A good batch of ancient tree tea can be ruined by overly hot water or forgetting the steeping time. Conversely, the same tea, brewed correctly, can yield six to ten infusions, each with a different nuance.
This article is for home brewers and doesn't require expensive tea ware. All you need is a small teapot, a kettle, and a few minutes of attention.
1. Preparation: Water and Teapot
Water accounts for half the quality of a cup of tea. Tap water with high chlorine dulls the tea's aroma and makes the taste harsh. Use RO filtered water, light mineral water, or tap water that has been left to settle overnight.
Rinse the teapot and cups with boiling water before brewing. This both cleans them and raises their temperature so that the water doesn't drop in temperature abruptly when poured in.
Teapots should be dedicated to a specific type of tea. An unglazed clay teapot that has brewed Pu-erh will impart a damp woody aroma to the next white tea brewed in it.
2. Water Temperature by Tea Type
White Tea (Bạch Mẫu Đơn, Móng Rồng): 80–85°C. Water that is too hot can burn the downy hairs, losing the sweet and refreshing taste.
Green Tea (1 bud 1 leaf, Thái Nguyên tea): 75–85°C. This type is most susceptible to bitterness when the water is too hot.
Oolong Tea: 90–95°C, requires high heat to unfurl the rolled tea leaves.
Black Tea: 90°C, to fully release honey and ripe fruit aromas.
Raw and Ripe Pu-erh Tea: 95–100°C, boiling hot water.
No thermometer? Boil water, then open the lid and let it sit for about 1 minute for roughly 90°C, 2 minutes for 85°C, and 3 minutes for 80°C.
3. Tea-to-Water Ratio
General standard: 5 grams of tea for a 150 ml teapot — equivalent to one full tablespoon for loose leaf tea, or a thumb-sized piece for a Pu-erh cake.
If you prefer a lighter taste, reduce the amount of tea, but don't significantly reduce the steeping time — dilute tea from fewer leaves can still retain aroma, but tea steeped too short will be bland and empty.
4. Rinsing the Tea — The Often-Skipped Step
Pour hot water over the leaves, count 5 seconds, then discard the water. This awakens the tea leaves and washes away dust and fragments.
For tightly compressed Pu-erh cakes, you can rinse twice, each for 5–8 seconds, to allow the leaves to loosen up.
Young bud white tea only needs a very quick rinse, almost pour in and immediately pour out — otherwise, you'll lose its sweetest infusion.
5. Subsequent Infusions
1st infusion: steep 15–20 seconds. 2nd infusion: 20 seconds. From the 3rd infusion onwards, add about 5–10 seconds for each subsequent brew.
Empty the teapot completely after each infusion. Water remaining in the pot will continue to steep the leaves and make subsequent infusions bitter.
If you have a fairness pitcher (gong dao bei), pour all the tea into it, then distribute evenly into cups, so everyone drinks the same strength.
Ancient tree tea is often at its best from the third to fifth infusion, when the leaves have fully unfurled and the sweet aftertaste is most pronounced.
6. How to Enjoy
Lift the cup and inhale the aroma before drinking. Smell the empty cup (after it's drained) — the aroma lingering there is often truer than the scent rising from hot water.
Drink in small sips, hold the tea in your mouth for a moment before swallowing. The slight astringency will pass, leaving a sweet sensation in the back of your throat — tea connoisseurs call this 'Hồi Cam' (returning sweetness).
Common Mistakes
Steeping too long due to conversation: tea becomes harshly bitter, subsequent infusions cannot be saved.
Reusing tea leaves left overnight: the leaves have absorbed water, making them prone to souring and losing aroma.
Filling the teapot and leaving it: you should empty it, allowing the tea leaves to breathe between infusions.
Boiling water repeatedly: the water becomes 'old,' and the cup of tea loses its softness.