Tie Guan Yin - weights and measures

[Herb_Master]

I am doing a lot of comparison brewing on several Tie Guan Yins

and supplementing or refining my own experiments with information from all over the web.

I came across Kam's 101 standard for TKY recommending 8 tea to 110 water by weight
and now on Kam's 2007 Autumn TGY 8 tea to 70 water by weight

Is there a simple translation of water weight into Millilitres ?

http://www.csgnetwork.com/h2oweightconv.html
suggests 100cc = 100gm

so in a 100ml Gaiwan (say 88ml water)
I would want 10gm standard TKY or 6.5gm 2007 Autumn

and in a 150cc yixing (say 125ml water)
I would need 9 grams of standard TKY or 14 gm 2007 Autumn

seems a lot - by most other sites [but not all]

Have I done my sums right?

I am tending to ignore sites that give parts of a tablespoon my eyes cannot tell when a tablespoon is or is not half full - though it is easier with TGY than with DanCong

Although SevenCups teas all describe 1/2 tbs, at least their Video Podcast on TGY equates it to 4gm (in a standard Gaiwan).

Would you equate standard to more than 100ml ? 125ml? 150 ?

The loading is different but Kam goes for 20 second infusions and SevenCups for 1-2 minutes.

It is fun trying out the parameters, but a lot easier with TGY it always stays sweet just weaker or stronger flavours.

[Herb_Master]

I forgot to say that Kam's notes on his 2007 Autumn TGY enlightened me about the weather during harvest

2007 is a hot year, weather-wise. We are getting 30C temperature even in Oct. So Kam wasn't expecting good Autumn tea at all. First batch of 2007 Autumn TGY came out around mid Oct. but Kam found it very unimpressive. Then came the 2nd harvest. Kam test drank, and jumped out of joy through the roof!

According to tea ally, this batch was harvested and processed when northern wind blew. Cool and dry air is the one big thing that turns good tea to superb tea, ie., if the same batch of tea leaves is processed in cool and dry weather (vs. warm and not dry enough), it would go up 1-2 grades. This batch, has all the good conditions it takes to be a superb batch.

The tea is smooth and flavorous. And the echo is everlasting (exaggeration but the GAN flavor really lasts a loooong time). Haven't had such TGY for years. Fans, stock up while this batch lasts!

Do we need to ask our vendor's to describe Harvesting Conditions now?

[Herb_Master]

I am finding ultra contradictory advice on brewing temperatures

many start low and climb

several start high and descend

some start high and stay high

but TeaSpring starts high and climbs

http://www.teaspring.com/Jade-Tie-Guan- ... ction=brew

We recommend using purple clay or porcelain tea ware. Rinse tea cup and teapot with hot water. Fill the teapot 1/4 to 1/3 full with tea leaves. Steep tea leaves in hot water at 100°c (212°F) for 1 minute for the first and second brewing. Gradually increase steeping time and temperature for subsequent brewing.

[wyardley]

That's because there's not one right answer. Not only does it depend on the exact tea, but it depends on your preferences / taste. Also, the way you pour, type of brewing vessel used, etc. can affect the actual temperature of the water as it hits the tea.

Guidelines are just that. There's no formula for making perfect tea. Different people have learned what they know from different places, and different vendors sell different teas.

As I think has been suggested to you several times already on this board, you're welcome to use some of the guidelines out there as a starting point, but to make tea, you have to be willing to experiment and see what works for you. Yes, it's confusing whether you should use boiling water and then let it cool off, or start with cooler water and make it hotter, but in reality, both may be "correct". The right answer is the one that tastes good for you with the tea that you're brewing. With time and practice, you may be able to make better guesses about what will work for a particular tea.

By the way, if you're talking about comparing teas, this is a very tricky thing to do. Every day is different, and if nothing else, your taste buds and outlook will be different.

While it's not perfect, one way to compare is to make a single brew of each tea, using the same amount of tea and water for each, sort of like competition style brewing. You shouldn't use this as your only method of evaluating a tea, especially at first, but brewing this way stresses the tea and will give you some idea of its qualities and flaws. A typical method is to use a competition tasting set (or just matching gaiwans) with about 3 g of leaf, boiling water, and 5 minutes (some people will do 5 g for 3 minutes, 6 g for 3 minutes, or whatever, but the basic idea is the same, and the important thing is to use the same method for each tea).

One other suggestion - if possible, try a tea 2 or 3 times before deciding you don't like it, especially when you're learning. Sometimes your taste buds are just having an off day, or maybe you don't yet have a good sense of how to brew a particular tea.

[Herb_Master]

That's because there's not one right answer. Not only does it depend on the exact tea, but it depends on your preferences / taste. Also, the way you pour, type of brewing vessel used, etc. can affect the actual temperature of the water as it hits the tea.

Guidelines are just that. There's no formula for making perfect tea. Different people have learned what they know from different places, and different vendors sell different teas.

As I think has been suggested to you several times already on this board, you're welcome to use some of the guidelines out there as a starting point, but to make tea, you have to be willing to experiment and see what works for you. Yes, it's confusing whether you should use boiling water and then let it cool off, or start with cooler water and make it hotter, but in reality, both may be "correct". The right answer is the one that tastes good for you with the tea that you're brewing. With time and practice, you may be able to make better guesses about what will work for a particular tea.

By the way, if you're talking about comparing teas, this is a very tricky thing to do. Every day is different, and if nothing else, your taste buds and outlook will be different.

While it's not perfect, one way to compare is to make a single brew of each tea, using the same amount of tea and water for each, sort of like competition style brewing. You shouldn't use this as your only method of evaluating a tea, especially at first, but brewing this way stresses the tea and will give you some idea of its qualities and flaws. A typical method is to use a competition tasting set (or just matching gaiwans) with about 3 g of leaf, boiling water, and 5 minutes (some people will do 5 g for 3 minutes, 6 g for 3 minutes, or whatever, but the basic idea is the same, and the important thing is to use the same method for each tea).

One other suggestion - if possible, try a tea 2 or 3 times before deciding you don't like it, especially when you're learning. Sometimes your taste buds are just having an off day, or maybe you don't yet have a good sense of how to brew a particular tea.

Thanks Will, I know there is no right way and I know there are different approaches favoured by different people. The whole point of my experiments is not to find a single right way but to explore different approaches and see if it teases out different facets of the tea.

Some approaches to TKY concentrate on getting the aroma out at it's best in the first 2 infusions, some approaches prefer to get straight to the body of the leaf. I want to try them all.

when looking for alternative approaches I like to think I am in the same ball park initially as the person whose approach I am following, that is the main reason for questioning weights and measures that I am unfamiliar with.

My comment on Start at 100c and increase the temperature was supposed to be comic not forlorn

[Bubba_tea]

I am finding ultra contradictory advice on brewing temperatures

As WYardley says - compare based on a standard, as in the competiton method. As you experiment with your tea, get a scale, thermometer, and timer - control your variables best you can and then change one at a time. If you just go by feel, you're going to go through tons of expensive tea without a good idea of what's going on. Kam's website had some good ideas about if the tea is bitter, then to X, if it's not strong enough, then do Y etc etc. But, for example, if a 1 gram variation in a 5oz gaiwan makes a big difference, you're really going to have a tough time 'filling the gaiwan 1/3 to 1/2 full' and be consistent. Brew by feel will come after a long time of careful brewing, not by going with the wind.. there's a reason it's called Gong Fu Cha.

[tenuki]

What we are hitting up against here is the western concept of mastery is objective and usually includes a good deal of collected fact, classification and a 'right way'. The eastern concept of mastery is subjective and involves feeling and relationships rather than classification.

Something to at least consider while you try to nail down all these absolute facts......