Hi
I'm a complete tea novice, having been recommended to drink tea for medical reasons I have found that I am feeling a lot better. I have been drinking a golden oolong from my local tea shop and using a Bodum glass teapot with built in infuser. My question is - If I make a pot of tea and leave the leafs in the infuser after Im finished, can I use these leafs again later on? If I can how long can I just leave them in the infuser before I make the next pot
Hope this hasnt been asked lots and I just cant find it
Thanks in advance
Erik
Hello, yes you can! And should! You can definitely get at least one more good steep, maybe two. Up the time a couple of minutes each time. There is no rule for how long you can keep them - whatever you are comfortable with. I like to use them in the same day, but I have kept them over night in the fridge if the tea was a very good or expensive one.
- Victoria -
http://victoriasown.blogspot.com/
http://victoriasown.blogspot.com/
Jan 29th, '09, 11:09
Posts: 470
Joined: Sep 29th, '08, 08:49
Location: Floating blissfully in a bowl of Matcha
Definately good advice, especially with blacks, however I almost always multisteep and keep leaves in my pot/gaiwan/kyusu all day, then have SLT at night, (soggy leaf tea)!Victoria wrote:Hello, yes you can! And should! You can definitely get at least one more good steep, maybe two. Up the time a couple of minutes each time. There is no rule for how long you can keep them - whatever you are comfortable with. I like to use them in the same day, but I have kept them over night in the fridge if the tea was a very good or expensive one.
This phrase I do believe was coined by our moderator, Chip!
Like Victoria, I put any leftovers covered in fridge overnite to use the next day!
Glad you are here and hope to see many more posts... and questions too!
Have a FAB TeaDay Everyone!
Jan 29th, '09, 15:57
Posts: 2299
Joined: Oct 23rd, '06, 19:46
Location: Seattle Area
Contact:
tenuki
No need for the fridge, I just leave them out, sometimes for several days. Tea has natural antiboitic properties[1] and you are using boiling water to brew it, what's the perceived threat?
[1] USDA study
[1] USDA study
Jan 29th, '09, 16:15
Posts: 1559
Joined: Jan 28th, '07, 02:24
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Contact:
Space Samurai
Jan 29th, '09, 16:22
Posts: 470
Joined: Sep 29th, '08, 08:49
Location: Floating blissfully in a bowl of Matcha
With me I guess there was no perceived threat, just force of habit of putting stuff into the fridge!tenuki wrote:No need for the fridge, I just leave them out, sometimes for several days. Tea has natural antiboitic properties[1] and you are using boiling water to brew it, what's the perceived threat?
[1] USDA study
Thanks for the tip tenuki and space
Have a FAB TeaDay Everyone!
Jan 29th, '09, 16:23
Posts: 553
Joined: Oct 14th, '08, 03:54
Location: Cinnamon King of San Diego, Ca
Contact:
Vulture
It should be better to leave them out and open to dry. Or if your worried, do a quick roast to dry the leaves.Shelob wrote:With me I guess there was no perceived threat, just force of habit of putting stuff into the fridge!tenuki wrote:No need for the fridge, I just leave them out, sometimes for several days. Tea has natural antiboitic properties[1] and you are using boiling water to brew it, what's the perceived threat?
[1] USDA study
Thanks for the tip tenuki and space
Well I don't think it hurts to pop them in the fridge, and I feel better about it that way.
It's all up to your comfort level. Besides that study was relating more to green tea and a higher level of concentration of catechins. Whether the same is true for oolongs, it matters not, I still prefer to do it.
I don't rinse when I re-use.
It's all up to your comfort level. Besides that study was relating more to green tea and a higher level of concentration of catechins. Whether the same is true for oolongs, it matters not, I still prefer to do it.
I don't rinse when I re-use.
- Victoria -
http://victoriasown.blogspot.com/
http://victoriasown.blogspot.com/
Jan 29th, '09, 17:31
Posts: 1777
Joined: Jun 4th, '08, 19:41
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Stockport, England
Contact:
Herb_Master
I am not sure if the previous replies mentioned anything about the length of time regarding the initial infusion.
Basically the more leaf you use to the same water then the less steeping time is needed AND the greater the number of subsequent infusions. I note someone replied on a previous thread saying that he expected to get 8 Minutes out of his leaves. If you were brewing western style you could get 2 infusions 1 less and 1 greater than 4 minutes, if you brew Gong FU style with 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 90s, 120s etc you may expext to get 8 or 9.
Basically the more leaf you use to the same water then the less steeping time is needed AND the greater the number of subsequent infusions. I note someone replied on a previous thread saying that he expected to get 8 Minutes out of his leaves. If you were brewing western style you could get 2 infusions 1 less and 1 greater than 4 minutes, if you brew Gong FU style with 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 90s, 120s etc you may expext to get 8 or 9.
Best wishes from Cheshire
What he said
"If you were brewing western style you could get 2 infusions 1 less and 1 greater than 4 minutes"
Correctomundo! Try the first infusion at 3 minutes and second a bit over 4 minutes, if you brewing Western Style.
The Eastern method was meant to be applied to partially oxidized and unoxidized teas; historically, fully oxidized tea - a method of leaf preservation that kept teas suitable for drinking for a period 2 years or more - consumption was looked down upon.
Eastern style employs a much higher leaf concentration (leaf weight per extraction volume), and is meant to *concentrate* otherwise dilute flavor/odor chemical constituents in a short period sequence of extraction steps (as many as 7-8).
If you employ Eastern Style infusion method, you have to practice a bit to get the sequences right. If the first infusion is too short, the flavor maybe weak with bitter (high caffeine, low theanine content) overtones. Too long, and you get caffeine plus a large dose of polyphenols - astringent characteristics - balanced against a dilute dose of theanine - the sweet component, and the resulting extract can have quite a bite to it.
The secret to begin to master Eastern infusion technique is to visualize in your mind the effort to capture the desirable tea essence compounds. In oolongs, they elute characteristically in a flattened peak afforded by semi-intact leaf structure of partially oxidized teas. With an oxidation range 15-80 percent, that means the peak shape of desirable components can vary quite a bit, from a very looooong drawn out hump (low oxidation state = green oolongs) to a rather sharp peak (highly oxidized oolongs, but not quite the same as fully oxidized teas).
Oolongs teas are complex; it's an art to mastering the right combination of steep duration, temperature, water volume and tea load, to 'tease' out the best flavors in stages, without ruining the taste with under- and over-extraction.
The best oolongs have the characteristics starting leaf that is young, full of antioxidants and theanine (a chemical that promotes release of GABA in mammalian nervous system).
Theanine is lowest in quality black teas (and is nearly nonexistant in crappy black teas that comprised of older tea leaves) and highest in white and green teas.
Theanine, beyond being sweet, is the nitrogen source and starter point for the catabolic pathways that produce antioxidants. It elutes well after the caffeine-like components in tea, but before the larger and molecularly complex polyphenols elute.
Fatty esters responsible for flavor/odors elute over the entire peak; they are a complex mixture, and so consecutive infusions spread out them out, affording different flavor qualities with each steep of the tea.
That's appealing because it allows you to dissect the complex flavors of oolong teas that might be missed in a single. longer infusion.
Either Western or Eastern multiple infusion techniques for oolong teas will yield a satisfying experience. The former is easier to master and more reliable for first attempts at characterizing flavor/odors for a particular tea. The latter affords mastery over the enjoyment of the tea by removing some of the complexity through better separation of the flavor components, while balancing the sweet/bitter components over the entire extraction series - an art and a science.
Correctomundo! Try the first infusion at 3 minutes and second a bit over 4 minutes, if you brewing Western Style.
The Eastern method was meant to be applied to partially oxidized and unoxidized teas; historically, fully oxidized tea - a method of leaf preservation that kept teas suitable for drinking for a period 2 years or more - consumption was looked down upon.
Eastern style employs a much higher leaf concentration (leaf weight per extraction volume), and is meant to *concentrate* otherwise dilute flavor/odor chemical constituents in a short period sequence of extraction steps (as many as 7-8).
If you employ Eastern Style infusion method, you have to practice a bit to get the sequences right. If the first infusion is too short, the flavor maybe weak with bitter (high caffeine, low theanine content) overtones. Too long, and you get caffeine plus a large dose of polyphenols - astringent characteristics - balanced against a dilute dose of theanine - the sweet component, and the resulting extract can have quite a bite to it.
The secret to begin to master Eastern infusion technique is to visualize in your mind the effort to capture the desirable tea essence compounds. In oolongs, they elute characteristically in a flattened peak afforded by semi-intact leaf structure of partially oxidized teas. With an oxidation range 15-80 percent, that means the peak shape of desirable components can vary quite a bit, from a very looooong drawn out hump (low oxidation state = green oolongs) to a rather sharp peak (highly oxidized oolongs, but not quite the same as fully oxidized teas).
Oolongs teas are complex; it's an art to mastering the right combination of steep duration, temperature, water volume and tea load, to 'tease' out the best flavors in stages, without ruining the taste with under- and over-extraction.
The best oolongs have the characteristics starting leaf that is young, full of antioxidants and theanine (a chemical that promotes release of GABA in mammalian nervous system).
Theanine is lowest in quality black teas (and is nearly nonexistant in crappy black teas that comprised of older tea leaves) and highest in white and green teas.
Theanine, beyond being sweet, is the nitrogen source and starter point for the catabolic pathways that produce antioxidants. It elutes well after the caffeine-like components in tea, but before the larger and molecularly complex polyphenols elute.
Fatty esters responsible for flavor/odors elute over the entire peak; they are a complex mixture, and so consecutive infusions spread out them out, affording different flavor qualities with each steep of the tea.
That's appealing because it allows you to dissect the complex flavors of oolong teas that might be missed in a single. longer infusion.
Either Western or Eastern multiple infusion techniques for oolong teas will yield a satisfying experience. The former is easier to master and more reliable for first attempts at characterizing flavor/odors for a particular tea. The latter affords mastery over the enjoyment of the tea by removing some of the complexity through better separation of the flavor components, while balancing the sweet/bitter components over the entire extraction series - an art and a science.