Richard Kilgore

I ended up doing four infusions within two hours and then left it alone for several hours. I then did another rinse and have now done another six infusions, the last one for three minutes. I can tell the infusion is weakening at this point, so I'll probably do just one more and stretch it to four minutes, then call it quits.

I'm bumping up this topic since the question of multiple infusions comes up in the Tea 101 topic.

Since understanding multiple infusions is a common type of Tea 101 question, I have bumped up Re-steeping tea -- multiple infusions.

I particularly like your one-cup set, Lior. Where was it made?

Today I am drinking a 2007 Menhai Tea Factory "Lao Cha Tou" -- "Old Tea Nuggets", a ripe Pu-ehr tea sample Greg at Norbutea.com sent with an order. Brewed gongfu style. Even thougn I am not getting as fast a pour as I would like due to some clogging, the first and second infusions are very good (after a 10 sec rinse). But I liked the first infusion better. Clearly many infusions left in the leaves. The fact that I over-brewed this compared to what I would normally do and it still came out very smooth and delicious would make it a good first cooked Pu for anyone wanting to try Pu-erh. It apparently is quite forgiving...if ugly to look at. The nuggets are unappealing visually compared to the appearance of more typical Pu-erh cakes and bricks. Nonetheless, this is a ripe Pu I will order more of. So, what are you all drinking today?

Tonight it's a Longjing Dragon Well from The Cultured Cup. Brewed gongfu in a gaiwan. I'm on the third infusion with more to go. Very good, but not as deliriously good as it was a few months ago when it was fresh.

Four of the samples are spoken for now. There is one free sample from Greg Glancy at Norbutea.com left of this Oolong TGY. If you are interested in it, please read the first post and send me a PM with your mailing address. I'll mail out the samples tomorrow.

This morning it's PGTips. Yes, PGTips. I have learned how to brew it and find it to be an okay CTC quality morning cup. I don't know that I would buy another package of it, but my curiosity is satisfied.

A scale is not a necessity, but sure does help. I did not bother to get one until this year when I started ordering many tea samples at a time and so was faced with learning the brewing characteristics of new ones continuously. If you ever do want to weigh them though, a tenth of a gram sensitivity is what's needed. My one gram sensitivity My Weigh kitchen scales are great, but are not right for teas. Here's the one I use, the My Weigh 400-ZH. The price of small, very precise digital scales have really come down in the last few years.

I don't look at it as a matter of "shoulds". It is tea and it is a matter of whatever pleases you. I tend to think of teas as more like a cross between wine and mixology rather than baking or molecular gastronomy. Teas and brewing them can be as simple as a tea bag and boiling water. And it can be fairly complex, with hundreds of teas to choose from in China alone -- about 80 famous ones by some counts, multiple techniques for brewing them, the tea making equipment of many countries to choose from, and tea ceremonies that last for hours. And many points in between. So please yourself with whatever level of simplicity or complexity appeals to you.

Ah! An enamel-lined Tetsubin for serving rather than brewing. That makes sense to me. My questions about them have to do with them for brewing, where the heat retention is so strong that it may be a detriment to delicate green and white teas. An unlined one for use as a water kettle appeals to me.

Since the question of measuring often comes up, I have started a new topic on To measure or not to measure...that is the question.

For Gyokuro, I have also been interested in the Tokoname Shiboridashi Set on the Japanese Green Tea Shop website.

Over on the Tea 101 topic the issue of measuring water, leaf and timing has come up. My impression is that the tea world is roughly divided into those who are inclined to measure and those who are inclined to wing it. Much like the baseball fan world tends to be divided into those who are most concerned with the stats and those who are most concerned with the human dynamics. Personally, I tend toward winging it, especially when it comes to weighing the amount of leaf. But I have found that I can be way off with estimating the amount of leaf needed. One teaspoon full of a CTC leaf is a lot different than one of a wiry Indian leaf or a large Oolong leaf. So I finally broke down and bought a small pocket scale that weighs to one-tenth of a gram. And it has definitely helped with the learning curve for new teas. With inexpensive teas and ones I know I can replace easily, I often still wing it, but for teas that are hard to find or expensive it is more than helpful. I do use a timer (or count off the seconds with Puerh and Oolongs brewed gongfu style). Although I use a thermometer to check the water temp, I now know my water kettle well enough that I can tell the temp within a few degrees by sight and sound...but only about 75 - 85 % of the time. How about everyone else? Do you tend to wing it, or measure?

Could be that the beans were old and/or not stored under optimal conditions. And maybe some varieties just never attain that creaminess that you're looking for? ← I agree. I have had a problem with cooking some pinto beans for 2 - 3 times longer than normal and them never cooking properly. I doubt that salt was the cause. I believe they may have been both old and improperly stored. These have always come from bulk bins. My best success has been with those packaged by Goya and bouight in a store with rapid turnover.

Greg, can you tell us more about Japanese Hohin sets - what's in a set and how they are used?

Greg, what is it you like about cast iron and what teas do you brew in cast iron? I have been using porcelain Chinese gaiwans (50 ml to 120 ml) for new Oolong and Pu-erh teas that I will later use Yixing for -- in order to evaluate the tea without any influence of seasoned clay. And for green Chinese teas, as well.

Thanks for jumping in to the discussion, Bud. Here are some ideas you could try. Whatever tastes best to you is what's important, of course. TGY: 2.5 g per 6 ounces water at 195 F for 3 minutes, first infusion. Add one minute for each subsequent infusion. You may well get 4 infusions or more. If #4 is beginning to taste a little weaker, you can try to save #5 by using a little less water and/or increasing the temp. English Breakfast: 2.5 g per 6 ounces for 4 minutes, first infusion. 5 minutes second infusion. If the orange spice is an herbal tea or is black tea based and has been tasting a little weak, increase the amount of leaf and/or extend the brewing time. For all three then, you can experiment from your starting point by adjusting the brewing time and/or leaf:water ratio until you get the best result for your taste. Any one else have suggestions for Bud?

Unless you think you have mismeasured or are not fairly sure of where the 8 and 16 ounce lines are in your pot, what you are doing sounds realistic to me. Yes. After you have played with the variables and have figured out how you like it best, you should be able to do this with no trouble for a specific tea.

The results of the first infusion can inform what to do to get the most out of the second infusion.

Pouring directly from the kettle makes sense to me, too. I go by the temp of the water that is poured, but not during the brewing. No reason to check the temp throughout the process as a regular thing, but you may find it interesting sometime to check the temp a couple of times between the start and say 5 minutes for each of your brewing vessels just to get a sense of how they hold/lose heat. For your Ceylon, my suggestion would be to increase the leaf: water ratio from 1 tsp to 8 ounces to 1 tsp to 6 ounces for your 4 minute first infusion and see what changes in the aroma and taste.

I think maybe I am not being clear about what I think from experience will be helpful. Or perhaps I misunderstood and you are not asking for assistance with getting the best infusions out of your tea leaves. I understand that you are "starting with the brewing instructions on the bag the tea came in from (TCC prints up labels for each)". From what you have written, what we do not know is 1) what the label says for each tea, and 2) how much water you are using each time you make a first or subsequent infusions, 3) if you are doing multiple infusions and what parameters you are using for those. We really can't tell exactly what you are doing, so it makes it difficult for us to make suggestions for tweaking the brewing of the first or subsequent infusions. If you are indeed wanting some feedback, here is what I am suggesting you tell us; if not, feel free to ignore: Name of Tea First Infusion Amount of tea: by weight or by volume ____ Volume of water:______ml/ou Pre heat brewing vessel and cups?______ Brewing Temp:________ Length of brew:________ Second and Subsequent Infusions: track same data for each infusion if you are doing multiple infusions

That should work fine, Chris. While the device holds up to 16 ounces, it looks like it should be effective with the smaller volumes you will want to use in order to experiment with the TGY. ******************************* There's one sample left. Please PM me after reading the first post in this topic.

We're going to be able to be more helpful, Jeff, if you state exactly what you are doing when you say you are following the brewing instructions. Specify time, temp, amount of leaf and amount of water -- each time and for each infusion. Also are you using tap water or filtered water. As I mentioned here somewhere, vendors brewing instructions are often fairly generic, do not necessarily brew a specfic tea best, and most importantly such directions are best used as a starting point for experimenting with the various brewing parameters to get the best result for your taste. From my own past experience, I think you may be on to something regarding realizing that there may be more subtle aspects of tea drinking and that you were anticipating a "strongly" flavored taste. While there certainly are very good strongly flavored teas, developing a tea palate takes some time and experience with many teas for most of us. You may just want to settle on two or three teas quickly and then stock up on them, and that's fine, but if you are taking a more explorational approach to all this, then I would encourage you to slow down and buy only an ounce of each tea at a time and continue to play with the brewing parameters for each tea to learn what produces the best result for you. An ounce of tea goes a long way, so even when I find a tea that I like a great deal, it is unusual for me to buy more than two ounces at a time. You are right that there can be a lot of things going on in an Oolong, and there are many kinds of Oolong with different flavor profiles. And it is also true that everybody does not like all teas equally well. It may turn out that you don't care that much for Darjeelings, for example, but very much like Assams or English breakfast blends. You want to meet a strongly flavored tea, so I'll send you a few grams of a Lapsang Souchong, a Chinese red/black tea with a smoky, leathery aroma and taste. Keep it away from your other teas, or you'll end up with Lapsang Blue Oolong.

I don't know of a worthwhile burr grinder in the $50 range, but it may not be important anyway. If you are brewing in a drip coffee maker, you are about as well off using your blade grinder. If you are using a French Press, then a good quality burr grinder makes sense. Anyone else know of a good burr grinder at that price point?