How to brew Aged or pressed white
Cakes and aged white tea.
Years of slow change turn white tea woody and sweet; it takes near-boiling water and plenty of steeps. Pressed leaf benefits from a quick rinse to loosen it. Older shou mei can also be simmered on the stove.
Starting recipe
| Setting | Western (mug or teapot) | Gongfu (small pot or gaiwan) |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 198–212°F (92–100°C) | 198–212°F (92–100°C) |
| Leaf | 1.5–3 g per 100 ml | 5–8 g per 100 ml |
| Steepdial starts at | 208°F (98°C) · 4 g · 250 ml | 208°F (98°C) · 6 g · 100 ml |
| First steep | 1:00–4:00 | 0:05–0:25 |
| A whole session | 2:00 · 3:00 · 4:00 | 0:10 · 0:10 · 0:15 · 0:20 · 0:30 · 0:45 · 1:00 · 1:30 |
The details
Rinse
Optional. A 5-second rinse warms the pot and wakes the leaf; plenty of people skip it to keep the first steep's aroma.
Drinking window
Suitable for aging. Made for long keeping; how it changes depends on storage, not just time.
Caffeine
Contains caffeine. How much depends on the leaf, the water temperature and the steep time; the style alone is a poor guide.
Iced and cold brew
Cold brew: 1.3 g per 100 ml of cold water, in the fridge for about 8 hours. Keep it cold and drink it within a day or two. For iced tea now, brew a concentrated hot cup (the same leaf in half the water) and pour it over an equal weight of ice; Steepdial accounts for the ice in the total water.
How Steepdial adjusts
After a session you tap what you'd change: more flavor, less bitter, less drying. Steepdial changes one thing at a time, staying near the ranges above, and remembers what worked for that tea.
Short steeps and pour time
The first gongfu steep is 0:10. If your pot takes several seconds to empty, start pouring a little early, or turn on the pour cue in Steepdial.