Steeping Glass Experiment
My humans saw a photo online of a steeping glass and was told that people in Asia carry them everywhere full of tea that they keep adding water to. So, our Tea Gang member “Steeping Glass” got in on the act, using some Dragonwell (an old sample from David’s Tea). The results weren’t too good. After about 38 minutes, the liquid was quite bitter and undrinkable. (They had been sipping on it that whole time, so the liquid was down to about 1/3rd full.) I don’t know about other humans, but mine weren’t happy. Wish I could post the photo here of the tea steeping.
I’ve heard that before too. Might be better to try it with a tea that can steep for longer? A puerh perhaps.
My humans used Dragonwell since they were trying to see if the claim that this tea works great under these circumstances were true. We have lots of oolongs and pu-erhs on hand that will probably do better. Steeping Glass is sleeping now, but maybe tomorrow I will rouse him into action. TOOOOT!
With all the finer teas, they will all turn bitter if you are using unsteeped leaves. I would use leaves that have been steeped out. You will get a decent tea if steeped leaves are left in water to leech their remaining essence. Tea leaf residues can add to bitterness, if you want to leave pre-steeped tea in a thermos make sure to strain it well before adding it to the thermos, then the flavor will remain closer to its original steep and not turn more bitter on you.
I take it this was a hot water brew method? I get very good results with the continuous steeping method when using oolong teas.
I have not had good results with green teas, and I haven’t experimented enough with black tea.
I would recommend a black or older green that takes warmer temperatures well. Fresh greens are wasted with this method. I like roasted greens and oolongs. I would also say even if your tea calls for a higher temperature with normal brewing, use a lower brewing temperature, cool enough for drinking, depending on how long you’re brewing and how well your vessel retains heat. I usually use vacuum sealed stainless steel and have hot hot tea that isn’t too bitter several hours later. It has also helped me in the past to use less leaf than the volume calls for, from 3/4 the amount to half, depending on the brew time and volume.
I do cup brewing some with green teas, Dragonwell and Anji Bai Cha are my favorites for this. What I do to keep the bitterness away is use cooler water, specifically in the 140-150 degree range. It makes for a very rich and sweet cup that I can sip on for hours…now keeping myself from drinking the leaves, that is the hard part.
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