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The brewing guide
5 g of tea, using purified boiling water and timed steeps.
All the teas we sell have a general guide on how to brew them optimally. These are in both "Western" style, and the more traditional Chinese "Gongfu Cha" style. Both of these use boiling water, but differ with the steeping time. This provides 2 distinct ways to enjoy your high-quality teas.
- Leaf: 5 g This is a recommendation. For stronger tea use 10 grams. For a gentle steep use 2.5g-3g.
- Water: Soft We recommend filtered tap or low-mineral spring water. Never use distilled or hard water.
- Temperature: 100°C Always use boiling water, its a way to assess the craftsmanship of the tea.
The true test of quality tea
Why our teas can take boiling water
Many brewing guides tell you to steep certain teas at lesser temperatures, for example, 75–85°C for white, yellow, green, and light oolong teas. That advice is not invalid, but it also excuses poorer gradients of tea that may be artificially flavored, cheaply processed, or mysteriously acquired. When subjected to boiling water these teas turn bitter and astringent.
Our teas can handle it. We have transparently acquired, small-batch, single origin teas that are up to the Old Mountain Teas Standards. These teas THRIVE when you use boiling water, and can even open up the tea to reach its full potential. You can still use the lesser temps if you prefer, but just know that our standards are so high you won't even need to check the temperature ever again!
Oolong, black, white, yellow or pu-erh — freshly boiled water, every time.
Leaf that can stand up to a full boil can stand up to steep after steep, too — which is where the real value comes in.
Exceptional value
One 5 g serving.
Up to twenty cups of tea.
For the same reason our tea can handle boiling water, it can also be infused for many steeps. Both Western-style in tea bag, and Gongfu-style in a Gaiwan or teapot. We recommend you infuse it many times, since the tea leaves open slowly and each new infusion provides a different combination of flavors. The first few steeps are bright and strong, and the later steeps when the tea leaves fully open are smooth and deep. All these steeps are extremely economical - from the same leaves you are getting multiple cups of tea.
- 12: cups, gongfu style Oolong, black, white and yellow — from one 5 g serving.
- 15–20: cups of aged pu-erh Our 1999 Baoshan “Iron Cake” keeps going up to 20 steeps.
- ≈1.2 L: of tea from 5 g of leaf Twelve 100 ml gaiwan infusions — enough to share a pot all afternoon.
- 3: full mugs, Western style 2, 5 and 10 minutes — same leaf, three generous cups.
Two ways to brew
Gongfu or Western
Both are correct. Gongfu gets the most out of the leaf and is the more traditional way; Western gets you a ideal cup with minimal effort. Choose a method and a tea to see your session.
- Oolong Try it with Honey Aroma Oolong
- Black Try it with “Strawberry Jam” Black Tea
- White Try it with “Moonlight Beauty” White Tea
- Yellow Try it with “Yunnan Imperial” Yellow Tea
- Pu-erh Try it with 1999 “Iron Cake” Pu-erh
Gongfu
Small vessel, many short steeps
How we taste every tea before we buy it.
- Vessel: A small gaiwan or teapot (about 100 ml)
- Leaf: 5 g
- Water: Purified soft water, fully boiling
- Steeps: 20s first, then add about 15s each time
- How many: Up to 12 infusions
12 cups from one 5 g serving
Steep times: 20s, 35s, 50s, 1m 5s, 1m 20s, 1m 35s, 1m 50s, 2m 5s, 2m 20s, 2m 35s, 2m 50s, 3m 5s
Twelve small cups out of 5 g of leaf, each steep adds time to extract maximum flavor.
Gongfu: Pu-erh
Small vessel, many short steeps
How we taste every tea before we buy it.
- Vessel: A small gaiwan or teapot (about 100 ml)
- Leaf: 5 g
- Water: Purified soft water, freshly boiled
- Steeps: 20s first, then add about 15s each time
- How many: 15 to 20 infusions
15–20 cups from one 5 g serving
Steep times: 20s, 35s, 50s, 1m 5s, 1m 20s, 1m 35s, 1m 50s, 2m 5s, 2m 20s, 2m 35s, 2m 50s, 3m 5s, 3m 20s, 3m 35s, 3m 50s
Extra steeps: 4m 5s, 4m 20s, 4m 35s, 4m 50s, 5m 5s
Aged pu-erh keeps going: fifteen cups at least, and up to twenty (the lighter bars). Total steep time about 31 to 54 minutes.
Western
One mug, longer steeps
A great cup with almost no effort.
- Vessel: A mug or teapot
- Leaf: 5 g
- Water: Purified soft water, freshly boiled
- Steeps: 2 minutes, then 5, then 10
- How many: 3 infusions
3 mugs from one 5 g serving
Steep times: 2 min, 5 min, 10 min
Three mugs from the same 5 g of leaf. Each of unique and delicious for different reasons.
Troubleshooting
Five ways a good cup goes wrong
With leaf this good, the fix is almost always timing, leaf or water — never temperature.
It tastes bitter
A timing problem, not a temperature problem. Shorten the next gongfu steep by about 10 seconds, or pull a Western steep a 30 seconds early. Some teas need extremely quick flash steeps, and others need more time and heat.
It tastes like nothing
Check your water. Make sure its purified, soft water, NEVER use distilled or hard water. If its still bland, add a pinch of salt or baking soda to mineralize the water and extract more from the tea.
It was better last month
Storage. Keep tea sealed, out of the light, and away from strong kitchen smells like spices and coffee.
What you need
Three things. No thermometer.
A kettle
Anything that reaches a full boil. Stove-top or standalone electric kettle.
A gram scale
The tool that adds precision to your tea time.
A gaiwan or mug
Roughly 100 ml Gaiwan or Yixing pot for gongfu; any coffee mug or teacup for Western.
Practice both methods
The Discovery Set
Six of our teas side by side — brew each gongfu, then Western, and taste what changes.
