A lot of ideas got exchanged yesterday, and so in the spirit of an open mind, today I am steeping this in the shortest possible intervals. I have to confess, I was highly skeptical this would produce anything other than weak tea.
The first steep (about 5 seconds) had a bit more of a green, vegetal flavor than I’ve gotten from peony in the past. Less of the dry hay.
The second steep (also about 5 seconds) is much darker in color, since the leaves are more hydrated. The green has passed now, and this cup is all warm sun and dry hay. Always amazing to me how a tea can taste like something “dry” while having no astringency to it whatsoever.
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
Hey Jim. Nice to see you willing to try the short steep. I was drinking with a tea friend all morning today, and talking a bit about what we discussed yesterday. I was reminded of one thing I forgot to point out about the mentioned method. When brewing tea this way you should generally use more leaves and less water per steeping than you typically would for a longer steep approach. This typically means about 5 grams of tea for a 4-5 ounce gaiwan or yixing pot, versus the teaspoon of tea in an 8 ounce cup that is commonly done for “western style” brewing. I don’t know how much leaf to water you used here, but I’d suggest increasing the leaf and reducing the water if you’re not already trying that.
On another note, I don’t drink white teas very often, but I find they usually yield 3-5 good short steepings, unless it’s really high quality – in which case it might be good for 6 infusions. If you’re still feeling adventurous about this, I would recommend trying it with a more robust tea sometime, like an oolong, pu-erh or Chinese black tea. I’d be interested to know if your experience is different on a second attempt.
I already do a much larger leaf to water ratio than the Brit method, but I am not quite as generous with leaf as avid aficionado seem to be — mostly because I can’t cover the expense. I drink tea all day every day and I just can’t afford to be burning through 20 grams of leaf a day.
Oddly enough, after this third steep, I was able to revive these leaves and I’m on steep #5 right now. I think I just made #3 a bit too short. Once the leaves fully opened after #2, they needed more time to pull anything out (because #2 pulled out so much).
But that’s just the thing, JIm… I drink all day every day too, and I can steep out one 5-gram-full gaiwan of say a quality Teiguanyin all day if I want, even for two days sometimes…
Well, until I get past half a dozen steeps, that’s not happening, so… chicken/egg cart/horse, call it what you want. I can’t afford, right now, to waste tea.
The two of you should have a tea talk show. Your viewpoints are very different yet you are both correct. I tried the short steep with a Pu-Erh and I wasn’t enjoying it until I let it stew. I would think with a white tea or green a shorter steep is ideal. Although you both may disagree, I enjoy a cold water brew. I brewed the Handpicked Verdant Iron Goddess for 24 hours and the result was sublime.
Hey Jim. Nice to see you willing to try the short steep. I was drinking with a tea friend all morning today, and talking a bit about what we discussed yesterday. I was reminded of one thing I forgot to point out about the mentioned method. When brewing tea this way you should generally use more leaves and less water per steeping than you typically would for a longer steep approach. This typically means about 5 grams of tea for a 4-5 ounce gaiwan or yixing pot, versus the teaspoon of tea in an 8 ounce cup that is commonly done for “western style” brewing. I don’t know how much leaf to water you used here, but I’d suggest increasing the leaf and reducing the water if you’re not already trying that.
On another note, I don’t drink white teas very often, but I find they usually yield 3-5 good short steepings, unless it’s really high quality – in which case it might be good for 6 infusions. If you’re still feeling adventurous about this, I would recommend trying it with a more robust tea sometime, like an oolong, pu-erh or Chinese black tea. I’d be interested to know if your experience is different on a second attempt.
I already do a much larger leaf to water ratio than the Brit method, but I am not quite as generous with leaf as avid aficionado seem to be — mostly because I can’t cover the expense. I drink tea all day every day and I just can’t afford to be burning through 20 grams of leaf a day.
Oddly enough, after this third steep, I was able to revive these leaves and I’m on steep #5 right now. I think I just made #3 a bit too short. Once the leaves fully opened after #2, they needed more time to pull anything out (because #2 pulled out so much).
But that’s just the thing, JIm… I drink all day every day too, and I can steep out one 5-gram-full gaiwan of say a quality Teiguanyin all day if I want, even for two days sometimes…
Well, until I get past half a dozen steeps, that’s not happening, so… chicken/egg cart/horse, call it what you want. I can’t afford, right now, to waste tea.
The two of you should have a tea talk show. Your viewpoints are very different yet you are both correct. I tried the short steep with a Pu-Erh and I wasn’t enjoying it until I let it stew. I would think with a white tea or green a shorter steep is ideal. Although you both may disagree, I enjoy a cold water brew. I brewed the Handpicked Verdant Iron Goddess for 24 hours and the result was sublime.