tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post8989279996012064286..comments2024-02-15T05:45:04.193-06:00Comments on Cwyn's Death By Tea: Weighing the TeaCwynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17990034926886208526noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-5328353144144983382016-12-30T12:03:19.308-06:002016-12-30T12:03:19.308-06:00I remember getting a shocked look from a tea vendo...I remember getting a shocked look from a tea vendor who invited us to a tasting, when he asked how much oolong I put into my pot, and I told him " a lot more than you just did".<br />I neither own a tea scale, thermometer, nor anything resembling a tea timer. I fill my pot with 1/4 to 1/3 leaf, depending on leaf size, boil the water until it looks and sounds about right, and steep as long as it feels right, then adjust according to taste and what the tea does to me. Is it possible to compare my results with yours? Is my tea/water ratio too low/too high?<br />You made me wonder: how much can we standardize and objectify our brewing before it impairs our drinking experience?<br />I don't think that there are tea drinking rules that can be set in stone, but how much can we bend the general guidelines?<br />Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09687315862467150003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-18774064245096770282016-12-28T09:26:44.223-06:002016-12-28T09:26:44.223-06:00go heavy or go home. thats the way i roll too. t...go heavy or go home. thats the way i roll too. the only tea i "under leaf" and long steep is greens. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00602891606464010165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-40919699453615739592016-12-25T06:29:46.080-06:002016-12-25T06:29:46.080-06:00He was right there next to the massive tea table, ...He was right there next to the massive tea table, teapots and tea tray, and had been controlling the process all along. He also went VERY heavy on the leaf. Just a total lack of skill at brewing tea. The vast majority of Han Chinese tea drinkers do NOT gongfu brew and just put their tea in a large pot/mug and grandpa brew. It's really only the Chaozhou and Fujianese who gongfu brew traditionally, and I've even seen Chaozhou families brewing with very large clay pots. What upset me most is I hold that particular store in a certain kind of esteem since my dad worked right up the street and bought tea there for over twenty years. I now know their hired staff really don't know what they're doing and are really just selling tea. The last time I went in there, I asked to have my tea put in a can and the guy smashed the sealed bag of tea into the can to make it fit, crushing many of the leaves in the process. :(<br /><br />A scale can really help even things out and for those who go by eye, it can be rather eyeopening! Going with established parameters and times can really improve your experience if you have been winging it all along. <br /><br />Great article. :) I'm brewing a sheng I thought was disappointing much heavier tonight (YS 2016 San Ke Shu) and I realize I tend to go too light with fancy sheng and too heavy with the factory stuff. I should really use my scales more often.Tigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14377121071371664474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-62445867351717380272016-12-24T04:12:20.293-06:002016-12-24T04:12:20.293-06:00Thanks so much for chiming in. You're one of t...Thanks so much for chiming in. You're one of the few who really try to let the tea speak.Cwynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17990034926886208526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-48745280720042831572016-12-23T11:26:37.872-06:002016-12-23T11:26:37.872-06:00I often see people tend to underleaf & overste...I often see people tend to underleaf & oversteep, or end the session too early. There seems people have a mindset a tea ends at some determined number, and the unconsciously stop there every time instead of pushing the tea to its limits and bang for buck.<br /><br />I think people are anti ratios as they see tea as art/magic/meditative/fetish than a reality they paid for this tea, you better make it right. Go into a tea shop and a common question a new drinker will ask is "how much do I use?" the answer of random pile of leaf or "how much you feel like" is useless and contributes to more flakey crap.<br /><br />But yeah, for reviews stating ratio is important. People steep their tea freaking weird. I also pay attention to their temperature and vessel, things I can control, I've been shocked a few times on other tea reviews getting complete opposite results to find out they are doing their puer 35F cooler or 75% less leaf. Charissa @ Oolong Owlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00124044712183052356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-25478781603560088752016-12-23T06:42:04.231-06:002016-12-23T06:42:04.231-06:00Definitely relevant information when sharing an ex...Definitely relevant information when sharing an experience, but I tend to worry less about leaf ratio and more about what type of water that person used.Bitterleafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15590772454410836677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-41991687634783407782016-12-23T05:17:13.020-06:002016-12-23T05:17:13.020-06:00Under leafing automatically gets me steeping longe...Under leafing automatically gets me steeping longer and then the tea steeps out sooner. That might be okay for someone who wants to minimize their intake. But I think I like to taste the tea releasing the flavor in stages. The first steeps are often storage anyway muddling up the brew. In a wet stored tea I might miss the better steeps.Cwynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17990034926886208526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-86741087396349359722016-12-23T05:13:50.369-06:002016-12-23T05:13:50.369-06:00Maybe the old fellow has no idea how much time wen...Maybe the old fellow has no idea how much time went by?Cwynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17990034926886208526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-62046602579944601502016-12-23T04:54:42.424-06:002016-12-23T04:54:42.424-06:00I agree for the most part, but overleafing can als...I agree for the most part, but overleafing can also lead to a very unpleasant brewing experience. I recently tried some teas at a very old Hong Kong tea chain, and the elderly gentleman there had NO IDEA what he was doing. Dahongpao and tieguanyin brewed in 350ml pots with a long steep, and both were overbrewed. I bought the tieguanyin--even though it was bitter from overbrewing, I knew from experience the store had good tieguanyin. It was a much more pleasant experience an hour later, when I got back to the tea table at my office! I still don't know if the DHP is any good, though, but I don't want to spend $60 to find out!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05532213179348494837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4373256628108442713.post-62603781996314837892016-12-23T02:04:33.049-06:002016-12-23T02:04:33.049-06:00Great insights on a topic that doesn't get lot...Great insights on a topic that doesn't get lots of discussion. How would you say varying brewing time relates to that ratio? Of course it's not possible to get the same results by just shifting both but to some degree they do counter each other, don't they?John Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00485492978163517529noreply@blogger.com