Brewing Tips

To use a gaiwan, warm it with hot water, add 4–5 g of leaf to the 120 ml bowl, pour in water at the temperature your tea needs, and pour the tea out through a small gap under the lid after 10–15 seconds. Repeat, adding about 10 seconds each round, until the leaf is spent.

That is the whole method. The rest of this page is the detail that makes it easy the first time: how much leaf, which water temperature for which of our teas, and how to hold the cup without burning your fingers. If you have never brewed this way, the Tea Sampler Kit is a good partner for it. Each of its ten teas comes as a 5 g portion, which is one full gaiwan session, so you can try black, green, oolong and white tea the same way and learn which you like.

What is a gaiwan, and why brew in one?

A gaiwan is a lidded bowl on a saucer. Ours, the White Ceramic Gaiwan (120 ml), is three pieces: lid, bowl and saucer, in white glazed ceramic. The glaze is non-porous and neutral, so it does not carry flavour from one tea to the next, and the white inside shows you the true colour of the liquor.

The reason to use one is control. In a mug, one teaspoon of leaf sits in hot water for three or four minutes and you get one cup. In a gaiwan, more leaf sits in less water for seconds at a time, and you get many small cups that change as the leaf opens. With a good oolong you taste the tea move from round to round instead of drinking one average of it.

If you want the reasoning behind short and long steeps, I wrote about it in Gongfu vs. Western Brewing. This page is the practical side.

How much tea goes in a 120 ml gaiwan?

Use 4–5 g of loose leaf. That is the amount we suggest for this gaiwan, and it lines up with a common gongfu ratio of about 1 g of tea for every 25 ml of water (Afternoon Tea Reads). Oolong leaves look small in the bowl but open up as they steep, so start near 4 g. Open, fluffy white tea takes up more room, so 5 g will fill the bowl loosely, which is fine.

If the tea tastes thin, add a little more leaf next time rather than steeping longer. If it tastes heavy, use less leaf.

What water temperature does each Nepal Hills tea need?

These are the same temperatures printed on each product page. Only the steep time changes for gaiwan brewing.

• Floral Oolong Tea: 85–90°C. Grown by Norling Specialty Tea in Ilam at 5,000–5,500 ft, a farm in the process of organic certification. Honey blossom, soft orchid and gentle peach. It gives three to five good steeps: honey first, orchid second, then a clean sweetness.
• Dark Oolong Tea: 85–90°C. From Sandakphu Tea Estate, a certified organic farm run by the Jasbirey Village community on the Ilam–Taplejung border, at 5,000–6,000 ft. Ripe stone fruit and roasted honey with a warm finish.
• Fresh White Tea: 75–80°C. From Farmers Tea Co., a certified organic farm in Malate, Ilam, at 5,500 ft. Wildflower, morning dew and a little cucumber. It is also the lowest-caffeine tea we sell, about 5–15 mg per 8 oz cup by our product page.
• Muscatel Black Tea: 90–95°C. Honey-grape, dried apricot and a light rose finish.

If you do not have a kettle with temperature settings, let boiled water stand for a minute or two before pouring for the oolongs, and a little longer for white tea.

How do you brew with a gaiwan, step by step?

1. Warm everything. Fill the empty gaiwan with hot water, put the lid on for a moment, then pour that water into your cup to warm it too. Tip it out.
2. Add the leaf. Put 4–5 g into the warm bowl and close the lid for a few seconds. Lift it and smell the warmed leaf before you add water.
3. Pour the water. Fill the bowl to just under the rim. Pour against the side rather than straight onto the leaf. For white tea, leave the lid slightly open so the leaf does not stew.
4. Steep briefly. Start at 10–15 seconds.
5. Pour off every drop. Slide the lid so there is a thin crescent of a gap at the front edge, hold the lid in place, and tip the tea into your cup or a small jug. Water left sitting on the leaf keeps steeping, which can make the next round bitter.
6. Go again. Add about 10 seconds to each round. When the flavour fades, give it a longer steep or call it done.

The timings in steps 4 and 6 follow the same gongfu guide cited above. Treat them as a starting point, not a rule. Your tongue is the better timer.

How do you hold a gaiwan without burning your fingers?

Hold the rim of the bowl lightly between your thumb and middle finger, and rest your index finger on top of the lid to keep it steady. Filling only to just under the rim keeps the edge you hold out of the hot water. If one hand feels unsteady at first, use two: one hand holds the saucer and bowl together underneath, the other holds the lid. Practise the tilt once with an empty gaiwan before you try it with hot water.

Which tea should you start with?

Start with an oolong. Both of ours open slowly, forgive a few extra seconds, and show you clearly how the cup changes from round to round. Floral Oolong is the lighter, flowery one; Dark Oolong is deeper and fruitier. I compared the two side by side in Floral Oolong vs Dark Oolong if you want help choosing.

White tea is the gentlest to learn on for temperature, since you keep the water cooler. Black tea works well too; just keep that first round short.

We ship from Peterborough, Ontario. Shipping is free across Canada on orders over $60 and to the US on orders over USD $60.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a gaiwan for black tea?

Yes. Use water at the temperature on the product page, 90–95°C for Muscatel Black, and keep the first steep to about 10 seconds. Pour off fully each time.

How many times can I re-steep the leaf?

It depends on the tea. Our Floral Oolong product page suggests three to five steeps. In a gaiwan the rounds are shorter, so keep going while the cup still has flavour, and stop when it tastes like warm water.

How do I clean the gaiwan?

Rinse it by hand with warm water only, no soap. It is not dishwasher safe. The glaze does not hold flavour, so a rinse is enough between teas.

Do I need special cups or a jug?

No. Any small cup works. A small jug helps when two people share, so both cups taste the same, but it is not required.