THE ART OF MAKING FINE TEA MARIAGE FRERES STEEPING CHART Tea Amount of Tea Water Amount of Steeping Time Temperature water* White tea Yin Zhen 5g 70°C 20cl 15 min. White tea Pai Mu Tan 5g 85°C 20cl 7 min. Finest green teas 5g 70°C 20cl 3 min. Green teas 5g 90°C 20cl 3 min. Gyokuro 10g 50°C 6cl 2 to 3 min. This tea should be prepared in tiny quantities and drunk from minuscule cups. It can be steeped three times. Finest japanese green teas 5g 60°C 20cl 1 to 2 min. First flush « Shin Cha » teas : Harunocha Meicha, Honyamacha Meicha Green teas from Japan 4.5g 70°C 20cl 1 to 2 min. Sencha Uji, Sencha Honyama, Sencha Midori, sencha Ariake, Ureshiocha, Tamaryokucha Green teas from Japan 4.5g 90°C 20cl 1 min. Fuji-Yama, Genmaicha, Kukicha, Kokeicha Blue tea, chinese method 4.5g 95°C 20cl 3 min. Blue tea, Formosa method 2.5g 95°C 20cl 5 to 7 min. Darjeeling First Flush 3.5g 90°C 20cl 2 to 3 min. Whole leaf black teas, matured teas, FOP, 2.5g 95°C 20cl 5 min. OP, Souchong Broken leaf black teas, BOP, BPS 2.5g 95°C 20cl 2 to 3 min. Black teas in fannings, BOPF 2.5g 95°C 20cl 2 min. Flavoured black teas 2.5g 95°C 20cl 3 to 5 min. Flavoured green teas 2.5g 90°C 20cl 3 min. * 20cl of water is approximately one cup GOLDEN RULES FOR MAKING TEA SUCCESSFULLY For black teas, matured teas, blue teas, and flavoured teas 1. Pre-heat the teapot, after inserting the tea strainer or filter, * by rinsing it with boiling water. 2. Place a teaspoon of tea (roughly 2.5 g) per cup in the warm strainer* and let it stand for a few moments, allowing the steam to begin developing the leaves' aroma. 3. Pour simmering water on the tea so that all the leaves are covered. 4. Let the tea steep (refer to chart) o About 2 minutes for fannings o About 3 minutes for broken leaf teas o About 5 minutes for whole leaf teas o Barely 3 minutes do the first flush Darjeeling (slightly increasing the amount of tea to 3.5 g per cup) o 7 minutes for blue teas 5. It is then essential to remove the strainer or filter * containing the leaves. The tea must then be stirred (another important step) and finally poured. Teas from great gardens should not be drunk too hot; let them stand a few moments after steeping, so that the palate can better appreciate the most subtle of fragrances. White and green teas : 1. Pre-heat the pot or chung (cup with cover) as above. 2. Place the appropriate amount of tea per person or cup (refer to chart). Let the tea leaves stand for a few moments to allow the steam to begin developing the aroma. 3. Place the appropriate amount of tea per person or cup (refer to chart). 4. Let the tea steep (refer to chart) : o For green tea, 1 to 3 minutes o For the white tea Yin Zhen, 15 minutes o For the white teas Pain Mu Tan, 7 minutes 5. Remove the tea leaves, stir and serve. * Use a cotton tea filter if the teapot is not equipped with a strainer. .