How to Brew Different Chinese Teas: Six Starting Points

For a first brew, use the producer's instructions if you have them. The following are broad starting choices for loose-leaf tea, drawn from Chinese tea teaching material and the differences among the six tea categories. A large cup with little leaf and a small gaiwan with more leaf need different steeping times; copying one number between them will not give the same cup.

Six useful starting points

• Green tea: try around 80°C (176°F), especially for tender leaves; let them open in a cup or glass and taste before they steep too long.
• White tea: try around 85–90°C (185–194°F), then adjust to leaf tenderness and the producer's advice. A delicate bud tea and mature-leaf white tea need not behave alike.
• Yellow tea: start around 85–90°C (185–194°F) and notice how quickly flavour develops.
• Oolong tea: try around 95–100°C (203–212°F) in a gaiwan or small pot. Decant a short first infusion, then adjust later pours by taste.
• Red tea (hongcha): try around 90–95°C (194–203°F) in a cup or pot; strain or pour it off once the strength suits you.
• Dark tea (heicha): start with near-boiling water and room for the leaves to open. For a compressed tea, first separate the leaves carefully and follow its producer's preparation advice.

Change one thing at a time

If the first cup is too strong, use less leaf or a shorter steep next time. If it is too thin, change one of those in the other direction. Keep the same vessel and water amount while comparing. Tea material, leaf size, roast, storage and personal preference can all move the result, so these category notes are invitations to observe, not a claim of one correct temperature for every tea.