Terri HarpLady

I am going to have to Google oolong preparation. I don’t understand the methodology behind multiple steeps. I mean, I’ve re-steeped leaves before, but that’s different: I have a variable-temperature kettle, and I have my teacup. I heat water, stick the infuser in the teacup, steep for X amount of time and drink my tea. To re-steep, I simply repeat the process. But this business of multiple, 30-second steeps (up to 18!), I just don’t get it. I imagine having to keep heating fresh water in the kettle and just standing there as I drink all this tea. That doesn’t sound very relaxing. If not, doesn’t the water get cold? I have a couple of oolongs in my stash, I think, and have held off on drinking them because I feel like I can’t prepare them “properly.” I’ve been patiently reading all these tasting notes about oolongs and pu-erhs and other leaves that lend themselves well to several infusions, but now I’m starting to feel the itch to try it myself. =)

LOL & LOL some more, Nik! Up until I joined Steepster, everything got brewed for 3 minutes (or a little more or less, if there were suggested brewing times). Then I started reading other people’s Tealogs, & visited the Verdant website. I think my first or 2nd posting here starts with “I need a Gaiwan…”.

I still steep most teas for 3 or 4 minutes, but I figure if I’m paying for these really high quality teas, I should follow their suggestions, at least once. I usually do the multiple short steepings on days when I’m sitting around teaching all day, because I can slip into the kitchen while a student is warming up, heat my water, do 4 4-oz steepings real quick back to back, & now I have 4 little mini cups of tea to sip throughout that student’s lesson, sometimes offering a cup to the student. When that lesson ends I steep another round. Spread out over a few hours it can be nice, & of course, it’s interesting to see how the tea develops from one steep to another. It also might keep me from ingesting cup after cup of caffeine, as I’m thinking that the caffeine level drops after the first steep or 2, but you usually start out with more tea to begin with, so I guess that’s a moot point, right?

On the other hand, sometimes I just don’t feel like drinking that many cups of the same thing, regardless of the mild nuances! I often drink 4 mini-cups, then drink something else for awhile, returning to the gaiwan later (or sometimes the next day…as long as the damp leaves still smell good).

Is there a reason for all this madness? :D
Personally, I thing it’s ‘novelty’, just another way to do things, an experiment. However, when it comes to green teas, & their tendency towards astringency & bitterness, I think maybe short steeps help to avoid that, or at least you can dump out the mini-cup or 2 that hold most of the tannins (seems like it’s usually cup 3 or 4, & then it’s gone). I’ve also been experimenting with comparing the ‘gongfu’ method vs the ‘American’ method with the same tea, to see which way I prefer. Mostly it just depends on my mood, and the amount of time I have to kill.

Right now my kitchen counter looks like some mad scientist’s experimental lab. I have the Gaiwan with the Shui Xian leaves in it, my little koolaid 12 oz pitcher with the 2nd brewing of Puerh Poe (which I haven’t commented on yet), a cup of Wanja tea that I’m almost finished with, a variety of steeping baskets sitting everywhere, & various little plates, spoons, etc.

Thanks for taking the time to write that, Terri! See, it’s statements like “…4 4-oz steepings real quick back to back…” that confuse me. Do you have something keeping these cups warm as you sip them throughout the lesson, or do you just not mind cold tea? It’s about 58F or so in the house right now, and it’s only November. My tea cools within moments, so I’m quick to gulp it down as quickly as I can. This isn’t very relaxing or enjoyable, which is why I love my mugs that keep my tea warm for over 12 hours, but they’re too big for in-house tea tastings. So I’m trying to find something much smaller that’ll serve a similar purpose, because a normal teacup just isn’t working out.

I searched the Verdant Tea web site for helpful information and did find the “no-frills gongfu” post (http://verdanttea.com/wang-yanxin-style-no-frills-gongfu/), but that didn’t seem to be what I should have been looking for. Bah. All this is doing my head in!

honestly, the 4 cups of tea get sipped pretty quickly!