Gongfu BrewingChart
Gongfu Brewing Chart: Ratios, Temperatures and Steep Times for Every Tea
There's no single gongfu ratio, but the starting point is 3–7 g of tea per 100 ml of water in a gaiwan (less for red tea and pu-erh, more for oolongs), boiling water for shou and dark teas and cooler water for green and delicate teas, and a first steep of 5–20 seconds, adding 5–20 seconds each round. The chart below adjusts that starting point for every type of Chinese tea.
I keep a printed version of this chart next to my kettle. It started as a page in my tasting log where I wrote down whatever worked, and over the years it turned into the numbers below. Treat them as a starting point, not a rule: your leaf, your water and your taste will move them a little. The one number I'd never ignore is steep time for young sheng pu-erh. Go long on that and you get a mouthful of green, grassy bitterness.
How to read the chart#
- Leaf is grams per 100 ml of vessel volume. For other sizes, see the table below the chart.
- Water is the temperature in the kettle, in °C. "Boiling" means straight off the boil.
- Rinse: a quick pour-in, pour-out before the first steep, to wake the leaves and wash off dust. A number means how many rinses.
- 1st steep is how long the water stays on the leaves in round one.
- Add is how much longer each next round should be.
- Steeps is how many good rounds to expect from decent leaf.
The gongfu brewing chart#
| Tea | Examples | Leaf (g / 100 ml) | Water | Rinse | 1st steep | Add | Steeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese green | Longjing, Huangshan Maofeng | 3–5 | 75–85 °C | No | 10–20 s | +5 s | 5–7 |
| Bi Luo Chun | Bi Luo Chun from Lake Tai | 1–1.5 | 70–80 °C | No | 15 s | +5 s | — |
| Jasmine | Jasmine pearls, jasmine silver needle | 5 | 80–85 °C | No | 15 s | +5 s | 5–7 |
| Yellow | Junshan Yinzhen, Huoshan Huang Ya | 3–5 | 75–90 °C | No | 20–60 s | +5 s | 7–10 |
| White, buds | Silver Needle | 5 | 85–90 °C | No | 20 s | +10 s | 6–8 |
| White, leaf | Bai Mu Dan, Shou Mei | 5 | 85–90 °C | No | 15–20 s | +5–10 s | 6–8 |
| White, aged or pressed | Aged Shou Mei cakes | 5–6 | Boiling | Quick | 10 s | +5 s | 8–12 |
| Rolled oolong, green style | Tieguanyin, Taiwanese high mountain | 5–7 | 80–90 °C | Quick | 5–10 s | +5 s | 5–10 |
| Rolled oolong, roasted | Traditional Tieguanyin, Dong Ding | 6 | 90–95 °C | Quick | 10–20 s | +15–20 s | 7–10 |
| Oriental Beauty | Dongfang Meiren | 4 | 80–90 °C | No | 10 s | +5 s | Up to 10 |
| Wuyi rock oolong | Shui Xian, Rou Gui, Da Hong Pao | 6 | 90–95 °C | Quick | 10–20 s | +15–20 s | 7–10+ |
| Dan Cong | Mi Lan Xiang, Ya Shi Xiang | 5–6 | 90–95 °C | Quick | 3–5 s | +5 s | 8–12 |
| Red (black) tea | Dian Hong, Keemun | 2–4 | 80–95 °C | No | 5–10 s | +5 s | 7 (best 10–14) |
| Delicate red tea | Jin Jun Mei | 2–4 | 85–90 °C | No | 10 s | +5 s | 7 (best 10–14) |
| Smoked red tea | Lapsang Souchong | 2–4 | 95 °C | No | 10 s | +5 s | 7 (best 10–14) |
| Young sheng pu-erh | Under ~5 years old | 3–5 | ~90 °C | Quick | 5 s | +5 s | 5–10 |
| Aged sheng pu-erh | Over ~5 years old | 3–5 | 90–98 °C | 1 | 7–15 s | +5 s | 5–10 |
| Shou pu-erh | Dayi 7572, loose shou | 3–5 | Boiling | 1–2 | 15–30 s | +5 s | 5–8 |
| Other dark tea (hei cha) | Liu Bao, Fu brick | 6–7 | Boiling | 1 | 10 s | +5 s | 8–12 |
For tea-specific details, see my guides to brewing pu-erh, sheng vs shou, Wuyi rock tea, Dan Cong and white tea.
How much leaf for your gaiwan or teapot#
The chart uses 100 ml because it's the most common gaiwan size. For other vessels, scale the leaf in proportion. "Strong" is the 1:15 ratio I use for oolongs; "lighter" is 1:20, better for greens, whites, pu-erh and anything that turns bitter easily. Red teas take less still, about 2–4 g per 100 ml.
| Vessel size | Strong (1 g : 15 ml) | Lighter (1 g : 20 ml) |
|---|---|---|
| 60 ml | 4 g | 3 g |
| 80 ml | 5.5 g | 4 g |
| 100 ml | 6.5–7 g | 5 g |
| 120 ml | 8 g | 6 g |
| 150 ml | 10 g | 7.5 g |
| 200 ml | 13 g | 10 g |
Measure the vessel's real volume once: fill it with water to where you'd normally stop, and weigh the water (1 g = 1 ml). Many gaiwans sold as "120 ml" hold closer to 100 ml at a comfortable fill line.
Temperatures in °F#
| °C | °F | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 70–80 | 158–176 | Bi Luo Chun |
| 75–85 | 167–185 | Green teas, jasmine |
| 75–90 | 167–194 | Yellow teas |
| 80–90 | 176–194 | Green-style rolled oolongs, Oriental Beauty |
| 80–95 | 176–203 | Red teas |
| 85–90 | 185–194 | White tea |
| 90 | 194 | Young sheng |
| 90–95 | 194–203 | Wuyi and other roasted oolongs |
| 90–98 | 194–208 | Aged sheng |
| 100 | 212 | Shou, hei cha, aged white tea |
No variable-temperature kettle? Let boiled water sit with the lid open: roughly 2–3 minutes gets you to about 85 °C, depending on the kettle. Pouring the water into a pitcher first also drops it by several degrees.
How to adjust by taste#
The chart gets you close. Your tongue does the rest. When a steep isn't right, change one thing at a time:
| The tea tastes… | Try first | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Bitter or harsh | Shorter steeps | Less leaf, or cooler water |
| Thin or watery | More leaf | Slightly longer steeps |
| Flat, no aroma | Hotter water, preheat the gaiwan | Fresher tea |
| Sour or brothy (greens) | Cooler water | Shorter steeps |
| Fine at first, bitter by round 3 | Pour out every drop each time | Add fewer seconds per round |
| Weak from round 1 | Rinse faster (it may be stealing flavour) | Skip the rinse for loose leaf |
The rule I come back to most: fix strength with leaf, not with time. Longer steeps pull out bitterness faster than flavour. If a tea is too weak, add a gram next session rather than letting it sit.
Water matters more than you'd think#
Very hard water mutes aroma and leaves a film on the tea; distilled water makes it taste flat. Filtered tap water or a soft, low-mineral bottled spring water works for most teas. If your tea tastes dull no matter what you change, try a different water before blaming the leaf. More in my guide to the best water for tea.
New to all of this? Start with my gongfu tea guide and how to use a gaiwan.
Steep timer
5–7 g per 100 ml80–90 °CRinse firstUp to 10 steeps
Questions people ask
What is the standard gongfu tea ratio?
There isn't one ratio for every tea. Oolongs take about 5–7 g per 100 ml; greens, yellow teas and pu-erh 3–5 g; red teas 2–4 g. The chart has the number for each type.
How long should gongfu steeps be?
Most teas start at 5–20 seconds and add 5–20 seconds per round. Shou pu-erh (15–30 seconds) and yellow tea (20–60 seconds) want a longer first steep.
Do I need to rinse the tea?
Rinse pu-erh, other dark teas and most oolongs. Skip it for green, white, yellow and most red teas, where the first steep is often the best one.
What temperature is best for gongfu brewing?
Boiling for shou, other dark teas and aged white tea; 90–98 °C for aged sheng; 90–95 °C for roasted oolongs; about 90 °C for young sheng; 80–95 °C for red tea; 80–90 °C for green-style oolongs; 85–90 °C for white tea; 75–85 °C for green tea (70–80 °C for Bi Luo Chun).
How many times can you steep tea gongfu-style?
Usually 5–7 rounds for greens, 7–10 for yellow teas, 6–8 for whites, about 7 for red teas (10–14 for the best), 5–10 for light oolongs, 7–10 or more for Wuyi oolongs, 5–10 for sheng and 5–8 for shou.
Can I use this chart for Western brewing?
Not directly. For a mug or Western teapot, use about 2–3 g per 250 ml at the same temperatures and steep no longer than 1.5 minutes for greens and about 2–3 minutes for red teas.