Made my first cup of good tea today by following your video! I bought a gaiwan teapot and pu'er tea brick 4 days ago and made tea every day since. But before watching your video, my boyfriend kept saying my tea tasted like wood chips lol! Today he thought the tea tasted really good. Thank you!
This was so beautiful to watch. I learned a lot about correct pouring of tea. I a use porcelain tea set and spring water. I hope to learn to make tea using a shorter steep time. I use less leaves than recommended and steep for 5-6 minutes. On the third pot it begins to taste even better and a lot of natural sweetness comes through. I’m not sure why I like it this way. But I haven’t added more leaves and then let it steep a shorter steeping time so am excited to try to make it this way.
What about mixed teas? What temperature and brewing time would you suggest? Such as chai's or for example black teas with lavender or maybe even dried fruits like currants and such. Wonderful informative videos. Bless you.
If it’s black tea base you could try 90-95c for 1 min or follow the brewing instructions indicated in the package. Finding your perfect brewing method can be fun too! Thank you for watching!
When you talk about amounts of tea, what corresponding amount of water would you use? I assume this is for brewing in a gaiwan, but I have seen them in quite different sizes. Thank you, and another excellent video (I'm so glad I just discovered your channel!)!
Thanks for the question! When brewing delicate tea, such as green tea, you can leave it open to disperse the heat. Otherwise, you can leave it on! You could leave the lid on the side between infusions and some people use tea pets as a lid holder! Give it a try!
I really don't understand the difference in pouring. I'm willing to bet that most tea professionals will be unable to distinguish between pour methods especially for single cup pours. The difference in pour exposure between the methods will be seconds so I don't see how it would make a difference.
Hi Jsmith, thanks for watching our video! The main purpose is to create different paths of movement in the water. Depending on the type and weight of tea leaf you're working with (small leaf, large leaf, tightly rolled, long, etc.), you're going to want to use a different pouring style. Doing this will allow the leaves to open up evenly to give you the most consistent flavour throughout multiple brews, especially in higher quality teas that can last 3+ brews. End of the day, it's totally up to you!
Absolutely. We are using much smaller vessels (about 150ml) compared to larger Western teapots. In addition, when using high quality tea leaves, you'll want to make multiple steeps to get the most out of your tea. Therefore, steeps are short (~20-45 sec) and more frequent. Hope that helps!
Hei cha is actually different from black tea, a different variety. Similar to Pu-Erh tea, it carries a very earthy woody flavour and is harvested only in the Guangxu province. Black teas can come from many places and have a range of bold flavours.