Seventh Steep

Young sheng · under ~5 years

How to brew young sheng puerh gongfu style

Sheng, or raw puerh, is not fermented in a pile. Young sheng (here: under about five years) is bright, floral and fresh, and it can be bitter.

Most of the bitterness comes from water that is too hot or an infusion that is too long. The numbers below keep it in balance. Use them as a starting point and change them to your taste.

Water
92°C
198 °F
Leaf
5g
per 100 ml of water
Rinse
5s
pour it out
Infusions
10+
then +20 s each

Leaf and water

Leaf and water for Young sheng
VesselLeafWaterRinse
100 ml5 g92 °C 198 °F5 s
150 ml7.5 g92 °C 198 °F5 s

Good range for the water: 90–95 °C (194–203 °F). Other vessel sizes: 5 g of leaf for every 100 ml.

Infusion times

  1. Rinse5s
  2. #110s
  3. #210s
  4. #315s
  5. #420s
  6. #525s
  7. #635s
  8. #745s
  9. #860s
  10. #980s
  11. #10100s

Times are in seconds, counted from when the vessel is full. After infusion 10, add 20 seconds for each new one. In the app, "Softer" and "Stronger" make all the times shorter or longer.

How to brew it

  1. Heat the water to 92 °C (198 °F). The range for this tea is 90–95 °C (194–203 °F).
  2. Pour hot water into the empty vessel and the cups to warm them. Pour it out.
  3. Put in 5 g of leaf for a 100 ml vessel, or 7.5 g for 150 ml.
  4. Rinse: fill the vessel, wait 5 seconds, pour the water out.
  5. First infusion: fill the vessel, wait 10 seconds, then pour all of the tea into a pitcher or the cups.
  6. Go on with the next infusion times from the list. Pour out all of the tea each time.

Tips

Brew this in Seventh Steep

The app has these numbers built in. It works out the grams for your vessel and times the rinse and every infusion, with a bell when it is time to pour.

You can also identify a tea from a photo. That part is optional, and the answer is an estimate, not a guarantee.

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