Brewing in a small teapot

Many Chinese teas, especially oolong and pu-erh, are often brewed in a small teapot or a lidded bowl. The idea is simple: more leaf, less water, shorter steeps.

How to start

• Use a small teapot or gaiwan of about 100–150 ml.
• Warm it with hot water first, then pour that water away.
• Add more leaf than usual, roughly 5–7 g.
• Keep the first steeps short: 10–20 seconds.

Several infusions

Pour off all the tea each time, then steep again, a little longer each round. The same leaves give several cups, and each tastes slightly different.

Not a rule

This is one way of brewing, not the only one. The guidance on each product page works just as well in an ordinary teapot.