How to Brew Tea: Grandpa Style
Put 2-3g of loose leaf in a 350-450ml glass or mug, add about 50ml of water to wet the leaf, then fill with water at 75-85°C (167-185°F) for green tea or 85-95°C (185-203°F) for oolong and white. Start sipping after 2-3 minutes, and when the glass is down to about one third, top it up again; most leaves give 3-5 refills.
Grandpa style is the simplest way to drink loose-leaf tea: leaf goes into a glass, water goes on top, and nothing is ever strained out. The name comes from the habit of older men across China who carry a glass jar or lidded mug of green tea through the day, refilling it from a thermos whenever it runs low. Office workers, taxi drivers and shopkeepers drink this way because it needs no teaware beyond the vessel itself. Because the leaf never leaves the water, the brew keeps strengthening while you drink. The fix is to use less leaf than you would in a teapot and to refill before the glass is empty. The remaining third of strong tea mixes with the fresh water, so each refill tastes close to the last instead of starting weak and turning bitter. Expect a lighter, softer cup than gongfu brewing, with sweetness that holds for hours. Leaves that sink and resist bitterness work best. Chinese pan-fired greens such as Longjing and Bi Luo Chun, tightly rolled oolongs such as Tieguanyin and High Mountain Oolong, and white teas such as Bai Mu Dan all suit it. Broken-leaf black tea and fine Japanese sencha do poorly: the small particles float, get in your mouth and over-extract within minutes.
Recipe
Teaware
- Tall heat-resistant glass or double-walled mug (350-450 ml)
- Kettle with temperature control, or a thermometer
- Thermos for refill water if you are away from the kettle
- Kitchen scale reading to 0.1g
- Lid or saucer to keep heat in
- Teaspoon for nudging floating leaves
Steps
- 1
Weigh the leaf
Weigh 2g of green or white tea or 3g of rolled oolong for a 350-450ml glass. That is roughly half the dose a 450ml teapot would take.
Start at the low end. You can add a pinch on the next refill, but you cannot take leaf out.
- 2
Heat the water
Heat water to 75-85°C (167-185°F) for green tea, 85-90°C (185-194°F) for white tea, or 90-95°C (194-203°F) for rolled oolong.
If you have no thermometer, boil the kettle and let it stand open for 3-4 minutes for green tea.
- 3
Wet the leaf first
Drop the leaf into the empty glass and pour in about 50ml of water. Wait 20-30 seconds while the leaf softens and starts to open.
Wetting first makes the leaf sink instead of floating on top when you add the rest of the water.
- 4
Fill the glass
Pour in the rest of the water to fill the glass, aiming the stream down the side so the leaves stay at the bottom.
Pour onto the glass wall, not onto the leaves, to avoid scalding delicate green tea.
- 5
Wait, then sip
Let it stand 2-3 minutes with a lid on, then start drinking from the top of the glass. Most leaves will have sunk by now.
Blow gently across the surface to push any floating leaves to the far side before you sip.
- 6
Refill at one third
When about one third of the liquid remains, top the glass back up with fresh hot water at the same temperature.
Letting the glass run empty gives you a bitter last sip and a weak next round. One third is the buffer that keeps each refill even.
- 7
Repeat until the leaf is spent
Keep refilling at one third. Green tea usually lasts 3-4 refills and rolled oolong 4-5 before the liquor turns thin and watery.
Raise the water temperature by about 5°C on the last two refills to pull the remaining flavor out of the leaf.
Tips
- Choose teas with large, whole leaves that sink; Longjing, Tieguanyin and Bai Mu Dan are reliable starters.
- A glass with straight sides lets you see when you are at one third and shows the leaves opening.
- Lower the water temperature by 5°C if the tea turns bitter by the second refill.
- A thermos of 85°C water on your desk keeps the refill temperature steady for several hours.
- Leaves left in the glass overnight are done; start fresh each day instead of rebrewing them.
Common Mistakes
- Using teapot quantities of leaf (5-6g) — the cup turns bitter within 10 minutes; drop to 2-3g.
- Drinking the glass to empty before refilling — the last sip is harsh and the next round is thin; refill at one third.
- Using broken-leaf or tea-bag-grade tea — particles float into your mouth and over-extract; use whole leaf.
- Pouring boiling water on green tea — scorches the leaf and brings out bitterness; use 75-85°C.
- Pouring straight onto dry leaf — the leaf floats and clogs the surface; wet it with 50ml first.