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Water temperature & steeping chart
How hot, how much and how long, for every kind of tea. Western and gongfu measures side by side.
Three things decide how a cup tastes: how much leaf, how hot the water and how long. Start with these numbers, then adjust to taste. Western style means a mug or teapot and one steep; gongfu means a small gaiwan or pot and many short ones.
| Tea | Water | Western: leaf per 200 ml | Western: time | Gongfu: leaf per 100 ml | Gongfu: first steeps | Re-steeps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green, Chinese | 75–80 °C | 3 g | 2–3 min | 4–5 g | 10–15 s | 3–4 |
| Green, Japanese sencha | 70–80 °C | 5 g | 1 min | 5 g | 30–60 s | 2–3 |
| Gyokuro | 50–60 °C | 5 g per 60 ml | 2 min | n/a | n/a | 2–3 |
| Matcha | 75–80 °C | 2 g per 70 ml | Whisk 15 s | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| White | 80–90 °C | 4 g | 3–5 min | 5 g | 15–20 s | 5–7 |
| Oolong, rolled | 90–95 °C | 3 g | 3–4 min | 6 g | 20–40 s | 6–10 |
| Oolong, roasted or rock | 95–100 °C | 3 g | 3–4 min | 6 g | 10–15 s | 6–10 |
| Black | 90–100 °C | 3 g | 3–4 min | 5 g | 10–15 s | 4–6 |
| Pu-erh | 95–100 °C | 3 g | 3–5 min | 6–7 g | Rinse, then 10 s | 8–15 |
| Herbal & rooibos | 100 °C | 2–3 g | 5–7 min | n/a | n/a | 1–2 |
| Yerba mate (gourd) | 70–80 °C | Gourd two-thirds full | Sip, refill | n/a | n/a | Many |
Gongfu steeps: add 5 to 10 seconds with each round. Leaf weights are for whole leaf; broken or small-leaf teas need a little less.
No thermometer?
Boil the kettle and leave the lid open. As a rough guide the water falls to about 90 °C after a minute or two and to about 80 °C after five. Kettles differ, so check yours once with a thermometer. Another trick from Japan: pour boiling water into your cups first. Each move into a cooler vessel takes off roughly 10 °C.
Adjusting to taste
- Bitter or astringent: cooler water or a shorter steep.
- Weak: more leaf, not a longer steep. Long steeps add bitterness faster than flavour.
- Flat: hotter water, or fresher leaf.
Want to know why temperature matters so much? Read Water, heat and vessels.
On the road: West Lake, Hangzhou.
