Carolyn

How does it work for more than one infusion? I’d think the matcha would all go into the 1st cup?

I don’t typically do more than one infusion with most teas except the first or second time as a discovery method. The one time I tried a second steeping with genmaicha it was disappointing (for exactly the reason you mentioned). I haven’t tried it with this particular genmaicha.

You don’t??? That’s such a waste of tea and money! I’m on infusion 6 of a green and get 8-10 w/ some oolongs.

The problem is that I typically don’t drink more than a cup at a time and then I want a different tea or no tea at all. If I were staying put and drinking the same tea throughout the day I would re-steep, but since I don’t, it seems unsanitary to keep wet leaves more than a short time. How do you handle this?

As long as the tea leaves do not mold, you’re fine! I do happen to drink one tea til the leaves are dead, but if I do want a change I either just set them aside (I always use Adagio’s ingenuiTEA) and steep something else in a paper filter or you can dry the leaves on a paper towel on a plate (as long as the plate isn’t paper). Even leaves in a paper filter can be saved, just set them aside in a cup or on a saucer. They don’t have a real long shelf life, but will definitely last til the next day at least. There are several times where I have leaves that just refuse to die so I finish them in the morning.

Hmmm. Perhaps I’ll try putting them in the refrigerator then.

There is no need. DO NOT put them in the frig. Just leave them on the counter out of your way. Chilling them damages the flavor.

I live in buggy Memphis. In the period between winter and summer the outdoor bugs crawl under my door looking for warmth and food and we fight a constant battle with them that won’t be over until March or April. The ants activate in October and continue through January (and we fight a war against them). Part of our side of the war is that nothing that is not perfectly sealed and dry is ever left on a counter where it could validate the bugs’ perception that it is possible to find food here. (We have other more aggressive tactics as well, but it is pointless to carry out aggressive actions if one does not shore up one’s defensive lines.)

You must trust me when I say that bugs are different in the South. There is no real winter to kill them off and the constant moisture provides them with perfect nesting and breeding grounds.

I suspect that you are thinking to yourself that there are bugs in Wisconsin as well or that I must be a terrible housekeeper or that I must live in a slum. I used to think the same when I lived in Columbus, OH and Denver, CO. It was possible in those places to defeat the bugs. Here in Memphis even the best houses and the cleanest people must fight the bug battle. It is a way of life.

I would not dare use tea leaves I’d left out for an hour and didn’t watch over. It wouldn’t be sanitary. So if they can’t be refrigerated, I won’t be keeping them for a re-steep.

as long as they are cool (so steam doesn’t form) they can be in an air tight container.