Tea MasterHow many times can you steep tea
Good loose leaf tea can be steeped 2–3 times in a mug or teapot and 5–11 times in a gaiwan, gongfu style. Roasted rock oolongs and aged pu-erh last longest (9–11 short steeps), rolled oolong and shu pu-erh about 7, white tea 7–8, Chinese green tea 5–6, Japanese sencha and gyokuro about 3. A tea bag or a breakfast black tea steeped for 4 minutes gives one good cup.
Number of steeps by tea
| Tea | Gongfu steeps | Gongfu times | Mug or teapot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rou Gui (rock oolong) | 11 | 5 s to 250 s | 2–4 |
| Aged sheng pu-erh cake | 10 | 10 s to 180 s | 2–3 |
| Shui Xian, Dan Cong, Liu Bao | 9 | 5–10 s to 100–140 s | 2–5 |
| Shou Mei, Dong Ding | 8 | 10–20 s to 120–130 s | 2–4 |
| Dian Hong, Jin Jun Mei, Golden Monkey | 8 | 10–20 s to 70–80 s | 1–3 |
| Tie Guan Yin, Da Hong Pao | 7 | 10 s to 80 s | 1 |
| Shu pu-erh | 7 | 10 s to 80 s | 2 |
| Silver Needle, White Peony, Moonlight White | 7 | 10–20 s to 90 s | 2–4 |
| Jin Xuan milk oolong, Keemun, Lapsang | 7 | 5–20 s to 45–90 s | 1–3 |
| Young sheng pu-erh, GABA oolong | 6 | 10 s to 60–80 s | 2 |
| Chinese green tea | 6 | 30 s to 180 s | 2 |
| Longjing, Bi Luo Chun, Mao Feng | 5 | 15–20 s to 60–70 s | 2–3 |
| Gunpowder | 4 | 20 s to 60 s | 2–3 |
| Sencha, gyokuro, hojicha, genmaicha | 3 | 15–120 s | 1–3 |
| Breakfast black tea, Earl Grey | – | – | 1 |
| Herbal tea, tea bags | – | – | 1–2 |
The gongfu counts are full schedules from the Tea Master recipes. A very good tea can go further; a cheap one may fade sooner.
Why some teas last longer than others
- Leaf shape. Tightly rolled oolong and compressed pu-erh open slowly, releasing flavour over many steeps. Flat or broken leaves give it all up at once.
- Whole vs broken leaf. Tea bags and breakfast blends are cut small, so one 4 minute steep extracts almost everything.
- Ratio and time. Gongfu uses 5–8 g of leaf per 100 ml and steeps of seconds. Each steep takes only a slice of the flavour, so there is plenty left for the next one. A 4 minute western steep with 1–2 g takes most of it in one go.
- Roast and age. Roasted rock oolong and aged pu-erh tolerate boiling water and long late steeps, so they keep going.
How to get the most steeps from your leaves
- Use a small vessel, 100–150 ml, and a gongfu ratio: about 7 g per 100 ml for oolong and pu-erh, 3–5 g for white and green tea. See gongfu brewing.
- Keep the first steeps short, 5–20 seconds for oolong and pu-erh.
- Add 5–10 seconds each round, and more in the late steeps: the app schedules jump from 80 s to 110, 150, 200 and 250 s for Rou Gui.
- Drain every drop after each steep. Leaves sitting in water keep stewing and burn through the flavour.
- Keep the water hot between rounds, especially for roasted oolong and pu-erh.
- Finish with one long steep of 5–10 minutes to pull out what is left.
When to stop
Stop when a steep tastes like warm water with a faint mineral or woody edge, even though you made it noticeably longer than the last one. The leaves are usually fully open and pale by then.
Shou Mei, aged white tea and shu pu-erh have one more trick: simmer the spent leaves in a small pot of water for a few minutes. It makes a soft, sweet last cup.
Re-steeping in a mug or teapot
Western brewing gets fewer steeps but still more than one with good leaf. Add 30–60 seconds to each new steep. Silver Needle and Shou Mei handle 3–4 rounds, Dan Cong 3–5, Longjing, sencha and gyokuro 2–3, shu pu-erh about 2. Japanese teas are the exception: the second sencha or gyokuro steep is shorter than the first, because the leaves are already open.
A black tea bag gives one good cup. A second steep is drinkable but thin. Good pyramid bags with whole leaf sometimes manage two. Among herbal teas, rooibos re-steeps well; chamomile and mint are mostly spent after one 5 minute steep.
Can you re-steep tea the next day?
Re-steeping within the same day is fine; many people keep a gaiwan going from morning to afternoon. Wet leaves left overnight at room temperature can start to spoil, so either keep them covered in the fridge and use them within a day, or start fresh. Throw them out if they smell sour or musty.
Common mistakes
- Too little leaf. With 2 g in a 150 ml gaiwan the tea is spent after 2–3 steeps. Weigh it, see how much tea per cup.
- Long first steeps. A 60 second first steep of rolled oolong uses up several steeps' worth at once.
- Leaving water in the vessel. Always pour off completely.
- Stopping too early. Many oolongs and pu-erhs taste best in steeps 3 to 5, once the leaves have opened.
