This is the second article of the Methods of Tea Brewing series.
The Anxi Brewing Method is a method that was developed with the increased popularity of Tie Kuan Yin rolled oolong tea. Its usage is seen in Fujian, Anxi, and up to northern Wuyi areas as well, and is most commonly used in these areas for low to mid oxidation teas, and sometimes extended to wuyi yancha of very high qualities.
This brewing method aims to achieve strong fragrance, strong mouth taste/sweetness, and clear purity in different sets of steeps.
The tea is steeped up to 9 times into 3 servings.
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd steepings combined aims to present strong fragrance
The 4th, 5th, 6th steepings aim to present increasing sweetness
The final 7th, 8th, and 9th steepings present the teas’ pure nature.
Equipment needed
- Teapot, ceramic or yixing is usable. Volume is flexible, depending on the number of guests and cups
- Tea tools like a bamboo pick for unclogging
- Kettle with water off the boil
- Tea boat for pot to sit in
- Unique set of cups for each guest, consisting of the tall “scent appreciation cup”, and the short wide drinking cup
- No fairness pitcher is used.
Brewing process
Step 1 – Assemble the tea ware
Step 2 – Warm the pots and the cups
Step 3 – Adding leaves into pot till half full, this can be done by hand or with special tea funnels. Bake the tea leaves by dousing hot water all around the pot. This doesn’t need to be done for a very long duration if the tea is well kept.
Step 4 – Adding water to steep. Steep for the duration of 5 breaths before dispensing.
Step 5 – Dispensing tea straight into the scent appreciation cups.
Fill the cup to 1/3 with the first steep, 1/3 with the second steep, and to almost the brim with the 3rd steep.
This is also a reason why good Yixing pots must have good lid fits allowing control via the airhole on the knob on the lid. It eliminates the need to tilt the pot back and forth in dispensing to stop the flow.
Step 6 – Enjoy the fragrance, one can pour the tea from the tall scent appreciation cup into the wide cup, and enjoy the fragrance in empty cup then after. Sip from the wide cup, drawing in some air at the same time to create a slurring slurping sound. This will heighten aromatics.
Step 7 – Shaking the pot! Wrap it with the tea cloth, for every steep, the empty pot with leaves is shaken an additional 3 times in an up and down motion, i.e. after first brew 3 times, after 2nd brew, six times, after 3rd brew 9 times etc. This is to help even out and unfurl the leaves to give better aromatics and brew.
The Scent Appreciation Cup is not limited to usage in this brewing method. It can be incorporated into other brewing methods and may heighten the appreciation of a tea. In Tea Ceremonies that are shown to tourists and guests on tour throughout China, tea can be served as per in image 2 below, where the wider cup serves as a lid to prevent oxidation and loss of fragrance when serving teas to people. The guest will then lift up the cup as in image 3, invert it gracefully (no need to hurry as these cups, if well made, seldom spill). The Scent appreciation cup is then lifted in and raised to the nose for fragrance appreciation.
This is the second article of the Methods of Tea Brewing series.
The following articles are part of this series:
- Yixing / Taiwanese Brewing method for Tea
- Shao An Brewing Method for Tea
- Chaozhou Gongfu Tea Brewing Method
