Green Tea Forum

jchughley · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

Hello everybody,

This is technically not my first experience w/ tea because I have drank arizona brand for quite some time.... I know, I know, I knew no better. Anyways, after researching for several weeks, I picked up some Fukamushi supreme and kirameki (which I don't think is available on this site anymore), as well as a kyusu from o-cha. I tried yesterday using 1.25 tsp and about 6oz of water for 1.5 minutes.... bleh... Upon speaking with chip, I tried his recommendation of about 1 min, and used 10 oz of water... WOW I AM IN HEAVEN RIGHT NOW!!! I work out and am usually pretty tired at night, but today I feel extremely relaxed, like I could just sit around for HOURS! I hope I dont become lazy...

Anyways, I have some questions. I purchased quite a bit of sample products from Adagio as well, and was wondering:

1) can these teas be infused multiple times like the japanese greens? I purchased several of every type of tea (oolong, black, flavored, green), so if there are differences between the types, let me know.

2) how much tea leaf do you typically use in other types of tea? I know you boil the water and infuse for about 5 mins, but I need to know the quantity of both.

I'll just stop here because I feel like just sitting around now. Honestly, I question what is in this tea that is making me feel so....calm.

I look forward to chatting with each and every one of you who takes the time to respond. Take care.

j.c.

britt · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 175

The Chinese and Taiwanese oolongs IMO are far less sensitive to brewing parameters but far more sensitive to the brewing vessel. Temp, amount of leaf, etc. are still important, but many of these teas are hard to really screw up.

There are two ways usually used to brew oolongs; normal and gong fu style.

Normal- I use about 1 teaspoon of the ball or pellet type oolongs per 4-6 ounces of water and about double that for the less compact type. In other words if you have 2 ounces each of two types of oolong and the vendor's package for one of them is twice the size of the other, use more leaf for that one. I go about three minutes for each of three infusions, maybe extending the time of the third to 4 minutes based on the strength of the second. You may get more infusions, or less, depending on the tea type and the quality. For a given tea, there are usually many grades, suppliers, and vendors.

Gong fu style- fill a small Yixing or gaiwan 1/4 to 1/3 full of leaf. A good strating point for 1/4 full pot is first infusion 60s, 2nd, 3rd, 4th 30s, additional infusions add 10 seconds each. It is not unusual with a high quality oolong to get 8 or more infusions this way. Brewing time should also be adjusted for water temp. I use water well below boiling so I increase the infusion times above what others normally use.

jchughley · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Posts: 2

8 infusions shock

wow I definitely wouldn't have gone that far. Regardless, I don't have a Yixing yet so I'll have to do it the 'normal' way for the time being. Thanks for the advice!

britt · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 175