Zhu Cha
珠茶 · Gunpowder
Green
Each leaf is rolled into a tight pellet under pressure, with the energy stored inside it.
Drop the pellets into hot water and they open violently, swelling three or four times over. The Chinese name for that motion is the agony of the leaf. Artisans in Zhejiang worked out the shape during the Tang dynasty, not for beauty but to protect tea on long roads, because a tight ball keeps far better than an open leaf.
European traders thought the pellets looked like gunpowder and named it after that instead. Smoky and full, soft as honey underneath, and it closes on something like copper.
- smoky
- honey
- copper
- Origin
- Pingshui, Zhejiang, China
- Water
- 82°C / 180°F
- Ratio
- 3.5 g / 100 ml
- Caffeine
- Medium
- Rinse
- Not needed
classic export green (Pingshui)
How much leaf
Gong fu brewing is leaf-heavy and short. Set your gaiwan or pot size and this is what to weigh out.
Vessel volume
100 ml
Recommended dose
Use ~3.5g of tea
The session
4 infusions, about 3m 30s of total contact time.
- Steep 130sSmoke opens as the pellets unfurl.
- Steep 245sHoney softens the smoky body.
- Steep 31mA vegetal fullness rounds out.
- Steep 41m 15sA copper note trails the sweetness.
Also sold as
Pearl Tea, Gunpowder Green, Pingshui
Steaper times this session for you
A countdown per infusion, a gong when each one is up, and the whole library in your pocket. Coming to iPhone.
Get notified at launchThese numbers are a median of independent gong fu sources, not a law. Leaf age, vessel and water all move them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.