How to Brew Tea: Gaiwan
Put 5g of leaf in a 100-120ml gaiwan and pour in water at 80°C (176°F) for green tea, 85-90°C (185-194°F) for white, or 95-100°C (203-212°F) for oolong, black and pu'er. Steep 10-20 seconds, pour off through the gap under the lid, and add 5-10 seconds each round. Expect 5-10 infusions.
A gaiwan is a three-piece set: a wide porcelain bowl, a lid that sits inside its rim, and a saucer. You steep the leaf in the bowl, then hold the lid slightly ajar and pour the liquor out through the gap. Standard sizes run 80-150ml; 100-120ml is the most practical for one or two people. Thin walls and a wide mouth make it the fastest vessel to clean between teas. The lidded bowl appeared in China during the Ming dynasty, when loose-leaf steeping replaced whisked powdered tea. It was first used as a drinking vessel, with the lid holding back the leaf as you sipped, and later became the standard tool for gongfu-style multi-infusion brewing. Glazed porcelain does not absorb flavor, so tea shops and judges use it to taste many different teas side by side. The wide opening lets heat escape faster than a clay pot, which helps green, yellow and white teas avoid stewing. You can see the leaf unfurl and smell the lid between steeps, which makes it easy to adjust time and temperature on the fly. The gaiwan works for every tea type, but it is most useful for teas you are tasting for the first time, for delicate Chinese greens, and for high-aroma oolongs such as Tieguanyin and Dancong.
Recipe
Teaware
- 100-120ml porcelain gaiwan with lid and saucer
- Cha hai (fairness pitcher)
- 2-3 small tasting cups
- Kettle with temperature control
- Scale accurate to 0.1g
- Tea tray or waste bowl
- Fine mesh strainer
- Timer
Steps
- 1
Preheat the gaiwan
Fill the gaiwan, pitcher and cups with hot water, wait 10 seconds, then discard.
Preheating matters more in a thin porcelain gaiwan than in a thick clay pot.
- 2
Add the leaf
Weigh 5g of leaf into the warm bowl, cover it and shake gently for 2-3 seconds. Lift the lid and smell.
The warmed dry leaf shows aroma you will not get from the bag.
- 3
Set the water temperature
Heat water to 80°C for green tea, 85-90°C for white, 95-100°C for oolong, black and pu'er.
If you lack a temperature kettle, boiled water left uncovered for 3-4 minutes sits near 80°C.
- 4
Rinse if needed
For oolong and pu'er, fill with water and pour out within 5 seconds. Skip this for green and white tea.
Pouring the water against the side wall rather than onto the leaf protects delicate greens.
- 5
Steep
Fill to just below where the lid sits, cover, and steep 10-20 seconds for the first infusion.
Overfilling to the rim puts boiling water on your fingers when you pour.
- 6
Pour off
Hold the saucer with your thumb on the lid knob and two fingers on the rim, tilt the lid back to leave a 2-3mm gap, and pour into the pitcher in one motion.
Hold the gaiwan by the rim, not the bowl; the rim stays cooler. Practice the grip with room-temperature water first.
- 7
Serve
Pour from the pitcher into the cups.
Leave the gaiwan lid ajar between steeps so green and white tea do not stew in trapped heat.
- 8
Repeat and adjust
Add 5-10 seconds to each infusion. When the cup thins, extend to 30-60 seconds.
Smell the inside of the lid after each pour; fading aroma tells you to add time before taste does.
Tips
- Green tea: 4g in 120ml at 80°C, 20-30 s first steep, 3-4 infusions.
- White tea: 5g at 85-90°C, 20-30 s first steep, 5-7 infusions.
- Oolong: 6g in 100ml at 95-100°C, 10-15 s first steep, 7-10 infusions.
- Ripe pu'er and black tea: 5g in 100ml at 95-100°C, 10 s first steep, 6-10 infusions.
- A gaiwan with a flared rim is easier to hold than one with a straight rim; buy flared for your first one.
Common Mistakes
- Filling the gaiwan to the brim — the pour spills over your fingers; fill to about 5mm below the lid line.
- Holding the bowl instead of the rim — porcelain walls reach near 100°C; grip the rim and saucer.
- Opening the lid gap too wide — leaf pours out with the liquor; keep the gap to 2-3mm.
- Using boiling water on green tea — it scalds the leaf and brings out bitterness; use 75-80°C.
- Pouring slowly — a 10-second pour on a 10-second steep doubles extraction; practice a fast, single pour.