How to Brew Tea with a Gaiwan

For tea lovers, “Gaiwan” is an ideal tea essential for a perfect tea experience! This classic oriental teaware looks simple, yet it can be used as a teacup, teapot, and tea scent tester. These three functions can perfectly match different tea occasions.

Consisting of a lid, a cup, and a saucer, in Eastern culture, Gaiwan symbolizes a person encompassed by heaven and earth and who is fully content with life. Hold the lid with one hand, let’s try this chic way to pour your tea cleverly!

Let’s Start!

Recommended teaware：
Wolf Tea Relaxing Kungfu Gaiwan 150ml, tea leaves, tea scoop, cup

Warm-up Gaiwan. Put tea leaves into Gaiwan
Tea leaves 3-4g：Water 150ml

If you don’t have scales：
・For tightly curled tea leaves, loosely cover the bottom of the Gaiwan with one layer.
・For dried loose tea leaves, cover the bottom of the pot/cup with roughly two layers.

Pour boiling water over tea leaves gently.
Boiling water is ideal for the tea leaves to open completely.

・For tightly curled tea leaves：95-100°C
・For dried loose tea leaves：85-95°C

Steep for a moment, you may adjust the steeping time as you like.

・For tightly curled tea leaves：3-5 mins
・For dried loose tea leaves：1-3 mins

Smell the tea aroma with the lid

Get ready to decant the tea! Place the lid to create a little gap

Press on the knob with your index finger. Hold the cup edge with the rest fingers.

Twist wrist to pour out the tea. Pour off every last drop!

Re-steep & enjoy 3 to 5 infusions!

Brewing tea with Gaiwan is as simple as with teacup, while you can also sip, sniff with the Gaiwan. Most Gaiwan is made of porcelain, which does not easily retain smells, so you can enjoy any kind of teas without mixing the previous flavors. It’s portable, so just brew your favorite tea at home, at work, or even when traveling!

Depending on the tea category, appropriate water temperature, amount of tea leaves, and brewing time will vary slightly. Wolf Tea has shared our favorite brewing steps, welcome to try them out and find your preferred flavor 🙂

Wolf Tea Relaxing Kungfu Gaiwan

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Volume: 5.1 oz / 150 ml
Material: Porcelain
Heat resistance: 1472°F / 800°C

About Wolf Tea

“One day can make a huge difference in flavor. Seasons, maturity of leaves, weather at the time of harvesting, the entire production process, and craftsmanship as a whole reflects the nuance. That’s the charm of Taiwanese tea.”

Wolf Tea makes every effort to bring the finest Formosa teas to the world since 2013. The owner inherits the skills from her father, who has over 20 years of experience in selecting teas. She leads the team to visit tea gardens every season and carefully taste test every batch of tea. Each Wolf Tea comes from a single origin and has a unique ID number. This ensures that every sip of Wolf Tea brings you a once in a lifetime taste.

Wolf Tea Shop「Wolf Tea Shop」Taipei, All Tea Product / Tea Tasting
Wolf Tea Gallery「Wolf Tea Gallery」Taipei, Exhibition / Teawares / All Product / Tea Tasting

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・Brutus｜Japan — “New Wave of Tea” / Representative tea brand in Taiwan (no.842, 2017)

・Monocle｜UK — Favourite inventory selection (vol.80, 2015)

・Tasting Kitchen｜Singapore — Leaf to Cup / Tea entrepreneurs on a mission (2015)
“Wolf Tea sees their mission as making the distinctive teas of Taiwan more accessible to beginners by demystifying the pomp and circumstance surrounding the brewing process.”
—— Tasting Kitchen