Whether rolling across your social feed or filling the jars at your local Chinese import store, there’s no denying Xiao Qing Gan’s moment in the spotlight. While the pairing of citrus and tea has long roots in Chinese culture that stretch back to the Ming Dynasty, the practice of stuffing unripe and dried-out tangerine peels with Puer tea seems to originate in this century.

As more people discover this harmonious combination, I have been receiving messages asking for help brewing our Xiao Qing Gan. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the basics and share a few tips I’ve gathered from the producers who make them, the teashops that sell them, and my own mistakes (and successes!) while brewing them. Experimentation is the best way to truly master Xiao Qing Gan — or any tea, for that matter — but this guide should be a welcome first step for those who need someone to share the basics quickly.

Don't Worry About The Paper

The standard packaging is for your Xiao Qing Gan to be wrapped in a small piece of paper and “sealed” with a sticker that’s often more stubborn than useful. (I will just say: I’ve seen stickers give up halfway through their journey to the States, leaving large bags that are littered with dozens of these stickers clinging together, stuck 3 to an orange, and generally just a mess to clean). The actual condition of these is less important — it’s there to keep the tea inside the tangerine from spilling everywhere, not to tell you anything meaningful. In fact, most Xiao Qing Gan use generic packaging that is shared amongst multiple producers. Those little stickers are often used in different productions and won’t have detailed information about your specific tea. 

In Xinhui, you can walk from shop to shop, where people are busy in varying stages of production, and notice how, from shop to shop, street to street, all of the large glass jars are filled with mostly identical packaging. The stickers will usually have almost nothing to do with your tea itself. The real story is in the tea itself, so if you want to know the details — age, region, type — you have to ask the producer directly.

Use The Right Teaware

When it comes to this tea — or really, any tea — the best teaware is simply “the one you have.” Don’t let a lack of fancy or fully optimized teaware stop you from enjoying new experiences. That said, I have developed a few preferences over the years, and there is one category of teaware that I believe should never, under any circumstances, be used with Xiao Qing Gan.

Here’s What I Recommend (In Order Of Preference):

• Porcelain Gaiwan: The #1 choice of virtually every drinker I’ve encountered in China. Porcelain gaiwans offer complete control over the brewing process, letting you easily adjust steep times. Porcelain is ideal because it doesn’t interact with the tea, highlighting the pure flavors of the Xiao Qing Gan. The smaller volume encourages longer, more thoughtful sessions; pay attention to how the flavors evolve over multiple infusions.
• Glass Pour-Over Pitcher: This is a less common but elegant piece of teaware that seems tailor-made for Xiao Qing Gan. These pitchers feature a small “nest” on top to hold the tangerine as you pour hot water over it, allowing the liquid through the peel. While the process is slower, the resulting brew is often more refined (though admittedly less robust than with full submersion methods).
• Mug With An In-Cup Strainer: A simple and effective option., especially when commuting or traveling. I enjoy using these these because of their flexibility; you can replicate the gaiwan by doing multiple short infusions (20-30 seconds), or do long extractions (3-8 minutes) to mimic a large western teapot.
• Glazed, Western-Style Teapot: This will work fine for serving multiple people, but is less flexible than other options. I recommend breaking the tangerine skin open before adding water so the leaf can quickly and fully extract. Holding more water than other methods, it shines in group settings but lacks the nuance of other methods.
• Glass Western Style Teapots: While I admit that these are visually appealing with their full view of the tea’s color, they lose heat too quickly. The result is an uneven brew, and most damningly, a tepid liquid by the time it reaches your cup. It’s not the worst option, but I avoid it if possible.

Here’s What I Would Never Use:

• Unglazed Clay Teapots (Yixing Clay, Etc): Unglazed clay absorbs the flavor of whatever you brew, which is why people love them — the tea oils slowly robustify and complicate the flavor. Many tea lovers dedicate pots to specific types or regions of tea to prevent cross-contamination. This is exactly what makes them completely unsuitable for Xiao Qing Gan. The citrus oils from the tangerine would seep into the clay, altering future brews and compromising the pot. Reserve your Yixing for the leaves — Xiao Qing Gan deserves a neutral environment to shine.

What About The Stems?

You’ll notice that each Xiao Qing Gan includes the top part of the fruit, the section where they slice a hole in the tangerine peel. This often includes the stem of the fruit. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with brewing the stem, but I personally leave it out. When I asked a Chinese Xiao Qing Gan merchant why he also avoids brewing the stem, he explained that it adds a slight bitterness to the final brew.

While brewing the stem certainly won’t ruin your tea, I recommend leaving it out. It’s a small detail, but in the delicate world of tea, even the smallest details can make a remarkable difference in flavor.

Should I Break Open The Tangerine Before Brewing In A Gaiwan?

Whether or not to break open the tangerine peel before brewing depends on how many people are drinking with you. Think of it this way — leaving the tangerine intact slows the extraction of flavor, allowing you to get more infusions. Left unbroken, the Xiao Qing Gan takes much longer to saturate the inner core with hot water, meaning it may take 5 or 6 infusions before you experience the full depth of flavor. If you crack or halve the peel before you begin, you’ll experience more potent infusions by the second or third round.

Personally, I count the number of people I’m drinking with and adjust from there. If you’re brewing for more than three people, leave the tangerine whole. This allows everyone to sip several infusions without exhausting the flavor too quickly.

If you’re brewing for just one or two people, go ahead and give the peel a crack. This speeds up the process, unleashing the flavors more quickly and ensuring that you don’t end up drinking more liquid than you bargained for.

The Rinse

Yes, always rinse your tea.

Most tea lovers will tell you to rinse any type of tea, but it’s particularly important for aged teas like Puer. The rinse serves a simple purpose: it ‘wakes up’ the leaves, ensuring that by your first real sip, you’re experiencing the best possible flavor. To do this, pour hot water over the Xiao Qing Gan, allowing it to infuse for 3-5 seconds, and then discard the water. I like to pour directly on the opening at the top, so the water lands on the exposed leaves.

For Xiao Qing Gan, the rinse plays an additional role. Because this tea is made by stuffing Puer inside a tangerine peel, the first contact with water will mostly extract the citrus flavor, likely overwhelming the balance between tea and fruit. A quick rinse helps tame that initial burst of citrus, allowing the tea leaves to catch up in subsequent infusions. The goal is to achieve a harmonious balance between tea and tangerine.

Personally, I typically rinse once, which is often enough to get my drink headed into the right direction. However, I have noticed that in China, many people prefer to rinse twice. This ensures a more balanced flavor between the two ingredients, especially if the citrus is a little bit bold in the early rounds. 

Ultimately, it’s about knowing your own preferences and adjusting to achieve the flavor profile you want.

How Many Infusions Before It’s Done?

The short answer? As many as you want. 

There is really no set number of infusions for Xiao Qing Gan; it depends on the endurance of the tea and your personal tolerance. The tea has a reputation for durability, with most people extracting 10-12 infusions with a gaiwan. The flavors will, of course, evolve with each steep. Early rounds will be robust and sharp, with greater polarities between the earthy tea and tart fruit. Later rounds will be more delicate, with both flavors mellowing and fading.

Some drinkers prefer to push the tea to its limits, drawing out every last bit of flavor — even to the point of absurdity. Others choose to stop after the peak, when the robustness begins its inevitable fall. Ultimately, t’s up to you when to decide when the tea is done.

Explore Further

• Tea: An Overview
• Table of Contents