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Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 5th, '11, 21:42
by FlyedPiper
Well, it's that time of the year again for me... time for some oolongs and puerhs. I'm kicking it off this year with some gaoshan before I get into some roastier stuff.

My question is: how many of you do cold overnight brews with your oolongs and puerhs? It's a cool (no pun intended) idea to me and I'd like to try it. I read some info on it by using the search feature and it said after you get to about 2 minute steeps or more you can start doing overnight brews... does this include lighter oolongs?

Also, with very well crafted yanchas and puerhs I have heard steepings can go on for weeks... I'm assuming that's with super long steeps after the first few days. Are you using boiling water and just letting it sit for all day or overnight?

Thanks for any help... I'm a little caffeine sensitive with oolongs so info on this would be good for me to have to get the most out of my tea.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 5th, '11, 22:05
by AdamMY
Its hard for me to give exact specifications but if you find you drank a tea for several infusions and while it is noticeably weaker than when it started but it definitely still seems to have something left, add some water let it sit for 4 hours or more over night, then decant and look at it and smell it. If something seems horribly off about it ( a weird skin on the tea, or a not so kosher smell) do not hesitate to discard it. But if it all seems decent you can be quite amazed at what can come from a 8 hour brew of a tea you thought was nearly dead.

Overnight brews are a powerful tool used to squeeze a few extra steeps out of a tea. If you have a tea that is of incredibly high quality and out lasts you on a regular basis, overnight brews are also a great way to keep the tea fresh while you sleep/ rest from drinking tea. While I have some experience most of what I have learned has been learned from Brandon and Tim.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 5th, '11, 23:45
by debunix
I rarely find this worthwhile with green or greener oolongs, but have done it with Dan Congs and Puerhs. If the tea is just taking a long time to brew, I'll sometimes leave one for overnight.

When I'm the one running out of gas, mostly I leave the tea leaves 'dry' overnight and start again with hot water the next day.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 5th, '11, 23:47
by iannon
debunix wrote:I rarely find this worthwhile with green or greener oolongs, but have done it with Dan Congs and Puerhs. If the tea is just taking a long time to brew, I'll sometimes leave one for overnight.

When I'm the one running out of gas, mostly I leave the tea leaves 'dry' overnight and start again with hot water the next day.
+1 ditto for me. Never really do it with anything green. but sure for the darker Oolongs and Pu

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 5th, '11, 23:49
by gasninja
I'm on day five of drinking The Bei Dou Yi Hao Yancha from Eot and this tea still has some life in it.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 00:07
by Tiercel
I was about to post a question on this topic, but this one is already going, and I think it fits, so here goes.

I'm a very new tea drinker, made my first tea tonight (a high mountain oolong from Tienxi), and after 4 infusions in a small yixing pot, my wife and I have drunk all of the tea we care to, and the tea still seems to be going strong.

We were wondering if we could save the leaves and brew more tomorrow. This topic seems to imply that we can. We have removed the leaves and have them stored in a sealed glass jar. Is this the proper way to reuse the leaves or is there a better way?

Thank you.

Keith

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 00:36
by debunix
Hi Keith,

Good to have you join us!

I rarely save green oolongs unless I get interrupted in the first few infusions--something of the lovely freshness of the tea just dissipates overnight even when the tea otherwise could have had 3 to 5 more infusions if prepared all at once. But you can leave the leaves in the pot, add more hot water tomorrow evening, and if you don't like the result, dump them and start over with fresh. Not a lot to lose.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 00:46
by the_economist
I strongly recommend against leaving the leaves in the pot without water (particularly if using an unglazed pot). The smell can be nasty (due to mold/bacteria? who knows) and I worry that it lingers in the unglazed pot.

Adam's advice is the way to go in my opinion. Fill the pot with water before leaving it overnight.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 01:45
by Tiercel
Thank you for the advice. Tonight's leaves are already in a jar. I'll see what they smell like in the morning, and decide what to do with them then. If I try this in the future, I'll leave them in the pot with water. Am I right in assuming that the storage water should be cold?

Keith

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 10:27
by the_economist
cold is good, since you're already giving it a long long infusion time.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 12:19
by debunix
If it's a tea that is still taking short infusions, I definitely start cool, but if the tea is taking 5 minute infusions, I'll do a hot start.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 13:59
by Tiercel
I just want to make clear what I did last night and this morning, and make sure that I understand clearly what I think that this thread is telling me.

Last night, after making four infusions of tea (five if you count the very first one that got discarded), with the steeping times still very short, I removed the leaves from the brewing vessel (a small yixing pot), and put them in a sealed jar without water. This morning I put the leaves back in the pot, and brewed three more infusions. This morning's tea was no where near "ethereal," and the infusion times were still very short.

So, based on what I think I understood from this thread, I left the leaves in the brewing vessel, and put cold water in it. Either later today or tomorrow morning, I will discard that water and brew more infusions. This process will repeat until the leaves are out of flavor.

Do I understand correctly?

Thank you.

Keith

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 14:14
by AdamMY
Often time there is no need to discard the water that the leaves were sitting in over night. Of course this is where my comment comes in where you should smell and inspect the tea. If anything seems off about it in an unhealthy way do not hesitate to discard the tea. But often those over night infusions are quite amazing in their taste.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 6th, '11, 17:22
by Herb_Master
gasninja wrote:I'm on day five of drinking The Bei Dou Yi Hao Yancha from Eot and this tea still has some life in it.
Mmmmn! I have an unopened pack of Nada's 2007 Bei Dou Yi Hao, which has been sitting around since March, while I drink his Bai Ji Guan, 2 versions of Rou Gui and tea from scores of other sources.

What am I missing? Is it as good as his other Yan Cha.?

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Nov 8th, '11, 01:47
by Cole
Whenever I finish with my oolongs, I always pour boiling water over the leaves and leave them be for 2-4 hours (or until I remember/can't wait any longer to try them). A pinch of sugar and refrigeration makes for a delicious iced tea -- never thought of leaving them in cold water to try and get a couple extra steeps!