A gaiwan is a traditional Chinese lidded tea bowl used to brew tea in multiple short infusions. The method is particularly suitable for loose-leaf tea, as the tea leaves have plenty of room to open up, allowing you to follow how the tea’s flavour develops from one infusion to the next.

Green tea, white tea, oolong, black tea and Pu-Erh can all be prepared in a gaiwan. However, the amount of tea, water temperature, steeping time and number of infusions vary depending on the type of tea. In this guide, we show you how we prepare white tea in a gaiwan.

What do you need?

You need a gaiwan, loose-leaf white tea, hot water and one or more teacups. A fairness cup or serving pitcher is useful, but not essential.

For a gaiwan of approximately 120 ml, we use about 5 grams of white tea as a starting point. Depending on the type of white tea and your personal taste, you can adjust this ratio.

Step 1: warm the gaiwan and cups

First, pour hot water into the empty gaiwan. Then use this water to preheat the teacups as well, and pour it away afterwards.

Preheating the teaware helps the water cool down less quickly during brewing. Then place the dry white tea leaves in the warm gaiwan. Simply smelling the leaves can often reveal a variety of aromas.

Step 2: do you need to rinse white tea first?

White tea does not generally need to be rinsed. With delicate white teas, we usually drink the first infusion as it is.

With certain more compact or older white teas, you can choose to rinse the leaves very briefly with warm water. This short rinse can help the leaves begin to open. Pour the rinse water away afterwards.

Step 3: add the water

Pour the water gently into the gaiwan. The ideal temperature depends on the white tea you are using. For many white teas, you can start with water at approximately 80–90 °C.

At Mingtea, we list the recommended temperature for each tea individually, so you can adjust the preparation to suit the specific tea.

Step 4: steep the white tea briefly

When brewing with a gaiwan, we use a relatively large amount of tea leaves and short steeping times. For example, start with an infusion of approximately 7 to 10 seconds.

This is not a fixed rule. Some white teas and personal taste preferences call for a slightly shorter or longer steeping time.

Empty the gaiwan completely after each infusion. This prevents a small amount of hot water from continuing to steep between infusions and affecting the next brew.

Step 5: brew the same white tea several times

One of the appealing qualities of a gaiwan is that you can use the same tea leaves several times. Add fresh water after each infusion and gradually extend the steeping time by a few seconds.

How many infusions are possible depends on the white tea used, the amount of leaves and your personal preference. Some teas continue to offer interesting aromas and flavours after several infusions.

Pay attention not only to the flavour. The aroma, colour and mouthfeel can also change over the course of successive infusions.

Why brew white tea in a gaiwan?

A gaiwan gives you a great deal of control over the preparation. Because you work with short infusions, you can easily adjust the temperature and steeping time. In addition, the loose tea leaves have enough room to unfurl.

Especially with high-quality loose-leaf white tea, it is interesting to discover how the flavour profile develops over the course of different infusions.

Discover white tea and gaiwans at Mingtea

Would you like to try this brewing method yourself? Browse our white tea or discover our gaiwans and Gong Fu Cha accessories.