Gong Fu brewing guide
I find that water is rather revealing about how much it is heating during the boiling process. The steam is my giveaway. I often just have to keep an ear on the kettle to listen for when it’s about to be at the appropriate degree, so to speak. The tiny bubbles are also my helpers.
As for timers, it takes me too long to start a timer before I need to outwell the infusion from the tea (an instant), so there is no time for it. In the case of rolled teas (pearl, snail, pellet), I watch the leaves for the initial steeps, then proceed as normal based on the latter initial steep vs. the rinse (if rinsed). In that regard, I find that the rolled leaves are very revealing with how much tea they are releasing as they unfurl. Rolled greens usually get a minute at first, because I don’t like rinsing greens, but merely moisten them.
Just touching-and-going this way in the gaiwan is really about being able to adjust for a tad less leaf/longer dwelling, or a tad more leaf/shorter dwelling, depending on what characteristics of flavor you want to emphasize. For me, measuring these ever-increasingly slight and subtle adjustments would be way too complicating. This way, I can enjoy the tea with just a the tea bowl and the tea will speak for itself.
All in all, I think it’s a matter of how you want to approach and experience YOUR brewing process, and not ultimately a reflection on the infusion thereby derived. In other words, one can yield consistently familiar results one way or the other, whether with spoon or scale, steam or gauge, motions or timer, and measuring cup or gaiwan.
To put it simply… oh, just make the tea!
All of these guides referenced are very helpful, though I do have one question.
Why such a large variance in steep times between guides. In one, it shows to start almost every tea at a 30 second steep and add 5-10 secs per infusion. In another, it says to start at 5 seconds for the first infusion. All with similar amounts of tea. Is it simply a preference thing?
No, it’s just very generalized.
The simplest approach to make is to use the full amount of tea according to the capacity of the vessel you’re using. How big is the gaiwan—or is it a small teapot, or houhin?—the capacity determines how much tea is the fullest amount.
From there, start with a momentary steep, just long enough to gently submerge the leaves, cover, put the kettle down, and outwell into the drinking vessels. Such a short steep time prevents bitterness, and the next steep is not longer, but the flavor is more developed because the leaves are fully saturated. If it is bitter at the beginning, then you know you’ve used too much leaf for your vessel.
With an adequate amount of leaf, the steep time ends up usually at approximately 5 seconds total, for the first two infusions. That’s very general, but tea guides are exactly that: generalized. If you’re brewing pearls, or snails or something rolled, then the first steep is going to HAVE to be longer than the second, no matter what. After rinsing and moistening, the leaves will begin to unfurl and expand. The leaves steep much more quickly and fluidly once the first steeping has begun to unfurl them. The tea will become harsh and bitter if, in the second steeping, you over-infuse the leaves by steeping them for as long, or longer, than the first steeping.
Small, loose leaves, or unrolled leaf clipping styles like red teas, white, and green teas don’t unfurl like rolled tea leaves do. Those are compressed and dried in a compact shape. The capacity of the vessel and the form of the leaf are the two main important factors. Simply try to use an adequate amount of leaf for the first two touch-and-go steeps. Then, increase the steeping time for stronger flavor each time, based on how quickly the leaves infuse.
There is both individual preference and generalizations in the brewing guides. Out of the guides linked earlier in this post, I would recommend that you use the one from http://chinalifeweb.com/ as your starting point – then slowly fine tune both steep times and tea/water ratios based on – the tea you are brewing, the vessal, and how strong/light you like your tea…
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