How do I brew oolong, white and pu-erh tea?

Western brewing treats tea as a single extraction. Oolong, white and pu-erh are traditionally brewed with a high leaf-to-water ratio and many short infusions, which gives a completely different and generally better experience.

What you'll need

• Loose leaf tea
• Small teapot or gaiwan
• Variable temperature kettle (optional)
• Timer (optional)

Step by step

1. Use more leaf and less water than you would for black tea.Roughly double the leaf in half the volume. This is what makes multiple short infusions work.
2. Rinse the leaves briefly first for oolong and pu-erh.A few seconds of hot water, poured away. It wakes the leaves and washes off dust, particularly with compressed pu-erh.
3. White tea: 75-85°C, first infusion 2-3 minutes.Delicate and easily overwhelmed. Lower temperature and a longer first steep than the others.
4. Oolong: 85-95°C, first infusion 30-60 seconds.Then extend each subsequent infusion slightly. Good oolong gives four or five infusions, each noticeably different.
5. Pu-erh: 95-100°C, first infusion 20-30 seconds.It takes near-boiling water, unlike the others. Ripe pu-erh in particular re-steeps many times.
6. Extend each infusion slightly.Add ten to twenty seconds each time as the leaves give up less. The second and third infusions are often the best.
7. Use a vessel that lets the leaves expand.A gaiwan or a small teapot. Cramped in an infuser ball, these leaves cannot open and the tea is thin.
8. Taste each infusion rather than blending them.The character changes markedly. This is the point of the method and it is the main pleasure of these teas.

Tips

• Compressed pu-erh needs breaking apart carefully with a tea pick rather than snapping, which damages the leaves.
• These teas are more expensive per gram but yield many more cups because of the re-steeping, so the cost per cup is often comparable.
• Keep a note of what worked. Individual teas vary considerably and your own record is more useful than any general guidance.

Common mistakes

• Brewing them like black tea in one long steep — They are designed for multiple short infusions. A single long steep is bitter and wastes most of what the leaves can give.
• Using boiling water on white tea — It is delicate and scalds easily, giving a harsh flat result. 75-85°C is the range it wants.
• Discarding the leaves after one infusion — The second and third are frequently the best. Discarding after one wastes most of the tea.

Questions people ask