JacquelineM

I’m more of a one steep only black tea drinker. I’m mostly drinking it for the caffeine and that of course is gifted in the first steep. However when I go to teahouses with friends, the pot tends to get refilled and I drink it and it’s just fine – I barely notice a difference in flavor. Maybe because by that time I’ve already been fully caffeinated and buzzed by the first pot and pretty stuffed with tasty tea sandwiches. :)

I usually only drink the first one too, but there are some interesting teas like Jackee Muntz that have a such a delicious 2nd steep! In Jackee’s case, it tasted like butterscotch! I would love to find more of them to try.

I don’t normally steep blacks twice unless I’m feeling monumentally lazy and just brew it up for travel-cup purposes. Sometimes I get a decent cup, other times it’s just water with little to no flavour. My Tan Yang Te Ji, however, provides an excellent second steep, especially if it’s brewed with as large a leaf dosage as TeaSpring recommends. But only if you like smokies, because it gets properly smoky the second time around.

Angrboda – China Breakfast calls for a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon of leaves – I wonder if that is the reason it does so well on the resteep like your Tan Yang Te Ji. Also I noticed that Chinese Blacks tend to be the good resteepers, and not Indian etc etc. Hmm!

It’s not unlikely. I tend to get a bit stingy with leaves though, and just brew it western style. I’m especially torn if I stock up on the Tan Yang, because they only have the much more expensive leaf grade left. I might have to look into finding that type from somewhere else. Anyway, you’re right I’ve noticed that about chinese blacks too. Indian blacks seem to have a tendency to turn bitter where chinese blacks turn stronger. I think that’s why I tend to prefer chinese over indian.

I was just going to say that I’ve had pretty good luck with steeping my blacks twice lately, and then I read Angrboda’s comment and realized that I’ve been mostly drinking chinese blacks! So, I had been attributing the success to my steeping parameters (a little extra leaf, 3 minute 1st steep, 5 minute 2nd), but now I’ll have to try some different teas to compare. I’m inclined to think that a lot of quality blacks (yes, like Jackie) could give a 2nd infusion as long as they aren’t completely wrung out on the 1st.

All the Samovar blacks I have tried so far steep well for a second and even a third. Earl Lavender, Breakfast Blend, Russian Blend all came out basically the same on the second steep and close on the third.