Grandpa Style Tea: The Simplest Way to Brew Loose Leaf

Grandpa style means putting a small amount of loose tea straight into a glass or mug, pouring hot water over it and drinking, then topping up with more hot water when about a third is left. No strainer, no timer, no second vessel. It's how many people in China drink tea all day, from a glass jar or thermos. The secret is using much less leaf than you'd think, about 2–3 g for a 300 ml glass, and choosing teas that stay pleasant after long contact with water: Chinese green tea, red tea, Taiwanese and roasted oolongs, white tea and ripe pu-erh.

I'll be upfront: the name made me smile for years, and I thought of it as "not proper tea". Gongfu was proper tea. Then I spent a long working day with a glass of Longjing on my desk, topping it up whenever I noticed it was low, and realised I'd drunk better tea that day than on many days when I'd "made time" for a session. Gongfu is still how I really taste tea. But grandpa style is how I drink it most on busy days.

The name comes from the image of an older man in a park or at a bus station, sipping from a big glass jar of tea all day. It's the least fussy way to brew there is, and when you get the amounts right, it's genuinely good.

How to brew grandpa style#

1. Choose a tall glass or mug, ideally 250–400 ml. Glass is best because you can see the leaves and the colour.
2. Add the leaf. About 2–3 g for a 300 ml glass. For bud-heavy green teas, a little less.
3. Pour a splash of water first at the right temperature, just to cover the leaves. Let them wake up for 20–30 seconds. This helps whole leaves sink instead of floating.
4. Fill the glass. Let it cool enough to drink.
5. Drink until about a third is left, then top up with hot water. Repeat through the day.
6. Change the leaves when the tea tastes thin and watery, usually after 3–5 top-ups.

If leaves bother you, sip carefully or blow them gently aside. With big whole leaves you'll rarely get any.

Which teas work best#

My personal favourites for a working day are Longjing in spring and Dian Hong in winter. More about both in my Longjing guide and Dian Hong guide.

Teas to avoid#

Young sheng pu-erh. I learned this one the hard way: one afternoon of grandpa-style young sheng and my mouth felt like sandpaper. Young sheng needs short steeps, and long contact brings out all its bitterness. Save it for gongfu.

Broken leaf and fannings. Small pieces extract fast and turn harsh. Grandpa style needs whole leaves.

Dan Cong and other very aromatic oolongs. They're built for fast pours; left in water, they go bitter and perfumey.

Very tender bud-only greens in hot water. They're fine at low temperature, but they stew easily. Keep the water at 75–80 °C.

How to keep it from going bitter#

A day of grandpa style at my desk#

Here's a typical spring workday with a 300 ml glass and 2.5 g of Longjing, water from a kettle set to 80 °C.

9:00. Splash of water, 30 seconds, then fill. The first glass is light, sweet, toasted beans. The leaves stand upright and slowly sink.

10:30. Top-up. This is the best glass of the day: fuller, sweeter, still no bitterness.

12:00. Top-up. Softer, a bit of chestnut, still very pleasant.

14:00. Top-up. Light and gentle now, almost like a sweet broth.

15:30. The tea tastes thin. I tip the leaves out and switch to a Dian Hong for the afternoon.

That's about 1.5 litres of good tea from 2.5 g of leaf, with almost no attention.

Grandpa style on the go#

For travel, a thermos or tumbler with a built-in strainer works well. You can also use a travel set that combines a small brewing vessel and a pitcher in one. If you're taking one "real" brewing vessel, take a gaiwan rather than a clay pot: it's lighter, works for any tea and doesn't mind being packed. In a thermos, use even less leaf than in a glass, because the water stays hot for hours.

Myths about grandpa style#

"It's lazy, not real tea." It's a real, widespread way of drinking tea in China. It's not meant for careful tasting, but it makes very good tea with the right leaf.

"You need expensive tea for it." You need whole-leaf tea. Everyday Chinese green or red tea is perfect.

"It always ends up bitter." Only with too much leaf, the wrong tea or water that's too hot.

My honest take#

Gongfu is how I learn a tea. Grandpa style is how I live with it. If you think good loose-leaf tea needs time and equipment, try one working day with 2–3 g of Longjing or Dian Hong in a tall glass. It might change how much good tea you drink.

The bottom line#

A little leaf, a tall glass, the right water temperature, and top up before it runs low. Pick forgiving whole-leaf teas, avoid young sheng and broken leaf, and you'll have good tea all day with almost no effort. For a comparison of all the ways to brew, see gongfu vs Western.

Read next: every way to brew loose leaf without a gaiwan.