How to brew tea in a gaiwan

A gaiwan is a bowl with a lid and saucer. You can use it to brew the same leaves several times, pouring out all the tea after each infusion. The lid holds back the leaves as you pour; the amount of tea, water temperature, and steeping time determine the strength.

For a first gaiwan, choose a 100–120 ml porcelain bowl with a glazed interior. It is easy to clean, so you can use it for different teas. You will also need a kettle, scales, and a cup large enough to hold the whole infusion. If you are sharing, a small serving pitcher, called a gongdaobei, lets you mix the infusion before dividing it between cups.

Longjing tea steeping in a gaiwan.
Photo: Difference engine · CC BY-SA 4.0

Steps

Practise pouring with cool water. Fill the bowl below the rim, leaving room for the lid without making the water spill over. Slide the lid aside to leave a narrow pouring gap. Hold opposite sides of the flared rim with your thumb and middle finger, and rest your index finger on the lid knob. Tilt the gaiwan and pour into a cup. The saucer can stay on the table. Check that you can hold the bowl comfortably with one hand. Keep your fingers away from the hot sides, the stream of water, and escaping steam. Even a wide rim can get hot: if it feels too hot to hold, set the gaiwan down and let it cool.
Warm the teaware and weigh the leaves. Before adding any leaves, measure how much water the gaiwan holds at the level you can comfortably pour from. If it holds about 100 ml, try 4–5 g of oolong or pu-erh, or 3–4 g of green, white or black tea. Black tea is called red tea in the Chinese classification. Adjust these amounts to taste. Warm the gaiwan and serving pitcher with hot water, pour the water away, then put the weighed leaves in the gaiwan. Scales are more useful than a teaspoon: tightly rolled oolong takes up little space, while the same weight of loose white tea may fill the bowl. Leave the leaves loose so they have room to open.
Choose a water temperature. If the tea comes with gongfu brewing instructions, try those first. Otherwise, start at 80–85 °C for green tea, 90 °C for black tea or young sheng pu-erh, 95 °C for oolong, and 95–100 °C for shu or aged sheng pu-erh. For white tea, try 85–90 °C if it is fresh and 95–100 °C if it is aged. These temperatures give you somewhere to start. A tea can taste good at more than one temperature; hotter water will usually call for a shorter steep.
Decide whether to rinse. You can brew green, white, and black tea straight away and drink the first infusion. Pu-erh and tightly rolled oolong are often given a quick rinse: add hot water and immediately pour it away. This wets the leaves and removes some loose particles. Rinsing is optional, and dry leaves may need a little longer in the first infusion if you skip it.
Brew and pour out the tea. Fill to the level you used while practising. Start timing as soon as the water touches the leaves. For your first infusion, begin pouring out after 10–15 seconds. The leaves keep steeping until you have emptied the bowl. If there are lots of small broken leaves, try pouring sooner. Pour smoothly into the pitcher or directly into your cup, without long pauses. Drain the liquid so the leaves are not sitting in tea between infusions. Let the tea cool a little before tasting.
Adjust the next infusion. If you like the strength, try the same timing again. The second or third infusion can be stronger because the leaves are now wet and open; if so, pour sooner. Once the flavour starts to fade, add 5–10 seconds. Towards the end, you may need to extend the steep by considerably more. There is no target number of infusions. Keep brewing while you enjoy the tea. When a longer steep still tastes watery, it is time to stop.
Troubleshoot bitter or weak tea. If the tea is unpleasantly bitter or leaves your mouth feeling too dry, shorten the next infusion. If even an immediate pour is too strong, use fewer leaves next time. For green tea and young sheng, you can also try water 5–10 °C cooler. If the tea is weak, first try a longer steep. Give rolled oolong or a compressed piece of pu-erh time to open before adding more leaves. Change one thing at a time so you can tell what helped.

Tips

The advertised capacity may be measured right to the brim. Measure how much water your empty gaiwan holds at a comfortable pouring level, and use that volume to work out your leaf amount.
Colour is not a reliable guide to strength: a pale infusion can still taste astringent. Taste before adding water for the next round.
When you find a combination you like, note the tea, leaf weight, gaiwan volume, temperature, and first infusion time. You will have a useful starting point next time.