TeaChat

Anyone experienced with brewing Wuyi Rock tea in a gaiwan? If so how much tea and time do you think would go well with 100 mL gaiwan?

I actually get better results it seems with a gaiwan than the yixing pot I use. I follow the 1 gram per 30 ml guideline usually, though with rock teas I often eyeball it and go with about half full. Time depends on your taste and the particulars of the tea. It seems I always gongfu longer than other people do.

Glad to hear that you have better luck with a gaiwan than yixing as at the moment ripe puerh is the only tea that I'm willing to invest in a yixing to brew. I don't have a scale but I'm guessing that 3g is a bit more than I tried in my previous attempts. I know that Wuyi is a lighter oolong but its been getting a bit too light for my tastes. Or then again maybe Wuyi just isn't the best oolong for me.

Time + weight isn't enough info.

What temp is your water?

In general you can usually decrease one and increase the others, or visa versa and hit the same ballpark.

I'm still struggling to figure this gong fu thing out so what may be obvious to you may not be obvious to me and/or I could be totally off base here, but here it goes anyway....

Finding the tea for me is really moving those three parameters around till I find the right combo. Keeping one or two constant helps find an acceptable brew quickly but to really find the sweet spot you need to vary all of them IMO. Some teas like to be packed, others like room. Some like boiling water, others don't. etc.

Longer brew times seem to bring out more complexity, so I usually start there, ie if the tea is too simple lower the temperature or reduce the leaves and extend the brew time. With shorter brew times the complexity comes out in changes between brews it seems which can be fun too. Finding a way to get a stronger tea is usually getting the right amount of leave in the container, too much and you can't brew long enough before it turns bitter, too little and you can't get enough flavor before astringency shows up.

You are adding time to each subsequent brewing too, right?

Thanks I think I got it down. I used 2 heaping teaspoons in my 100 mL gaiwan starting at 30 seconds and increasing the brewing time 30 seconds each round.

jogrebe wrote:Thanks I think I got it down. I used 2 heaping teaspoons in my 100 mL gaiwan starting at 30 seconds and increasing the brewing time 30 seconds each round.

the traditional method is 50%-75% full gaiwan: [rinse], flash infusion, 5s, 7s, 10s, 30s, timing depending on the roast and quality of leaves.

bearsbearsbears wrote:

jogrebe wrote:Thanks I think I got it down. I used 2 heaping teaspoons in my 100 mL gaiwan starting at 30 seconds and increasing the brewing time 30 seconds each round.

the traditional method is 50%-75% full gaiwan: [rinse], flash infusion, 5s, 7s, 10s, 30s, timing depending on the roast and quality of leaves.

Is that 50% to 75% full before or after the leaves expand when you add the water?

bearsbearsbears wrote:

jogrebe wrote:Thanks I think I got it down. I used 2 heaping teaspoons in my 100 mL gaiwan starting at 30 seconds and increasing the brewing time 30 seconds each round.

the traditional method is 50%-75% full gaiwan: [rinse], flash infusion, 5s, 7s, 10s, 30s, timing depending on the roast and quality of leaves.

and water just off a boil?

jogrebe wrote:Thanks I think I got it down. I used 2 heaping teaspoons in my 100 mL gaiwan starting at 30 seconds and increasing the brewing time 30 seconds each round.

That sounds excessive, increase by more like 20-30% each time. I'm not familiar with wuyi rock teas, but my default gaiwan brewing for oolongs is 30 seconds and +10 seconds afterwards.

Gongfu it up, teabrotha.

tenuki wrote:

bearsbearsbears wrote:the traditional method is 50%-75% full gaiwan: [rinse], flash infusion, 5s, 7s, 10s, 30s, timing depending on the roast and quality of leaves.

and water just off a boil?

Depends on the roast. Good wuyi benefits from full boil, as long as it's not overboiled.

please, please, someone help this newbie --

gaiwans are different sizes --

I don't understand how much a "full," or "half full" gaiwan would be.

can someone please tell me how much tea leaf that would
be in grams for a half full or full gaiwan?

also how many ml. of water would that be for a full or half full
gaiwan.

this is very confusing to someone new at tea leaf so please don't
say to "eyeball" it. that will come later. I need to start from a base.

thanks for any help.

teasbest wrote:please, please, someone help this newbie --

gaiwans are different sizes --

I don't understand how much a "full," or "half full" gaiwan would be.

can someone please tell me how much tea leaf that would
be in grams for a half full or full gaiwan?

also how many ml. of water would that be for a full or half full
gaiwan.

this is very confusing to someone new at tea leaf so please don't
say to "eyeball" it. that will come later. I need to start from a base.

thanks for any help.

For true gongfu brewing the amount of tea that you use is determined by your gaiwan. So you would use twice as much tea if you were brewing in a 200 mL gaiwan as you would in a 100 mL gaiwan. But at the same time there is nothing wrong with doing something in the middle and using less leaves. The only thing that matters in the end is that you are satisfied with the resulting brew.

There's not much reason to worry about the mL of water- just fill up your gaiwan.

The 1/2 full of leaf thing is just a guide, it doesn't have to be exact, so yes just eyeball it-- you don't need a base. Just guess at what 1/2 full looks like, and play around until you like the tea, like jogrebe said.