This is your beginners guide to brewing tea.

We hope you enjoy the teas you've purchased from us! We took care in sourcing it. Let your tea "rest" for a few days. It is our experience that tea does not like to travel. Let it acclimate to your local climate. 

Simple Advice

Remember this simple advice and you will start making great tea. There is no wrong way to make tea. If you brew it and you like it you're doing it right. That being said there may be ways to brew your tea to make it better than you thought it could be.

Brewing Basics

  • "Grandpa Style"
    • This is the easiest way to brew this tea. Grab a large mug or insulated thermos and add a gram or two of leaves.
    • Add boiling water.
    • Drink and enjoy.
    • Add more hot water throughout the day as needed.
    • If it is too strong, pour some water out and add more.
    • If it isn't strong enough, add more leaves.
  • "Gongfu Style"
    • Gongfu style brewing uses high leaf to water ratio, boiling water, and quick steep times.
    • In your teapot or gaiwan add 1 gram of leaf for each 15ml of brewing vessel volume. For a 150ml teapot you will add 15 grams of leaf.
    • This usually means around 5 - 10 grams (0.17 - 0.35oz) of leaf to around 75 - 150ml (2.5 - 5 fl oz) of water.
    • Start with quick steeps around 10 seconds. 
    • The next steeps can each be sequentially longer.
    • Longer steeps will be stronger. Shorter steeps will be weaker.
    • Experiment with leaf / water ratio and steeping times. 
    • Boiling water wrks best but you can experiment with that as well.
  • "Teabag Style"
    • Can you brew this tea in a teabag? Sure. It won't be ideal but if that's what you want you can do it. 
    • Go to Amazon and buy some large size tea bag / tea sachets.
    • Add a small amount of tea to the bag and dunk in boiling water.
  • "Cold Brewing"
    • Cold brewing is a valid option that can present a delicious experience. 
    • Put around 5g of leaves into a large jug.
    • Add cold water.
    • Place in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.
    • Take out, pour, drink, and enjoy!
  • Rinsing my tea?
    • Puerh is traditionally "rinsed" in China.
    • Rinsing means boiling water is added to the tea and then immediately discarded.  This has the benefit of washing the leaves and also allowing them to open up quick when it is time to steep the tea.
    • Usually you will wait 30 to 60 seconds after the rinse before you start brewing the tea.
    • Sheng puerh tea is rinsed once.
    • Shou puerh tea is rinsed twice.
    • White tea and black tea are not traditionally rinsed.

White Tea

Yunnan white teas are special and undergo the least amount of processinf of all teas. The leaves are picked from the same large leaf assamica varietal that puerh tea is made from. They will be thicker than most other white teas. Expect floral and honey notes. It will be a very smooth tea to drink.

Black Tea

Yunnan black teas are bold but smooth. Expected tasting notes are cocoa, sweet potato, caramel, dried fruit, and dark honey. They can brew bold but smooth with malty and sweet notes and a thick mouthfeel.

Shou Puerh Tea

Shou puerh tea is a post fermented tea that takes months to make. It goes through an intentional fermentation process that converts sheng puerh tea into something amazing. This tea will brew dark, earthy, and be very soothing and comfortable. Common tasting notes are petrichor, earth, mushrooms, nuts, and chocolate. There is very little bitterness in this tea. It often brews thick and silky.

Sheng Puerh Tea

This is where you will find the real magic of Yunnan tea. Sheng puerh tea is intentionally sun dried. The sun makes all the difference for this tea. This tea will age and change the longer you store it. Expected flavors can by dynamic, complex, and evolving but always exciting. Look for herbal, green, floral, stone fruit, and citrus notes. Aged sheng can have camphor, dried fruit, and medicinal herbal notes.

Final Advice

Have fun with your tea. Take the time to appreciate the tea. Listen to it. Learn from it. Understand it. These are very compelx teas with great stories to tell. Care and focus applied to brewing these teas will go a long way in creating an emotional connection.

If the tea isn't brewing the way you want experiment with the amount of leaf you're using or adjust the steeping times. Change one variable at a time and analyze how the change affected the tea. Start a tea tasting notebook. Keep track of your sessions with the teas over time and see how your experience progresses.

Please contact us if you have any questions about our teas!