Ali Shan question?

[ABx]

Hehe wrong thread, cheaton.

[Herb_Master]

Water at 212 in my IngenuiTEA (16 oz)
Two teaspoons of leaves
Steeped @ 8 min (I accidentally went over)
Some sugar

Did I ruin it? If I can make it better I will give it another shot.

- A tea noobie

But then again, maybe the right thread!

[ABx]

Lol ok, I did miss that. I was also reading the "Sugar?" thread just before this one when I posted.

Neeeevermiiiind.

[Charlotte]

I'm really a tea newbie, but the first time I made this tea, it was according to the tin's directiosns. 212 degrees for 5 min or something like that. It was HORRIBLE!!! Gee, I almost threw the tin out. I make mine in a small hues&brews teapot (16 oz.) I use 2 t. of the tea and use 180 degree water and steep for 3 min. Wow, what a difference! I actually liked the tea. haha

After seeing some of these suggestions, I'm actually going to play around and see how it turns out trying other things.

[stanthegoomba]

I have never been able to get this Alishan to brew properly with boiling water. Wait 30 seconds or so.

Abx's suggestions are spot-on:

1. Use less this tea. This stuff REALLY expands. I tend to stuff my 150ml pot, but I only layer the bottom when brewing Alishan.

2. Be careful not to go over 30 seconds on the first steep, and 10-20 on the second. Alishan does not take kindly to over-steeping.

[wyardley]

I have never been able to get this Alishan to brew properly with boiling water. Wait 30 seconds or so.

Well could be the tea, too. If the tea isn't the greatest, may be better to use slightly cooler water. I always try boiling or very close the first time I brew a tea, and then cool things off if necessary. I think it's a good idea to use boiling water for rolled teas, even the greener ones, at least for the rinse or first brew, to open up the leaves.

Keep in mind that you can use water just off the boil but still cool it down a bit by adjusting the pouring height / speed, or by pouring on the walls of the gaiwan if you're using one (or tilt the teapot lid over the hole and pour over that).

[ABx]

Yeah, decent quality Taiwanese leaf should actually benefit from boiling water, but this may or may not be of particular quality. Perhaps it's simply grown at a lower elevation and/or generally more delicate leaf.

Hopefully those that had bad experiences with this tea will have the opportunity to try some of the better Ali Shan that's available out there

[murrius]

After seeing some of these suggestions, I'm actually going to play around and see how it turns out trying other things.

That's actually the best suggestion of all. Play with the temp, steeping time, volumn of leaf; and you will find a combo that is in line with your taste.

.... and when all else fails, switch to Japanese green tea

[Beidao]

Just tried this tea and I have to say the first infusion was not so good, I used 2 ts of tea in a gaiwan with 207 water for about a minute. Second third and fourth infusions are heavenly from 10-15 second infusions. I'm smelling the tea throughout my office now. This is one fantastic tea. The leafs have expanded to fill the gaiwan but I can still add enough water to fill my small tasting cup. I'm tasting a jasmine flavor with this tea, but very faint, not like a flavored tea but like the tea was grown near jasmine flowers.

Yea, 10-15 sec sounds more like it, 1 minute would kill any good oolong, when brewing wrongfu/gaiwan. Glad you worked the formula out!