Alright, I’m doing an experiment today by brewing this tea Grandpa Style. Give how long the leaves can produce good tea, this should turn out pretty good. I also used an extra large helping of tealeaves, to get a stronger and longer-lasting tea.
The first infusion was great, with fruity flavors peeking out amidst the flavor of a medium-strength Oolong. There’s also a hint of sweetness in the taste, but it’s mostly being overpowered during this infusion. There is also a bit of an aftertaste that clings to the hard palate, but it’s kind of a generic medium-strength Oolong taste (a.k.a. – a bit hard to describe.)
The second and third infusions were pretty much identical, with the harsher flavors of the first infusion giving way to a sweeter and fruitier tea. The tea is much more balanced now due to the sweeter flavor, but it still has to mellow out a bit more before it reaches its peak.
The forth and fifth infusions were interesting in that they were very nicely balanced between sweetness and more complex flavors (notably fruit), and that an interesting mouth-feeling appeared. The mouth feel was similar to a Wuyi Oolong, but not as strong and more metallic than mineral. Regardless, this was something that was not present when I brewed the tea with my tea ball, but it was certainly interesting.
So, the end result of this little experiment was a bit disappointing. The tea did not turn out as well as when brewed with my tea ball, so I doubt that I’ll do this again. That being said, it was still above average, but it just didn’t measure up to the high standard that the traditional brewing set.
