A friend has gifted you a box of West Lake Longjing tea, and you’re curious about the brewing process and how much tea leaves to use. Here’s a method I consider quite effective for brewing Longjing tea:
Step 1: Boil Water Start by boiling water (preferably using mineral water like Nongfu Spring, but purified water works too) until it reaches a rolling boil. Allow the water to cool for about three minutes, bringing the temperature to around 176-185 degrees Fahrenheit (80-85 degrees Celsius).
Step 2: Warm the Cup Warming the cup means pouring a small amount of the just-boiled water into the glass or porcelain cup that you’ll use to brew your West Lake Longjing tea. This step serves two purposes: it cleans the cup and preheats it. Preheating ensures that the cold cup doesn’t absorb the heat from the brewing water, which could affect the quality of the tea.
Step 3: Savor the Aroma I consider this step crucial in brewing West Lake Longjing tea. After you’ve warmed the cup in the previous step and the cup is adequately heated, pour out the water. Immediately add the dry Longjing tea leaves. The quantity of tea leaves to add depends on your personal preference for tea strength and the cup’s size. Typically, the tea-to-water ratio is 1:50, and we usually recommend around 4 grams of tea leaves for a standard cup. Since the cup is already warm, the aroma of the tea will begin to diffuse from the warm bottom to the cup’s mouth. Lift the cup, bring your nose close to the rim, and you’ll smell the delightful fragrance of the tea. This is also the moment to distinguish between good and inferior tea. High-quality Longjing tea offers a fragrant, enduring, and pure aroma, while lower-quality tea may have an unusual or overpowering scent.
Step 4: Brewing After savoring the aroma, start pouring the water you’ve allowed to cool into the cup, along the sides of the cup to about one-third full. Gently rock the cup to ensure the tea leaves are thoroughly saturated. Then, pour water again until the cup is about two-thirds full. Now, it’s time to enjoy the quiet dance of the tea. This refers to the process in which the tea leaves gently expand and sink from the top to the bottom of the cup, and the tea’s color transforms from light to a rich, vibrant green. This dance typically takes about 3-5 minutes, after which you can begin savoring your tea.
Step 5: Adding More Water Whenever you’ve consumed the tea down to about one-third of the cup’s content, it’s time to add more water. You should pour water to about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) from the rim of the cup, which is the optimal level. Generally, you should add water until the tea starts to taste like plain water with no discernible tea flavor, at which point you can stop refilling.
How Many Grams of Tea Leaves?
The quantity of tea leaves to use largely depends on your personal preference. If you prefer stronger tea, add more leaves; for a milder flavor, use fewer. It’s worth noting that Longjing tea can be steeped multiple times. If you’re brewing a single infusion, the amount of tea leaves should not exceed one-sixth of the teapot’s or cup’s volume. Adjust the quantity according to your taste preferences.
In conclusion, brewing West Lake Longjing tea is a delicate process that requires attention to detail and personal preferences. Start with these guidelines, but don’t hesitate to adjust them based on your own taste. Enjoy the art of brewing and savoring this exquisite tea at your leisure.
