Richard Kilgore

Today I have been drinking a raw Puer from puershop.com - their 2007 Premium Mengku Arbor Pu-erh Tea Brick. Eye-balled what I think was about 5 g in about 180 ml (6 ounces), pre-heated mug and infuser, boiling water for 1.5 minutes, first and second infusions. May be able to get several more out of it, but at least two more. This is a very pleasant young sheng puer. No off-tastes, not any complexity of course, but a little sweet after-taste. I think the key for me is not over-brewing it. So, what's in your teacup today?

That's a great question. While not a black (or red) tea and not a green tea, the Oolongs have a wide range in between the two -- from the lighter (green) end to the darker, roasted end of the spectrum.

While I have been drinking more tea these days, I still have coffee first thing in the morning. And use an I-Roast 2 each week to keep supplied. Most of my green beans come from Sweet Maria's plus some from a local Dunn Brothers francisee. I like to buy only a pound or two of each of several green beans. That gives me enough of each to experiment with 150 g at a time, but keeps me from getting into a "favorite bean" rut. I would rather continue to explore than to go for a single type I like a lot. Of course one person's rut is another person's perfect cup of coffee. For me this week it's a cafe and a decafe. A Peru from Dunn Brothers. A Sumatra Lintong Nihuta KVW Decafe from Sweet Maria's. I like both, but like the Peru the best. All you home roasters - what are you roasting this week?

Bamix for me! But be sure to check out the specs - there are several different models - to make sujre it will serve your needs.

If your teapot cools faster than you can drink your tea - and you don't have a tea cozy to keep it warm - just wrap it in a tea towel. I even do that with Chinese Yixing pots. Have any tips for us today?

Today it's a a Shui Xian Oolong from TCC. Brewed Western style in Monk's Hat Yixing tea pot (photo in the "Show us your teaware! topic). 3 g leaf to 180 ml water, 195 F, for 3 minutes first and second infusions. Neglected to do a quick rinse before the first infusion and am sure it would have made a little difference. I can tell it should offer at least two more infusions. I like it. So, what's in your teacup today?

Here's another Yixing Zisha Teapot. This one is called a Monk's Cap or Monk's Hat, and is a reproduction of a pot made by the famous teapot artist Shi Dabin during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1619). He was a great innovator, known for developing better proccessing and production methods, as well as for his creative designs. The pot has about a 200 ml capacity, if filled to the top rim. But because the hexagon lid does not fit as tightly as the more typical round lid, tea will seep out past the lid, so the practical capacity is closer to 170 - 180 ml. I have started brewing teas in it, but have not yet decided what tea to dedicate it to.

Thanks, Kerry. Nice teapots, and I was just wondering what a Dutch cozy is and how it's different than any other. Those should really do a great job of insulating.

Interesting idea, Greg. I also used herbal bagged teas for many years, but for the past several make Chamomille from TCC in the evening and use hibiscus from a Hispanic market to make iced tea. I never thought to try blending a variety of herbs and spices. And yes, the Mono Filo pots are a great design, but I don't have one. For the chamomille I use a cup with infuser basket or a Western style teapot; for the hibiscus, I use the Western style teapot. Does the Mono Filo basket clean up easily after brewing herbals? Infuser baskets trap a lot of herbal debris.

No, not really needed in my case though as I keep it in my basement where I have a 150 gallon fish tank which helps keep the humidity up. However, it is easy to control an enclosed space like that to maintain 70% humidity. Mix glycol and distilled water half and half and then soak cat litter crystals, or a sponge, or polyacrylamide crystals, or anything absorbent in this mixture. Place the absorbent in an enclosed space and it will self regulate to roughly 70%, naturally you need to size the absorbent mixture according to the square footage you are trying to regulate but about 1.5 cups of crystal absorbent will easily maintain the space in my trunk. The glycol will not evaporate so all you need to do is add distilled water until the absorbent is fully saturated when the humidity starts dropping. You only need to add the glycol once, when you first charge the absorbent. Get a small humidity gauge, the absorbent crystals, and the glycol from any good cigar shop. These are the same tricks used to keep cigar humidors at 70% humidity. ← Thanks, Mike. I checked at a cigar shop last week and they had the small kits for humidors - too expensive, but the ingredients are similar. I'll try your method for a foot locker or something similar like a file cabinet or chest of drawers. I was at that time looking for a solution for two Yixing storage containers where I keep small bricks and samples. The small humidor discs may still work best in the Yixing...or at least easiest. ← Yea, the premade "humidifiers" are ridiculously expensive, however you can make your own very cheaply. I have a large 140 qt cooler that I keep my cigars in. Its about the same size as the trunk. I took 2 cups of cat litter crystals and saturated it with 50/50 solution of glycol and distilled water. I put the saturated crystals in a mesh bag which I placed in a bowl inside of the cooler. It maintains right at 70% humidity and all I have to do is add some distilled water to the bowel about once a month. All said and done I have less than $8 in it and and I have enough materials left over to do two or three more. Another item that works very well is polyacrylamide crystals. They look like salt but will expand and absorb 200 times their weight of water. You often see them as an additive to potting soil for indoor plants. Cigar stores sell them too but for way too much $. The nice thing about these crystals is that you can tell when they need recharging (adding more distilled water) by how much they have shrunk. If you buy them somewhere other than a cigar store you can get the stuff for $2-$4 and all you need is about a tablespoon of these things to make a 2 cup bag of absorbent. BTW, most of those little cigar humidifiers are nothing more than Florist foam inside of a ventilated plastic box, then soaked with the 50/50 mixture I mentioned. You can get this florist foam(aka Oasis Foam) for $3 or less for a brick size piece at an arts and crafts store. It is easily cut to any size or shape desired. The stuff soaks up a lot of water however the crystals work better IMHO. http://tinyurl.com/672xw6 You can use anything that is highly absorbent, it really doesnt matter but the more absorbent the less you will need. The trick is to use the 50/50 solution of glycol and distilled water which will maintain the humidity because the water wont evaporate if the space is above 70%, but will readily evaporate into the space if the humidity is lower. Only use this mixture the very first time you charge the absorbent, after that saturate the absorbent with straight distilled water as needed. ← Thanks, Mike. This will be much more cost effective than I thought.

Funny I was wondering the same thing. Is it the shape, is it the colour? I wonder if it isn't the layer of tea scum built up inside it after years of use. That's the same stuff that rinces out in huge chunks after you've been away on holiday and the tea pot has sat dry for a couple of weeks. ← Another tea mystery. Since it is glazed, my guess also would be that it is the tea residue (sounds better than scum ) that does it. Glazed, it would not be a matter of the clay absorbing the tea flavor and enriching subsequent brews. There also may be something about the clay that results in better heat retention than some other glazed pots. I'll ask my friend who almost bought the company what he thinks does it and report back. ← I talked to my friend with the history in the pottery industry and he thinks the Brown Betty's reputation for great tea probably has to do with the heat retention of the clay and the seasoning from long use without scrubbing away all the residue each time. He doubts the color has much if anything to do with it. So, anyone else with Brown Betty experience?

Funny I was wondering the same thing. Is it the shape, is it the colour? I wonder if it isn't the layer of tea scum built up inside it after years of use. That's the same stuff that rinces out in huge chunks after you've been away on holiday and the tea pot has sat dry for a couple of weeks. ← Another tea mystery. Since it is glazed, my guess also would be that it is the tea residue (sounds better than scum ) that does it. Glazed, it would not be a matter of the clay absorbing the tea flavor and enriching subsequent brews. There also may be something about the clay that results in better heat retention than some other glazed pots. I'll ask my friend who almost bought the company what he thinks does it and report back. Anyone else have Brown Betty experience?

"Western style" just refers to using less tea leaf for a fixed amount of water for a longer brewing time, in contrast to, for example, Chinese gongfu style brewing with a higher leaf to water ratio in a small pot or gaiwan. For example, Western style - one teaspoon ( 2.5 g) per 8 ounces water for 4 - 5 minutes for one to two...maybe three infusions. Gongfu style - 5 - 6 g per 90 - 120 ml water for short infusions of 5, 10 15, 20, 30, 45, 60 seconds, etc. or 20, 15, 20, 20, 30, 40, 50, seonds, etc. for 10 to 20 infusions.

Today I am drinking this 2008 Nan Jian Tulin * 803 Ripe Pu-erh tea tuo * 500g from Yunnan Sourcing. Brewed Western style for about 3 minutes first infusion, it is more drinkable than most first year cooked puers I have had and has a sweet after taste. No offensive off flavors or aromas. This is very inexpensive Shu Puer, so I may want to get another tong. Should be even better in a couple of years. I did not measure the amount of Pu used, just scattered some in the bottom of a large (about 10 ounce, 300ml) Yixing pot some of the tuo I had chipped a few days ago. Next time I'll measure and report back.

Thanks, Kerry. Twenty must be some kind of a record. Lucky friends and co-workers! How do you think it is that they make better tea? What is it about the Brown Betty?

What's the difference between those disposable tea infusers and tea bags? They're larger than standard tea bags, but I don't see how they would let the tea fully unfurl. Or are they bags one would use with one's lesser quality teas? The muslin tea infuser I have is like the one at the very bottom of this website. I got mine at Mariage Freres several years ago, but I don't see it on their website anymore. I think The Cultured Cup used to carry it, too, but I don't see it on their website, either (this would have been way back in 2001 or 2002). It's more transportable than metal infusers, but care must be taken if storing them when they're still wet. I think the extra care is worth it, though, if it means not creating as much waste (my other issue with tea bags is that they're not very environmentally friendly). ← Thanks, prasantrin. I agree that the disposable tea infusers, which are do-it-yourself-teabags, do not let most loose tea leaves unfurl as much as they would in a mesh infuser, not to mention as they would floating freely in a tea pot. But they are a lot better than using commercial CTC teabags. I don't think I have seen the muslin bags in the shop at The Cultured Cup recently either, but I'll ask next time I am there. I think I did see them at a Central Market, so I'll check there again. How long will one of the muslin bags last? Does any flavor carry over from one tea to another? That is, if some one used it for a Jasmine tea, would that flavor contaminate the flavor of a green tea used next?

I know that some people think the Brown Bettys are not only traditional and great, but brew tea better than other glazed ceramic teapots. If you use one how do you like it? Have you had any problem with a new Brown Betty crazing? I read on one web retailer's site that during the past year there has been a problem with new pots crazing when first used. They say it's rare but happens and it has not been noticeable in the past. They speculate that there has been a change in the manufacturing process, but don't know. I talked to a guy today who almost bought the company many years ago when it was up for sale. He knows quality pottery and seemed not sure that the crazing is a new problem, just something that can happen. What's your experience with these teapots? Recommend them?

I have not ordered Oolongs from Jingteashop yet. I have only had the sample I mentioned in the What's in your tea cup today? topic, which I enjoyed. The sample came with an order of teaware. Which Oolongs have you had from Jing that disappointed you?

If your tea is a little weak for your taste, try 1) using more leaf, or 2) use a higher temp water. For example if you used a teaspoon of tea leaf, try 1 1/2 next time, or if you brewed it with 195 F water, next time try 200 F or higher. I also do this if after two or three infusions of a tea leaf Western style the tea is a little weak: use a little less quantity of water and/or raise the temp. Sometimes this allows for another infusion or two.

Oolongs have become my favorite category of teas. The range of flavor profiles in these teas from mainland China and Taiwan is substantial and the best have complex layers. From the lighter floral to the darker roasted. US-based sellers are generally more expensive than ordering from China directly, but shipping is faster and cheaper if you're in the US. I have had several fine Oolongs from The Cultured Cup over the last few years. One of the largest Mariage Frères retailers in the US, they also have a small selection of fine teas sourced elsewhere. Recently I have been trying several wonderful Dan Cong Oolongs from Hou De Fine Teas. US-based. Pricey, but high quality. I am putting together an order for jingteashop and will report on the Oolongs after they arrive. A recent sample from them that came in another order was very good. China-based. SAL shipping typically takes about 3 - 5 weeks. What Oolong teas have you explored and enjoyed? Any tea vendors that have great Oolongs or good-deal everyday Oolongs you can rcommend to us?

I'm quite partial to Vermont Tea and Trading Company, myself. Haven't had anything from them that's disappointed yet... Sincerely, Dante ← Thanks, Dante. What teas of theirs have you tried. Anything really stand out for you?

The vendors I have used, in no particular order, are: http://www.hibiki-an.com (very decent tea and fair pricing) https://shop.ippodo-tea.co.jp/shop/en/ (very highly recommended) http://www.kaburagien.co.jp/english/index_go.php (high end, national competition winning teas) http://www.tsuentea.com/engindex.htm (great quality, supposedly will have a shopping cart soon) There are a few more that I like but I will have to wait until I get home to find them. ← OK, the other two I find very noteworthy is: http://www.maiko.ne.jp/english/ (great tea and Dr Faerber will go the extra mile to educate you) http://teashop.jp/ (site is Japanese only but you can run it through a translator, great tea, great service, and they can communicate via email in English, although tricky to pay with a CC) ← Thanks for the recommendations, Mike. I was aware of hibiki-an and Ippido, but the others are new to me. I'll check them out.

Thanks, nakji. Let us know what Ito-en teas you get and how you like them.

I have not bought it. Hoping someone had tried it before I invest in a 700ml bottle - the only size on the shelf.

Please tell us what you have learned that makes for better tea brewing. I'll kick it off with a few basics --- 1) Use the correct amount of leaf (leaf:water ratio) 2) Use the correct temperature for the type of tea leaf 3) Violate 2 & 3. That is, experiment with all the variables and see what pleases you. More later. What have you learned in making your tea?