Many Western tea drinkers feel a little intimidated when they first discover Chinese loose leaf tea. Gaiwans, fairness cups, tea trays, Yixing teapots, gongfu brewing steps... it can all look beautiful, but also a bit too professional. For a beginner, it may create the impression that Chinese tea is complicated.

In daily life, however, many people in China do not set up a full gongfu tea table every time they drink tea. A much more common method is simple: put loose tea leaves directly into a glass, mug, or travel cup, add hot water, drink slowly, and refill with more water as needed. In the English-speaking tea community, this relaxed method is usually called grandpa style tea.

This guide explains grandpa style tea from a beginner's perspective: what it is, why it is useful for people who are just starting with Chinese loose leaf tea, which teas work well, which teas are better avoided, and how to brew a mug of Chinese tea that tastes smooth instead of bitter.

What Is Grandpa Style Tea?

Compared with traditional gongfu brewing, grandpa style tea is a very simple way to brew Chinese loose leaf tea:

You do not need a gaiwan, teapot, tea strainer, fairness cup, or complicated steeping schedule. All you need is a glass or mug, a small amount of loose leaf tea, and hot water.

Why Is It Called Grandpa Style?

The term "grandpa style" was coined and popularized in the English tea community by Hong Kong tea writer Lawrence Zhang, also known as MarshalN. In his original explanation, the name came from the way his grandfather drank tea: leaves in a cup, hot water, and repeated refills throughout the day.

In Chinese daily life, this brewing method does not really have a special formal name. Many people would simply call it making tea, or cup brewing. It is less a formal ceremony and more an everyday habit.

When Is Grandpa Style Tea Most Useful?

Drinking Tea Alone

Gongfu tea ware is often designed for sharing tea with other people: one gaiwan or teapot, several small cups, and repeated short infusions. If you are simply making tea for yourself, grandpa style is often more practical. One mug gives you enough tea to drink slowly while working, reading, or relaxing.

When You Do Not Have Gongfu Teaware

A full gongfu setup can involve a gaiwan, tea tray, fairness cup, tea scoop, small cups, and other tools. If you are new to Chinese tea, sitting in an office, or traveling, you may not have any of that with you. Grandpa style brewing only requires one cup.

When You Do Not Want to Learn Gongfu Brewing Yet

Gongfu brewing asks you to think about water temperature, leaf amount, steeping time, and pouring technique. A gaiwan can also feel awkward or hot in the hand at first. If you do not want to deal with those details yet, grandpa style keeps the process simple: add leaves, add water, drink, and refill.

How to Brew Grandpa Style Tea: Step-by-Step

Preparation

You only need a few things:

• Kettle: Any regular hot water kettle is fine.
• Mug or glass: Glass and ceramic are both good choices. Metal cups may affect the taste of delicate tea.
• Tea leaves: Use about 2-3 grams, or just enough to lightly cover the bottom of the cup. Start with less rather than more. Weak tea can be fixed with time; overly bitter tea is much harder to save.
• Water: Filtered or purified water usually gives a cleaner taste.

Rinse the Tea (Optional)

Add a small amount of hot water, just enough to cover the leaves, swirl gently, and pour it out. This can remove small tea dust and wake up the leaves.

This step is optional. For green tea, white tea, and scented flower tea, many beginners can skip the rinse and brew directly. For darker tea, roasted tea, or older tea, a quick rinse can be useful.

Add Water and Steep

Add hot water to the cup. For delicate teas, it is usually better not to pour boiling water directly onto the leaves. Let freshly boiled water rest for 1-2 minutes first, around 85-90°C / 185-194°F, depending on the tea.

Wait about 1-2 minutes, then start drinking. Some leaves will sink to the bottom, while a few may float on top. You can simply sip around them.

Refill Before the Cup Is Empty

When about one-third of the tea is left in the cup, add more hot water. Do not wait until the cup is completely empty. The liquid at the bottom has been steeping the longest, so it can become concentrated and bitter.

Good loose leaf tea can usually be refilled several times this way, until the flavor becomes light.

That is the whole method. If you have a mug, loose leaf tea, and hot water, you can start.

Best Teas for Grandpa Style Brewing

In China, brewing tea directly in a large cup is not unusual. Many daily tea drinkers have used this method for decades.

The key is choosing the right tea. If the leaves are whole, gentle, and slow to release bitterness, the tea can stay in the cup for a long time and still taste smooth. Below are the tea types that usually work best for beginners.

High-Quality Green Tea

Green tea is one of the most classic choices for grandpa style brewing, especially when the leaves are large and complete.

Longjing, or Dragon Well tea, is one of the most popular examples. Its leaves are flat and whole, and they look beautiful as they slowly open in a glass. Longjing often has a gentle bean-like or chestnut-like aroma, and good Longjing does not become bitter too quickly when brewed with a light hand.

Taiping Houkui is another excellent option. Its leaves are long, broad, and visually impressive in a glass. You only need a few large leaves for one cup. The flavor is usually mild, fresh, and slightly floral.

Many high-quality Chinese green teas can work well with this method. If you want to understand green tea styles more broadly, see our complete Chinese green tea guide.

One note: some Yunnan large-leaf green teas can feel stronger and more bitter in a mug, especially if you use too much leaf. For beginners, gentler green teas are usually safer.

Loose White Tea

White tea is one of the gentlest Chinese tea categories. It is close to the natural form of the tea leaf, and it often tolerates longer steeping better than many other teas.

Bai Mu Dan, or White Peony, is made from buds and young leaves. It is fuller than Silver Needle, with a soft floral aroma and a smooth, sweet taste. In grandpa style brewing, the leaves slowly open in the cup and release flavor gradually.

Shou Mei is also a good option, especially for daily drinking. It is made from more mature leaves, so the flavor can be richer and more durable. Aged Shou Mei can slowly release date-like sweetness, honey notes, and a mellow body.

For a broader overview of this category, our Chinese white tea guide explains white tea types, taste, and brewing.

High-Quality Scented Flower Tea

Scented flower tea is usually made by allowing tea leaves to absorb the fragrance of fresh flowers. Common examples include jasmine green tea and jasmine pearls. The goal is not simply to mix flowers and leaves, but to let the tea carry a natural floral aroma.

Jasmine green tea is the most familiar flower tea for many beginners. With grandpa style brewing, the jasmine aroma releases slowly and stays with the cup instead of appearing only in the first sip.

Best Teas for Grandpa Style: Quick Table

Teas That Are Not Ideal for Grandpa Style Brewing

Based on our tea training experience and many real tea-drinking habits in China, one point is important: not every tea is suitable for grandpa style brewing.

Some teas can become harsh, smoky, dusty, or overly strong when left in a mug for a long time. If you are new to Chinese tea, the following types are better approached carefully.

Roasted Oolong Tea

Wuyi rock tea, such as Da Hong Pao, Rou Gui, and Shui Xian, and strong-roast Tie Guan Yin are usually not the easiest grandpa style choices for beginners.

These teas are known for roasted aroma, mineral depth, and layered flavor. In gongfu brewing, this is a strength: hot water, more leaves, and quick pours bring out aroma and complexity.

In a mug, however, long steeping can make the roasted character feel too heavy. The tea may become dry, bitter, or overly toasty. These teas are usually better with gongfu brewing or another method that separates tea liquor from leaves.

For more context on oolong styles, see our oolong tea guide.

Smoked Black Tea

Lapsang Souchong is a classic smoked black tea. When brewed carefully, the pine-smoke aroma can be balanced and enjoyable.

In a mug, long steeping can make the smoky character too strong, especially for beginners. The tea may taste drying or harsh if too much leaf is used.

Ripe Pu-erh Tea and Dark Tea

Ripe Pu-erh tea and many dark teas are not always ideal for beginners using grandpa style brewing. The main reason is practical: many of them are compressed teas.

To brew them, you often need to break or pry the tea apart. That can create broken pieces and tea dust. In a mug, those small pieces may float around and make the drinking experience less pleasant.

Ripe Pu-erh can also become very dark and strong if you use too much leaf. Experienced drinkers can certainly experiment, but beginners may have a better first experience with green tea, white tea, or flower tea.

Tea Cakes and Dragon Balls

Compressed tea cakes and dragon ball teas can also be inconvenient for mug brewing. Once opened or loosened, they may contain broken pieces, and the leaves can expand heavily in the cup.

This does not mean they are bad teas. It simply means they are usually easier to control with a gaiwan, teapot, or another tea-water separation method.

Broken Tea and Matcha

Broken tea is generally not a good choice for grandpa style brewing. Small broken leaves release flavor, caffeine, and bitterness very quickly. Even after a short steep, the cup can become strong and astringent.

Typical examples include Japanese sencha with fine broken leaf material, CTC black tea, and many tea bags made from small broken tea pieces.

Matcha is also not suitable for this method because it is powdered tea. It is meant to be whisked, not left as loose leaves in a mug.

Teas to Avoid for Grandpa Style: Quick Table

Simple rule: grandpa style tea is not universal. For beginners, avoid heavily roasted tea, smoked tea, compressed tea, broken tea, and matcha. Start with green tea, white tea, or flower tea first.

Grandpa Style Tea vs. Gongfu Tea

Grandpa style tea and gongfu tea represent two very different tea-drinking situations. One is simple and relaxed. The other is focused, precise, and more ceremonial.

What Is Gongfu Tea?

Gongfu tea is not a tea type. It is a brewing method. It is especially associated with regions such as Chaozhou and southern Fujian, and it pays close attention to tea, water, teaware, and the brewing process.

Gongfu brewing usually uses more leaf, smaller vessels, and very short infusions. Each infusion is poured out separately, so you can taste how the tea changes from one steep to the next. It is especially suitable for sharing tea with two or three people and exploring aroma, body, and aftertaste.

What Is Grandpa Style?

Grandpa style is the opposite in spirit. You put leaves directly into a larger cup, add hot water, drink slowly, and keep refilling. There is no filter, no teapot, and almost no technique.

This is one of the most common everyday ways to drink tea in China: in offices, parks, trains, and homes. It is the simplest way to make tea for one person.

Gongfu Tea vs. Grandpa Style: Quick Table

Common Beginner Mistakes with Grandpa Style Tea

Grandpa style tea looks simple, but beginners can still run into a few problems. Avoid these three mistakes and your first mug-brewing experience will be much better.

Mistake 1: Choosing the Wrong Tea

This is the biggest issue. Some teas are simply not beginner-friendly when left in a mug for a long time.

Less suitable choices for beginners: heavily roasted oolong, smoked black tea, broken tea, CTC black tea, ripe Pu-erh tea, and most compressed teas. These are often better with a brewing method that separates the tea liquor from the leaves.

Mistake 2: Using Too Much Tea

Many beginners think more leaves means better flavor. In grandpa style brewing, this is usually not true. Because the leaves stay in the water, flavor keeps extracting. If you use too much tea, the cup can become stronger and more bitter as you drink.

Suggestion: use about 2-3g of tea for 350ml of water, or just enough leaves to lightly cover the bottom of the cup. Start light. You can always steep longer or refill less, but once a cup becomes too bitter, it is hard to fix.

Mistake 3: Refilling Too Late

Some people wait until the cup is almost empty before adding more water. By then, the liquid at the bottom has been steeping for a long time and is usually much stronger.

Better method: refill when about one-third of the cup is left. This keeps the strength more even and helps avoid the problem of a pleasant first sip and a bitter last sip.

Final Thoughts on Grandpa Style Tea Brewing

Grandpa style tea is not a lower-level version of gongfu tea. It is a different tea-drinking scene. If you want an easy way to begin drinking Chinese loose leaf tea, grandpa style is often the simplest place to start. You do not need a gaiwan, tea tray, fairness cup, or teapot. A mug is enough.

The key is simple: choose the right tea, use fewer leaves, and refill before the cup is empty. For most beginners, green tea, white tea, and flower tea are the safest starting points. Avoid heavily roasted oolong, smoky tea, broken tea, and compressed tea at first, and your first Chinese tea experience is much more likely to be smooth and enjoyable.

FAQ: Grandpa Style Tea Brewing

Q1: What kind of cup is best for grandpa style tea?

Glass cups and ceramic mugs both work well. A glass cup lets you watch the leaves open, while a ceramic mug keeps heat slightly better. Metal cups are not ideal for delicate tea because they may affect the taste.

Q2: What water temperature is best for grandpa style brewing?

For green tea, white tea, and flower tea, around 85-90°C / 185-194°F is usually a good range. Let freshly boiled water rest for 1-2 minutes before pouring.

Q3: Does tea get bitter if I leave the leaves in the mug all day?

It depends on the tea and the leaf amount. Gentle teas such as Longjing, Bai Mu Dan, and jasmine green tea are less likely to become bitter if you use only 2-3g of tea and refill before the cup is empty.

Q4: How many times can I refill the mug when brewing loose leaf tea grandpa style?

Good Chinese loose leaf tea can usually be refilled 3-4 times. When the color becomes pale and the taste becomes very light, it is time to replace the leaves.

Q5: Can I use a thermos for grandpa style tea brewing?

It is usually not recommended for beginners. A thermos keeps the water hot for too long, which can make delicate tea taste stewed, bitter, or flat. A glass or ceramic mug is easier to control.

SEE MORE ABOUT CHINESE LOOSE LEAF TEA

If you are a beginner about Chinese tea:
Basic-Guide-to-Chinese-Tea

If you have questions about selecting tea:
Learn-more-about-chinese-tea

If you have questions about the benefits of tea:
Health-benefits-of-chinese-tea

If you have questions about brewing tea:
How-to-brew-loose-leaf-tea