TeaChat

I read on another site that you should rinse your tea before consuming it. It said there is probably some dust or dirt still on it. Do any of you do this?

Rinsing tea leaves is both done to wash off dirt and to wake up the leaves. If you drink gong fu style (usually not done with white tea) the first infusion is often the dullest in both taste and aroma, so by rinsing the tea you wake up the leaves so that the first (consumed) infusion will give you a cup of it's full potential.

For white tea, it's usually covered with fine hairs that you should wash off.

I only rinse pu-erh tea... or perhaps any other tea of questionable cleanliness. Like if you find a stranded plastic bag of tea in a back alley, I'd rinse that.

I'll also do a quick rinse to open the leaves up-- not necessarily for sanitation reasons... but often there is a certain flavor that some like in that first wash/infusion that isn't present in other infusions.

So it's not a set rule. Some do... some don't.

tsverrir wrote:
For white tea, it's usually covered with fine hairs that you should wash off.

Good point about the fine hairs. They can irritate some people... not annoy but you know, like an upset stomach

tsverrir wrote:If you drink gong fu style (usually not done with white tea) the first infusion is often the dullest in both taste and aroma

Really? I usually find it to be the opposite.

teaskeptic wrote:

tsverrir wrote:If you drink gong fu style (usually not done with white tea) the first infusion is often the dullest in both taste and aroma

Really? I usually find it to be the opposite.

Usually (almost always) I like the second (consumed) infusion the best, even when doing a short rinse.

With some teas I do a rinse for about 5-10 sec. then I let the leaves rest for about a minute, while they absorb the moisture and wake up, before I do my first infusion.

I often find the first infusion to be dull, especially with gong fu (short time) and especially with rolled teas that does not open up too quickly. However, this is not a problem for me with black tea, for example. They are often best in the first infusion.

Me too I love the fine hairs. Amount of fine hairs is an indicator of how prestigeous the tea is. So I often greedily examine the tea in a glass and hope for more and more fine hairs

As for rinsing, I "rinse" oolong and puerh, but not other teas. For oolong, I would call it "warming up" but not rinse, because I do drink the "rinse" water.

(Oops, I cross-read posts! I meant to say, I have opposite feeling about the fine hairs in white tea or some green )

I rinse bai mu dan for 30-45 seconds to reduce any grassy flavor.

Gingko-I am with you on this one.

I would not rinse the Bai Hao from the tea. You want to have the buds and leaves covered in white hair.

For me there is nothing more beautiful than those big beautiful buds covered in bai hao. After the infusion they dance in the teapot!

teaskeptic wrote:

tsverrir wrote:If you drink gong fu style (usually not done with white tea) the first infusion is often the dullest in both taste and aroma

Really? I usually find it to be the opposite.

it just depends on how fast the tea starts releasing flavor & aroma substances in the water.

Like another person said only if its pu erh. Or questionable freshness.