Pick the dim sum you are serving and brew strength. The card recommends a tea, the reason, and the water temperature.
Why this exists
Dim sum houses default to pu-erh because it pairs with everything, but specific teas do better with specific dishes. This is the unwritten knowledge of dim sum masters. The reason jasmine became associated with dim sum in the West is because of bulk catering and low cost - not tradition.
Who this is for
Anyone running a dim sum brunch. Cooks confused by the dozen tea choices on a Cantonese menu. People setting up a tea ceremony brunch at home.
How to read the result
Tea temperature matters more than people think. Green tea (80 C) extracts bitterness at boiling. Black tea tolerates boiling. The recommended water temp prevents bitter extraction while still pulling aroma. Re-steeping varies - pu-erh goes 4-5x, green tea only 2-3x.
Honest limitations
Personal taste overrides pairing rules. Use this as a starting point. Cantonese dim sum houses use shou (ripe) pu-erh; some households use sheng (raw) pu-erh which is brighter. Both work, with different effects.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
What are the common mistakes when using Dim Sum Tea Pairing?
Most common mistakes come down to four habits: entering 20 when the field expects 0.2 because the field is a percentage; leaving a field blank and accepting the default without checking what it stands for; changing one input and reading a result that was calculated before the change; and quoting the output as an exact figure when the page describes it as a reference estimate. Press calculate again after any edit, and treat the number as a reference point rather than a final answer.
How do I read the result from Dim Sum Tea Pairing?
Read the final figure first, then come back to this section for the conditions behind it: Tea temperature matters more than people think. Green tea (80 C) extracts bitterness at boiling. Black tea tolerates boiling. The recommended water temp prevents bitter extraction while still pulling aroma. Re-steeping varies - pu-erh goes 4-5x, green tea only Keep two things apart: the number itself, which comes from the values you typed, and the assumptions it depends on, which decide whether that number is meaningful. The page sets out what a higher or lower result means for your case, so check that direction as well as the magnitude.
Can I act on the Dim Sum Tea Pairing result directly?
Treat it as one reference sheet before you decide, rather than as the answer itself: Personal taste overrides pairing rules. Use this as a starting point. Cantonese dim sum houses use shou (ripe) pu-erh; some households use sheng (raw) pu-erh which is brighter. Both work, with different effects. The output describes a magnitude under the conditions you entered. It does not include what it actually costs to act, what might change while you act, or how the other side behaves. Before you commit, compare the result against reality and note which assumptions do not hold where you are.
What inputs does Dim Sum Tea Pairing need?
The inputs for this tool sit in the form area of the page - fill them in one at a time as prompted. Before you start, check that each one uses the unit you actually measured: mismatched units are the most common source of a wrong answer here.
What should I check before I run Dim Sum Tea Pairing?
Three checks pay for themselves. First, confirm the question you need answered is really inside the scope of this tool rather than a neighbouring one. Second, confirm that the figures you have are drawn from the same source and the same period - mixing monthly and annual numbers, or two different definitions of the same quantity, quietly distorts the result. Third, keep the key inputs written down, so that later you can tell which set of numbers produced a figure you are about to quote.
Can I just use one tea? Yes - pu-erh works for everything. Specific pairings are for special occasions.
Why pu-erh specifically? Earthy, robust, re-steeps well. The workhorse of dim sum.
How many refills? Pu-erh 4-5x. Green tea 2-3x. Beyond that it's water.