Summer tea has one common problem: bitterness.
During summer, when daylight hours are longest, tea leaves produce higher concentrations of polyphenols — and it's those polyphenols that create astringency when brewed. But with the right teapot and an understanding of cold brewing, summer is actually one of the best seasons for tea.
Chen Yu-Ting, president of the Chinese Tea Arts Research Association, shares her approach to summer tea brewing.
Why Does Summer Tea Turn Bitter?
Summer is the season with the longest daily sunlight. The more sunlight a tea plant receives, the more polyphenols it develops — and polyphenols are the source of astringency in the cup.
Chen's recommendation: "In summer, choose a thin-walled teapot or one that dissipates heat quickly, so the tea cools down faster and the aroma is better preserved." She also notes that summer tea liquor oxidises more easily than in other seasons — once brewed, it's best enjoyed promptly rather than left to sit.
Taiwan Summer Teas: What to Drink
Oriental Beauty — Summer's Signature Honey Fragrance
When asked about her favourite summer tea, Chen's answer is immediate: Oriental Beauty.
Oriental Beauty carries a distinctive honey fragrance, produced when the tea leaves are bitten by the green leafhopper — an insect that appears only in summer, making this a truly seasonal tea. "Oriental Beauty shouldn't be left in continuously hot water," she explains. "You need a teapot that dissipates heat quickly while still bringing out the honey fragrance."
Recommended teaware: Drifting Cloud and Beloved (see teaware section below)
Other Teas Well-Suited to Summer
Green Snail Spring (Bi Luo Chun), Wenshan Pouchong, and black tea are also excellent summer choices — particularly for cold brewing. As loose, twisted-leaf teas, they unfurl easily in cold water and release their flavour gradually.
How to Brew Summer Tea Without the Bitterness: It Starts with the Teapot
Chen recommends teapots with a lidless design — specifically NewChi's Drifting Cloud and Pure Love.
Flowing Cloud White Porcelain Teapot The open, lidless design allows the tea liquor to cool naturally after pouring, preventing the leaves from steeping in sustained heat. This reduces astringency while letting Oriental Beauty's delicate honey notes bloom fully. Chen shares: "Flowing Cloud has a quality of clarity and ease that I find nowhere else. In summer, when the heat can affect your mood, the sensation of holding it — the touch, the weight, the sight of it — gives you a kind of coolness and ease even in the hottest weather."
Pure Love White Porcelain Teapot Also lidless, with cleaner, more minimal lines. For summer brewing of Oriental Beauty, it offers the same cooling effect as Flowing Cloud — an ideal choice for those drawn to quiet simplicity.
Cold Brew Tea: The Golden Ratio and How to Do It
On the hottest days, nothing satisfies quite like a cold brew tea prepared overnight.
Two methods:
- Direct cold brew: Steep in 5°C cold water for 6–8 hours
- Hot brew then chill: Brew with hot water, cool to room temperature, then refrigerate
Chen's recommended ratio: tea to water = 1:100
For a 600ml bottle of 5°C mineral water, use approximately 6 grams of tea. Give it a gentle shake so the leaves absorb the water evenly, then return it to the refrigerator for about 6 hours. "The slow extraction brings out the sweetness and releases the fragrance gradually," she says. "The longer it sits, the more it reveals."
Which Teas Work Best for Cold Brew?
Twisted, loose-leaf teas unfurl more readily in cold water and are therefore best for cold brewing:
- Oriental Beauty
- Green Snail Spring (Bi Luo Chun)
- Wenshan Pouchong
- Black tea
Teaware for Serving Cold Brew Tea
The brewing itself can be done in any container, but presentation matters. Chen recommends NewChi's Spring Mist or Eternal Spring teapots — both feature petal-inspired forms with a freshness and sweetness that complement cold brew beautifully.
Spring Mist White Porcelain Teapot Petal-form design with a lightness that evokes fresh blossoms. Particularly well-suited to cold brew Oriental Beauty or Pouchong, where the clarity of the liquor echoes the delicacy of the teapot. → View The Mist on the Spring Lake
Eternal Spring White Porcelain Tea Set Teapot and cups together — ideal for sharing cold brew with a close friend, or as a thoughtful summer gift. → View Evergreen
The Mist on the Spring Lake Tea Set
Setting a Summer Tea Table: How to Create a Sense of Coolness
Chen's approach to tea table arrangement always incorporates the current season. "In summer, I prefer materials and colours that look visually light, to counterbalance the heat. I sometimes add stones or glass objects — elements that carry a sense of coolness, like stone, glass, or white porcelain — to visually convey the feeling of relief from the heat."
White porcelain, with its pure colour and smooth, cool surface, is the natural anchor of a summer tea table — functional teaware and visual centrepiece in one.
Further Reading
What Tea Should You Drink at Dragon Boat Festival? Oriental Beauty with rice dumplings, and Dong Ding Oolong to cut through richness — Chen Yu-Ting's Dragon Boat Festival tea pairing guide. → Read the full article
Dragon Boat Festival Porcelain Gift Guide From the Dragon's Ascent teapot set to the Glory Across Directions heirloom box — white porcelain that makes every Dragon Boat Festival ritual feel considered. → Explore the collection
