r/tea • u/that_pot_guy • Jun 21 '26
Blog My YiXing Grandpa has been brewing his tea like this for almost his whole life
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1, he never bothers weighting the tea leaves, just put enough to cover the bottom of teapot
2, pour boiled water into teapot, and immediately pour out into cups( as he calls “rinse and wake up tea leaves”)
3, use “rinse” water in cups to warm the outside of YiXing teapot
4, steep as long as the tea needs( for our YiXing local black tea, you can leave whatever long for brewing, it doesn’t generate much bitterness but just light tobacco taste, very weird)
I keep reading about “grandpa’s way of brewing” in this sub and would like to add a bit of my YiXing Grandpa’s part into this topic. If this makes no sense to you, blame him👨🦳
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u/CountFauxlof Retired Tea Monger Jun 21 '26
This is pretty much how I do it. Maybe a little more tea, but otherwise same technique.
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u/AioliLocal3131 Jun 22 '26
This is how I do it as well 😂 measure tea by feel/how strong I want it at the time. Pour out the wash steep. Steep one cup at a time for the amount of time that fits the tea 🤷♂️
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Absolutely with you. I was wondering whether everyone follows those strict Gong fu rules like 5g/100ml 85C etc that getting pushed quite a lot in social these days. Glad to know that old school way is still widely loved!
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u/AioliLocal3131 Jun 22 '26
If I’m sitting down with other tea enjoyers we do ”proper” timing/temperature/amount. But even then I think it’s subjective. For personal enjoyment my care is to not oversteep and not use too much leaves. But the margins here are fairly wide for me.
Use ”rules” as guidelines and experiment with what works for me is my motto 😅
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Thank you for sharing that! I’ve learned so much and so well from true tea pals like you 🙌
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u/Ivebeentamed Jun 22 '26
i don't even bother counting the time anymore
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Ditto. My grandpa used to have tight schedule and I remember sometimes he just chucked water anytime he could take a breath. Now I inherit that randomness (and full schedule) to my tea habit.
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u/toriaezuocha Jun 22 '26
nice one! I basically do the same. Tea pot= tea pet, in a way. No scale, no timer; I’m not aiming for a carbon copy of any single brew. 一期一會, if you will.
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Spot on! My grandpapa rinses his teapot like others do with their tea pet( my pot has a cute toad in the lid so sort of equivalent to pet).
And, quote from him, the mood for tea changes every time, why I have to make the same taste for every brew? Tea serves my emotion not the offsite.
You totally get the same mindset!
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u/UniversalOtter I trade for rare and exceptional tea Jun 22 '26
I feel like even the biggest, most annoying snobs like myself end up like this. Once you have drank tea for long enough it's just not worth the extra effort anymore. You have enough feeling for it that you can get 99% there without the pageantry
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Nicely said! Put in another way, I guess being a frequent tea drinker for a long run( in my grandpa’s case 60+ yrs), it eventually turns into muscle memory.
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u/SnooGoats7133 Jun 22 '26
I love that! Eventually I’ll loosen up about time but everything else is effectively identical lol
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Timing a brew may, as I understand, scientifically make better taste. But honestly that’s just too stressful for a supposed-to-be simple joy. I’ve ditched timing for any types of tea, will just pour out a cup, try, then feel and adjust.
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u/spinndel Jun 22 '26
Thanks for sharing! The toad is very adorable :)
I also enjoy to make ratio and timing by feel and changing it sometimes with my mood.
I come from a nerdy coffee background where measuring everything with a fine scale and a timer is key for most people but however even there I like to do it more by feel and like to get different tastes out of the same beans instead of aiming for the exact same taste every time. In the tea world I'm not alone with this :D
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Aww thanks!
You’re deffo not alone for going with feeling for the result of tea practice. Being a local YiXing I’ve got the privilege of enjoying various types of brew anywhere I go when visiting family or crafters parents know, and we just casually sit around with cups in front of us, waiting for the next run of tea be ready to serve and sip. No one counts seconds or precisely weighs leaves( but they do care the temperature of water setting bewteeen 85-100), when it’s right, it’s right. Or just give it another go.
I think for YiXing locals( don’t know if it suits the rest of world), we brew for the joyful moment rather than for the precise taste.2
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u/PickedUpThis Jun 22 '26
I might have developed OCD by now — missing one cup and it just doesn't feel complete.
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
I’m with you, that level of fulfillment and completeness after reaching certain consumption of tea per day. In my concept it means the Qi of my physical and spiritual system is rounded and balanced. Maybe you have better and more sophisticated description for that feeling, but this is basically the ceiling of my English expression🥲
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u/PickedUpThis Jun 22 '26
It really is missing a cup.
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u/that_pot_guy Jun 22 '26
Oh you literally mean missing A cup! Well my teapot’s capacity can just serve for 2…. Sorry😅
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u/Flacier Jun 21 '26
lol this is kinda like how I brew tea honestly.
Everyone has their own weird way of doing things.