How to Brew Taiping Houkui (Glass & Gaiwan)

Taiping Houkui turns bitter when the water boils and the leaf sits too long. Use 80–85°C, about 3 g, and a tall glass so the long blades stand — then stop at three minutes.

Dry Taiping Houkui beside a tall glass with standing green leaves — This is the Houkui brew: dry stack on the left, blades standing in a pale glass on the right. If the liquor is stew-yellow, the water was too hot.

Most people who say they “do not like Houkui” have been brewing it as if it were a tea bag: rolling boil, five minutes, a pinch of broken leaf. Taiping Houkui is a long, flat green. It scorches easily, and it is large enough that a teaspoon lies.

This is the method we use for Xiangcha’s Taiping Houkui — a tall glass when you want to watch the leaf, a gaiwan when you want several short cups. The leaf itself is covered in what Taiping Houkui is.

The only numbers you need

	Tall glass	Gaiwan
Leaf	3 g in 200–250 ml (weigh it; blade count varies)	3 g in 120–150 ml
Water	80–85°C / 176–185°F	80–85°C / 176–185°F
Time	2–3 minutes, then lift the leaf or drink off	Rinse 3 s, then 15–20 s, +5 s each round
Infusions	1 glass, optional 2nd at 3 minutes	4–6 cups from the same leaf

If you only remember one rule: do not pour boiling water on Houkui. That is the whole of our green tea brewing guide, applied to a leaf that is even easier to cook.

Step 1 — Count blades, then weigh once

Houkui is huge, and blade weight varies a lot from lot to lot, so counting blades is unreliable. Use a $10 jewelry scale once. The sweet spot for a 250 ml glass is 3 grams.

Too little leaf + long steep = a thin, cooked cup. Too much leaf + 90°C = a drying, spinachy cup. The orchid note lives in the middle.

Long flat Taiping Houkui dry leaves in a white bowl, the amount to weigh for a glass — This is what 3 g looks like when the blades are intact. Do not crush them to fit a strainer — the shape is the brew.

Step 2 — Cool the boil

Bring the kettle to a boil, then wait. Water 30–45 seconds off the boil is still above 90°C — too hot for Houkui. Leave the kettle lid off for 3–5 minutes, or use a thermometer. Target 80–85°C.

Extra trick: pour the water into a cold glass first, then onto the leaf. The glass takes off a few more degrees.

Spring or filtered water shows the sweetness more clearly than hard tap water. This is not romance — minerals flatten a pale green.

Step 3 — Glass brew so the leaf can stand

Put the dry blades in a tall, heat-safe glass. Pour down the side, not a jet on the bud. The leaves hydrate, go from forest green to bright, and usually stand upright. That “dance” is not a ceremony. It is how you know the water was not a rolling boil — cooked leaf slumps and yellows.

At 2 minutes, taste. If it is thin and sweet, give it 30 more seconds. If it is already brisk, drink. Do not walk away for ten minutes. Houkui left sitting in the glass is why people add honey.

Tall glass of Taiping Houkui with long green leaves standing in pale liquor — Standing blades, pale liquor, a few bubbles at the rim. That is a 2-minute glass, not a 5-minute stew.

Step 4 — Or use a gaiwan for more cups

A 120–150 ml porcelain gaiwan is enough. 3 g of Houkui looks generous in a small bowl — that is correct. A 3-second rinse, then 15–20 second steeps, adding about 5 seconds each round. You should get four to six cups before the orchid fades.

Gongfu gear is optional. If you already have a small set, the beginner layout is in Gongfu tea ceremony for beginners. Do not use a 300 ml pot and Western timings on this leaf; you will cook it.

Pale Houkui liquor in a white cup with one whole leaf still visible — A gaiwan pour should still be pale enough to read the leaf. If the cup is khaki, drop the temperature, not the tea.

What went wrong

Bitter / spinach. Water too hot, or the leaf sat past 3 minutes. Next glass: cooler, shorter.
Thin, no orchid. Not enough leaf, or the pouch has been open too long. Greens fade; once opened, finish the pouch within 4–6 weeks. Storage notes: how to store loose leaf tea.
Leaf won’t stand. Often the water was a boil, or the glass is too wide. A tall tumbler works better than a short mug.
Cloudy cup. Hard water, or leaf dust. Rinse the blades once in cooler water and pour off if the first sip is murky.

Same leaf we photograph. Same numbers we brew.

Packed in Anhui. The 50 g pouch is the size to try first; tracking is emailed when it ships. Shop Taiping Houkui.

FAQ

Can I brew Houkui in a mug with a basket infuser?

Yes, if the blades fit without snapping. 3 g, 80–85°C, 2–3 minutes, then lift the basket. You lose the standing-leaf view; the cup can still be sweet.

Should I rinse Taiping Houkui?

A 3-second rinse in a gaiwan is enough to wake the leaf. In a glass, skip the rinse — you will throw away the first pale liquor, which is the point.

How is this different from brewing Maofeng?

Same temperature band, larger leaf. Maofeng is a twist you can gaiwan like any green. Houkui wants space to stand. Do not crush it to make it behave like a pellet tea.