How to Brew Tieguanyin

About the studio

The Aihui Autism Rehabilitation Center in Xiamen set up a tea studio for its members who have grown into adulthood. Packing tea and making handicrafts, the young people Aihui calls “children of the stars” learn a trade here — and, in the scent of the tea, find a working dignity and a place of their own in society.

厦门市爱慧自闭症康复中心专门为大龄孤独症患者设立了茶叶工作室。通过学习茶叶包装、手工艺品制作，我们的“星星的孩子”在这里不仅掌握了劳动技能，更在茶香中找到了属于自己的职业尊严与社会认同。

The seven steps

STEP 1

Meet the tea set茶具介绍

A gaiwan, a fairness pitcher and small cups laid out on a tea tray — The whole set
茶具一式

A lidded brewing bowl, or gaiwan — Gaiwan
lidded bowl 蓋碗

A fairness pitcher for sharing out the tea — Fairness pitcher
公道杯

STEP 2

Warm the vessels温杯洁具

Rinse the gaiwan — or a teapot — with boiling water to bring it up to temperature.

用沸水冲洗盖碗或茶壶，提升器具温度。

Boiling water being poured into a gaiwan to warm it

STEP 3

Add the leaves投茶入碗

Put about 7–8 g of dry Tieguanyin leaf into the warmed gaiwan.

投入约7~8g铁观音干茶。

Dry Tieguanyin leaves being placed into a gaiwan

STEP 4

Wake the leaves with a rinse醒茶洗茶

Pour water at 100°C over the leaves and tip it straight back out. This first, discarded pour opens up the aroma.

注入沸水后立即倒出，唤醒茶叶香气。

Water being poured over the leaves for the rinse

STEP 5

The first real steep正式冲泡

Pour water at 100°C again and wait 20–30 seconds. Then empty the gaiwan completely into the fairness pitcher.

使用100℃沸水，静候20-30秒左右。

Tea being poured from the gaiwan into the fairness pitcher

STEP 6

Share it out and taste出汤品茗

Divide the tea from the pitcher evenly between the cups, so every cup is the same strength. Good leaf will take around twenty infusions — the flavour and the aroma change with each one, and that is the point.

将茶汤倒入公道杯，即可分杯饮用。

Tea being shared evenly from the pitcher into small cups

STEP 7

No tea set? Do this instead没有以上茶具的情况

Without the tea set, a pot with a built-in filter works perfectly well (see the photo).

Put the whole 8 g of leaf into a large 500 ml–1 litre pot, fill it with water at 100°C, leave it about five minutes, and drink.

Tieguanyin brewed in a glass pot with a built-in filter

This fragrance comes from care, and from not giving up

Every pouch of tea has been practised over and over, and packed by hand with attention. Buying it is not only a verdict on the tea — it is an enormous encouragement to the people who made it.

这份茶香，源自爱与坚持。每一包茶叶都经过了孩子们反复的练习与用心的包装。感谢您的购买，这不仅是对茶品质的认可，更是对他们生命价值的巨大鼓励。

WeChat QR code for the Aihui center's official account

More about the center
了解更多机构详情
WeChat — for readers in China

Xiamen Aihui Autism Rehabilitation Center — 厦门市爱慧自闭症康复中心
Enquiries: 400-0592-162
2F, 2-3#, 78 Heshan Road, Huli District, Xiamen — 厦门市湖里区禾山路78号二楼之2-3#

The text and images on this page are provided by the Aihui Tea Studio for reference; the actual product and practice take precedence. Rights to the images remain with their creators. If anything here infringes, please contact us and we will remove it.

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Questions about the tea, or about the studio?

Ask about an order, a visit to the lodge in Anxi, or the studio's work. Rieko Yano reads these herself and answers in writing.

We usually reply within two working days. A sample can be sent if it would help you decide.