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Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Dec 15th, '11, 05:32
by Beaker
While it seems that I am going against the grain on this post, I happen to do overnight brews quite often, but in a different way from those described above. I typically drink gao shan oolong, and often when I find that most of the wonderful flavor and aroma of the tea leaves start to fade around the 5-7th steeping, that I can do one final cold brew.

I simply take the leaves from the day (sometimes more than one pot's worth) and place them in a porcelain teapot with cold water, although I imagine any sort of non-porous container would work, and leave them to infuse in the fridge for 1 to 3 days. The resulting brew usually is only mildly astringent, but many of the floral notes come out great this way for the oolongs that I have tried! It's also a great way to have cold tea for work if you have to rush out the door like I do... :)

I learned this brewing technique from a local coffee shop who used to offer a cold-brewed coffee, so I imagine that it's possible to completely cold brew tea :idea: , but that's an experiment for another day!

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Dec 15th, '11, 09:29
by Tead Off
Tiercel wrote: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
Last night, I was drinking a wonderful green Taiwan high mountain oolong. My #1. After 7 brews, my wife and I wanted to watch a movie so the teapot stood there without water till the next morning. By the time I got around to brewing it further, 13 hours had elapsed. I'd estimate the room temp here was about 25c with 60% humidity. I just took up where I left off and had several more very good brews. Never experienced mold or any other negative effect when leaving the tea leaves in the teapot without water. If you have good tea and didn't exhaust during the first sitting, there's no reason you can't continue with it whether it's a green or roasted oolong, whether it's Taiwanese or Chinese. Being lazy, I have done this many times with all kinds of teas but not Korean or Japanese green teas. Probably because I never drink green teas at night.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Dec 16th, '11, 21:59
by bagua7
Overnight brews is what I do if I haven't finished with the tea. If the climate is hot, like summer, then I put the pot in the fridge with the tea inside. I have been doing this for a year now and not a single issue. Truth is that I live in a very hot and humid climate, I wouldn't dare to do that if I were in Canada, the risk of cracking the pot is great.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Dec 17th, '11, 00:19
by Tead Off
I just wanted to add that it is my laziness in leaving a tea in a teapot overnight and then brewing it again. I don't prefer this at all and rarely ever do it, as the tea almost never tastes as good as the first 6 or possibly 7 brews. Sure, one can get more cups the next day but I drink tea for the wonderful taste and aroma that is much more present in the 1st several brews. I really don't see the point in dragging out as many brews as possible with a tea as if it were a competition. There may be exceptional teas that can go for a distance but these are few and far between.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Dec 17th, '11, 01:31
by BioHorn
Yes. Regularly.

I think you'll find that a number of members do multiple day brews (in a row.)

A currently on day 10-14 (I lost count...) of an *interesting* eBay old pu. One day I forgot and left the water in for two days. It still produced a decent brew.

Thanks for reminding me. I need to fill the pot again.

Re: Overnight Brews?

Posted: Dec 19th, '11, 12:43
by FlyedPiper
Tead Off wrote:I just wanted to add that it is my laziness in leaving a tea in a teapot overnight and then brewing it again. I don't prefer this at all and rarely ever do it, as the tea almost never tastes as good as the first 6 or possibly 7 brews. Sure, one can get more cups the next day but I drink tea for the wonderful taste and aroma that is much more present in the 1st several brews. I really don't see the point in dragging out as many brews as possible with a tea as if it were a competition. There may be exceptional teas that can go for a distance but these are few and far between.
I almost never get through an oolong in one day... I find the greener one's can sit around for a few days in the gaiwan as long as it's covered and I hit the leaves with boiling water at least once a day. They brew just fine when I hit them up again.

Darker oolongs can sit around for even longer from what I understand... hence the overnight brew question.

Green teas... not so much. Best when used within an hour of the first steep. 6-8 hours max on an "SLT" brew (as Chip would say). I typically do this when I get home from work late at night and just want some warm tea flavored water to drink :lol: . Still better than Lipton...