Gongfu and Iced Darjeeling: Short Steeps, Cold Brews and a Winter Toddy

The method comes from China, and it shows how a tea’s flavor shifts from one infusion to the next.

1. Use a gaiwan or small teapot of about 100 to 120 ml and about 4 to 5 g of leaf.
2. Heat the water to the same temperature the chart gives for your tea.
3. Pour, steep for 20 to 30 seconds, and pour off every drop into a cup or jug.
4. Steep the same leaves again, adding 10 to 15 seconds each time, for as long as the cup still tastes good.

Spring whites and oolongs give the longest runs. Glenburn Spring Moonshine Oolong, a champagne-colored cup with peony, Asiatic lily, muskmelon and citrus, is a good tea to learn on. Its product page says a second steep, at 4 minutes in an ordinary cup, “is equally enjoyable and brings forth delectable notes of muscat-grape and calisson.”

Gongfu strength also scales up: one Teabox customer with a new baby brewed larger amounts of Goomtee Summer Muscatel at “gaiwan-level concentrations” and found “the muscatel is strong in this one for sure.”

What to expect from a Darjeeling oolong

Do not expect a Darjeeling oolong to behave like a Taiwan one. When Frank Miller tested Darjeeling oolongs for our blog, he found them plucked to a high standard, “artfully twisted into long, slender spider legs,” and heavily oxidized, at about 80%, which puts them close to a black tea.

He brewed one of them three ways: in a tea taster’s brew cup, in a roomy Taiwan glass teapot and in a ceramic brewer made for oolongs. His verdict was that they “did not maintain their complexity during subsequent steeping, as Taiwan oolongs typically do.” So with a Darjeeling, stop as soon as the cup thins out, rather than counting infusions. Read India vs. Taiwan: The Oolong Challenge.

The pot matters less than the method. One tea explorer we interviewed keeps a Yixing pot for oolongs, a gaiwan for pu-erh and small glass teapots, or a gaiwan, for green teas.

Spring teas, whites and oolongs are especially good cold, and so is a second steep.

• Hot brew over ice. Brew as usual at the right temperature, but with twice the leaf. Strain it straight over a tall glass full of ice; the melting ice brings it back to normal strength.
• Second steep over ice. This is our own favorite trick. Drink the first steep hot, then steep the leaves again and pour over ice. We suggested it for Upper Namring Spring Black, the first tea of First Flush 2022 (“Steep it again with ice”), and for Margaret’s Hope Moonlight Spring White, which “can be steeped twice. Add ice for an even flavorful experience.” The Upper Namring of 2021 got the same advice: “You can steep it twice and add ice for a refreshing experience.” Nine of our current Darjeeling product pages mark the tea as good iced, most of them spring whites and oolongs.
• Cold brew. Put about 6 teaspoons of leaf in 1 liter of cold, filtered water, cover, and leave it in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or overnight. Strain. Cold brew is smooth and naturally sweet, and it is hard to make bitter.

The moonlight whites are the best candidates of all. In notes on the 2023 spring season, Avishek Mondal of our procurement team wrote that “High-quality Moonlight whites can be infused multiple times and enjoyed iced in the 2nd or 3rd steep.” The product page for our Darjeeling Exotic Moonlight White recommends its second steep at 4 minutes, served with ice.

Summer teas work too. When we planned our iced tea range in 2021, our notes said that some single-estate teas “come out amazingly better when brewed cold,” from the signature muscatel blacks to medium-bodied summer blacks and light-bodied whites. The third steep of our Badamtam spring samples in March 2022, poured over ice, still gave floral, fruity and green mango notes.

Add a slice of lemon or a sprig of mint if you like. More ideas in How to make iced tea.

For winter, our own recipe uses a spring Darjeeling as the base of a hot toddy. Serves 1 · about 10 minutes.

The recipe first appeared on our blog in December 2015, made with that year’s Goomtee spring tea, and the same steps work with any of our single-estate Darjeelings. Read Hot Toddy Cocktail Recipe.

Fireside tea, a summer Darjeeling over ice

For a cold version, our 2014 Fireside Tea uses a summer Darjeeling. Boil 100 ml of water, stir in sugar to taste until it dissolves, then steep 1 teaspoon of Giddapahar summer Darjeeling black tea for 3 minutes. Strain and let the tea cool, shake it with 30 ml of dark rum, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon powder, and serve over ice. More tea cocktails are in 4 easy, must-try cocktail recipes with tea.