TeaChat

I was in a tea shop owned by an old Chinese Thai guy and he was telling me stuff about tea. Unfortunately he couldn't speak English and my Thai isn't all that good.

Anyway, one thing I think he was trying to tell me was about what to do with tea left in the teapot over night, something I have had a problem with occasionally.

When I have made a pot of tea, but run out of time for more infusions I have left the leaves in the pot overnight. After about a day the tea takes on an unpleasant taste. It would be a terrible waste to throw away the leaves when they are still good for many more infusions.

What I think he may have been trying to tell me was that when he needs to put a pot of tea leaves aside for a while he fills the pot with water, I think cold, and then when it is time for another pot of tea he just rinses the leaves and is good to go.

This would stop the air from getting to the leaves and maybe help to preserve them.

Do you think this could work or did I totally miss understand him?

You understood him fine.

I like to get the tea to a certain point (> 6 infusions) before considering an overnight brew. But I usually drink it and start right up again with boiling water.

I usually only do this with teas I think are too precious to toss out and start over.

Wouldn't the soaking overnight in water take most of the flavor out of the tea for subsequent brews? After 6 brews, most teas are almost done. This would have to be a pretty special tea to keep going like that. Can I ask which teas you have had the experience of doing this with and still tasted great when you start brewing again?

Tead Off wrote:Wouldn't the soaking overnight in water take most of the flavor out of the tea for subsequent brews? After 6 brews, most teas are almost done. This would have to be a pretty special tea to keep going like that. Can I ask which teas you have had the experience of doing this with and still tasted great when you start brewing again?

+1

TwoPynts wrote:

Tead Off wrote:Wouldn't the soaking overnight in water take most of the flavor out of the tea for subsequent brews? After 6 brews, most teas are almost done. This would have to be a pretty special tea to keep going like that. Can I ask which teas you have had the experience of doing this with and still tasted great when you start brewing again?

+1

I was sort of wondering that myself!?

brandon wrote:http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com/2008/09/ ... ended.html

Brandon, there is no doubt that some rare teas can go the distance. I was just curious with tea(s) the OP was considering.

I haven't tried this yet, I was just wondering if this is what the old guy was trying to tell me. I get the impression that he knew what he was doing, so if you say this would be detrimental to the tea then that confirms that I have totally misunderstood what he was saying.

Come to think about it, this guy spends the majority of his working day sitting in the office of his small shop drinking tea. So he wouldn't have a need to do this.

Maybe he was seasoning a new pot.

its possible he may have started infusions on several teas at once, and then revisits them in turn over the next few days

by `cold water', do u guys mean icy water, or just room temp?

brandon wrote:http://phyllsheng.blogspot.com/2008/09/ ... ended.html

Pretty impressive.

Looked like just room temp to me. Maybe he was starting a new pot while waiting for an old one to steep over a very long time.

What the Oolong Chinese lady told me was:
After drinking several infusions of the tea with hot water, don't throw away the leaves. Place the leaves in a 1 liter container, fill the container with cold water and let it steep in the fridge overnight. That way, you get the maximum potential of the leaves and will have great cold oolong tea to drink.
Could it be that this is what he was telling you?

I do it, sometimes boiling water sometimes just cold water. If the tea is wearing thin then boiling, if it still has life in it then cold.

If I stuff a pot with wuyi or sheng I expect far more than 6 brews.

The tea gallery managed 7 weeks of brewing the same shui xian:
http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... sting.html

I still would like to know what specific oolong was the OP brewing.

This is the tea I bought from the old Chinese guy. It is also the same tea he was drinking.

Just incase you can't make it out from the pictures the English letters on the lid say Da Hon Pao. It is a fujian oolong.