TeaChat

I was wondering whether one can brew oolong tea a second time. (I ordered some of the oolong #8 which should be arriving in a few days)

Thanks and best wishes,
Stephenie

Stephenie--

Thanks for the post.

Absolutely -- in fact, most oolong fans insist on it. The dimension of flavor change drastically depending on how many infusions you've done (I've had some oolongs still taste great after 3 or 4 infusions).

Hope this helps,

Chris
Adagio Maestro

teachat wrote:I was wondering whether one can brew oolong tea a second time. (I ordered some of the oolong #8 which should be arriving in a few days)

Thanks and best wishes,
Stephenie

Indeed, i usually get around 7 to 10 gong fu steeps from my dancong and Wuyi tea. And if you are going for some Song Zhong dancong you could be infusing the same leaves for more than 15 times -

By the way, the best way to make oolong is either way in a yixing teapot or a porcelain gaiwan - SEb

Yes certainly more than 4 times for most oolong teas of reasonable quality.

I find it interesting that the tea comes out best when you are able to have multiple steepings, especially with Wuyi teas.

My advice is that you 'respect' the tea, that is drink tea when you are ready to appreciate it and you feel some kind of energy. Everything will go right then and you will get numerous good steepings!

what do you do with the tea between uses? Do you need to dry it out or what?

The reinfusions, as I understand it, should all happen on the same day as the first infusion. Tea leaves are a great place for bacteria to breed, so tea leaves should be discarded after several hours.

At least, that's how I do it. Right now I'm enjoying the first infusion of my TKY (tea pyramid) and I'll go infuse again in a few minutes!

Anonymous wrote:what do you do with the tea between uses? Do you need to dry it out or what?

I was curious about this as well??? I often hear people talk about reusing the steeped leaves, but I wasnt sure if they use it right away or let the leaves dry out first. Any thoughts?

No need to let them dry out. But make sure you don't wait too long between steppings. Used tea is heaven for bacteria.

ilya wrote:No need to let them dry out. But make sure you don't wait too long between steppings. Used tea is heaven for bacteria.

Yes, but what kind of bacteria? Bacteria is a-okay by me, as long as it's benign. And exactly how much of it is killed by being submerged in 180 degree water for five minutes? Boiling water would almost certainly kill everything harmful, but alas that would be improper preparation. Worthy subject for an experiment, methinks.

Oh, I didn't know Oolong leaves could be used so many times! I feel bad for all the leaves I've thrown away. They could have been tea

Well, at least they got to fill their Tea Destiny once!

(Bonus points to those that catch the reference....)

Well, I'll chime in to say that Oolong tea can definately be brewed many times in succession. Usually 4-5 times. This is assuming you use enough leaves and the proper method.. which goes roughly like this:

1. Fill your tea pot/cup/bowl with near-boiling water. It's heated when the outside surface it uncomfortably hot to the touch. Drain the pot and discard the water.

1. In a small pot (like YiXing or GaiWan), use one or two teaspoons of dry tea (more for the light, space consuming loose leaf, and less for the compacted bundled sort).

2. Fill the pot with water just below boiling. Allow to sit for about 5 seconds, while agitating the leaves slightly. Drain and discard the water from the leaves.

3. Fill the pot again with water just below boiling. Allow to steep about 3-5 minutes. Drain the tea into a second (preheated) pot or into the cup you'll drink it out of. **Don't leave water with the leaves or they will continue to steep and become bitter**

4. Repeat step 3 until the leaves can't brew a good flavour.



This sounds a little complicated if you're not familiar with it, but really it's easy. In breif -- preheat the pot, use enough tea, rinse the leafs with a very short brew of hot water, seperate the leaves from the water after brewing by pouring off the tea so that they don't continue to brew.

As for how long you can leave the teas afterwards? Well... I will admit to having left wet tea leaves out all night, and then using them again the next morning without any problems. Be sure to drain all the water away from the tea after brewing. If you leave them sit in a puddle of water, they will mold very quickly. If you drain away all the water, and even give them a push to sueeze out the excess water they've absorbed, then they will probably be fine sitting out all night. I've even seen loose-leaf Oolongs like say.. Dan Cong return to thier almost original dried condition, and be completely reusable days later. Soo... Your Mileage May Vary.

In general I don't, and don't suggest, letting tea leaves sit around for very long. A hour or two is fine.. more than that, and you're taking a risk.

Hope that helps,
Troy

Since the "black" qualities fade and the "green" qualities are the ones which persist through the successive infusions, I prefer only about 2 infusions. But that's just my particular preference, because I enjoy the flavor when the two characters are more balanced.

I find that 3 infusions work best, four is headed on a downward sway. Did that person earlier say she infuses her tea up to 17 times?? Me thinks that wouldn't be good on the palete.. although.. monks used to use the same tea all day..

When I use good quality oolong leaves, I usually use them for 6-7 times, gongfu style. To prevent keeping the tea leaves for the next day or next session, I found the key is to use the right sized Yixing teapot so you won't brew too much tea for too few people. Otherwise your next cup is coming from the excess serving from the last pour (which is cold/cooler tea). All this is usually the reason the tea leaves in the teapot have not been exhausted and so you wanna keep them for next time.

Anyways, I find that keeping the tea leaves in the tea pot overnight is fine, but wouldn't recommend going longer than overnight or 24 hours. Never had any bacterial upset from doing that.