2. Fine dust from the surface of broken or compressed leaf

   Leaf quality

   Check: Is the first cup cloudy or gritty as well as thin?

   Fix: A quick rinse removes the fines that a pick or a press left behind. It costs a small amount of flavour and improves clarity noticeably.

3. 3. A cold vessel taking the heat out of the first infusion only

   Equipment

   Check: Do you preheat, or does the first pour go into a cold gaiwan?

   Fix: Preheat the vessel and the cups. The first infusion is the only one brewed in a cold pot, which is precisely why it is the outlier.

4. 4. The first steep timed as though the leaf were already open

   Under-extraction

   Check: Is the first infusion the same length as the second?

   Fix: Give the first steep longer than the second rather than the same, for rolled and compressed teas. The usual advice to lengthen each successive steep assumes leaf that opened immediately.

5. 5. Nothing is wrong

   Technique

   Check: Are the second and third infusions good?

   Fix: Many teas peak at the second or third infusion by design, and a rinse simply moves the peak to the first cup you drink. This is not a defect to correct.

Tea types this applies to

• Oolong
• Dark tea and pu-erh

Brewing methods this applies to

• Gongfu brewing (gaiwan) — A high-leaf, low-volume, many-infusions approach: a great deal of leaf in a small vessel, steeped for seconds at a time and poured off completely, repeatedly.
• Gongfu brewing (Yixing pot) — The same short-steep, high-leaf approach as gaiwan gongfu, carried out in a small unglazed clay pot that seasons over time and is dedicated to one tea.

Related problems

Sharing a cause category, a tea type or a brewing method with this one.

• My tea goes cold before I finish it — The cup is lukewarm within a few minutes, and in a gongfu session the later infusions arrive noticeably cooler than the early ones.
• My gaiwan is too hot to hold — The rim and lid become uncomfortable within seconds, the pour is rushed, and tea ends up on the tray.
• Every infusion in my gongfu session tastes the same — The cups are pleasant and interchangeable, with none of the change from steep to steep the method is supposed to show.
• My clay pot has changed how the tea tastes — A tea that tasted right in porcelain comes out muted, differently scented, or carrying something that was not in the leaf.
• My gongfu tea is bitter even at five seconds — The timer says five or ten seconds and the cup is over-extracted anyway, with the later infusions dropping off sharply.

Sources