Brewing Xiao Zhong Black Tea

The best utensils for brewing black tea are white porcelain Gaiwan or white porcelain teapot, with bone china being the ideal choice, which can be paired with a glass serving pitcher and white porcelain tea cups. When the luminous, translucent bone china cup is filled with the bright red, gorgeous tea liquor, one can experience the rising fragrance amidst the ascending mist.

First prepare 5g of dry tea leaves and a pot of boiling water. Rinse the tea ware with boiling water first, discard the water after cleaning, then put 5g of black tea into the Gaiwan. The tea-to-water ratio should be 1:40 or 1:50, with water temperature at 95°C.
For the first infusion, steep for 10-50 seconds. For each subsequent infusion, add one minute to the steeping time.

Generally, Xiao Zhong black tea can be infused 3-4 times. The number of infusions relates to steeping time - longer steeping times result in fewer possible infusions, while shorter steeping times allow for more infusions.