Glass Brewing
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Overview
"Glass brewing" is one of the simplest, and most common brewing method in China. This method is based on a gaiwan technique where tea is brewed and drunk from the same vessel. Any cup can be used for this method, but glass is preferred so one can watch the leaves. Sometimes a jar or thermos with a filter on the lid is used.
Brewing Technique
Any temperature from 130ºF to boiling can be used, depending on the tea and the brewer's preferences. Preheating is optional. Preheating will enhance the aroma of the dry leaves at the bottom of the glass, but adding a few drops of hot water to the leaves will have the same effect if the glass is not preheated.
There are three methods used for glass brewing. They are based on when the leaf is added.
Top adding
This is used for tea like Bi Luo Chun (Green Snail Springtime) which will sink. The glass is filled with hot water, and then the leaf is added. Depending on the tea, watching the leaves descend to the bottom of the glass can be beautiful to watch.
Middle adding
This is used for teas like Mao Feng. The glass is filled halfway with hot water, and then the leaf is added. The leaves are allowed to slowly absorb water, and the glass is then filled the rest of the way.
Bottom adding
This method can work with any tea, but is mostly used for Long Jing (Dragonwell) in particular. The leaf is put in the glass, then water is added. The water can be filled to only 1/3 or 1/2 to allow the tea to absorb the water before adding more water, or the glass can be filled up all the way. Depending on the tea, the leaves may stand vertically and dance from the top of the glass to the bottom.
Drinking
Since glass brewing usually doesn't use any filtering devices, it can be hard to drink the tea. If the leaf already all sunk to the bottom, drinking from the top is simple. Usually, there will be leaves floating on the top that need to be filtered to drink the tea. It is common to use ones teeth to filter the leaves, but just blowing the leaves aside can be done.
Note: tea leaves are safe to eat in case you swallow a few (or more) by accident.
