TeaChat

I'm sure it's been said many times many ways, but I am glass brewing or grandfather brewing (in Andy's parlance, borrowed I believe from MarahalN) this Meng Ding Gan Lu. I have been finding the tea, frankly, a little boring lately and wish I had ordered something else besides the Meng Ding. I love the look of the dry leaves (clix for pix), they remind me of pencil shavings; but the tea has been only good, not wonderful.

So, talking in the IM with Wesli today, he set me off just tossing some dry leaves into my new Pavina double-walled glass, adding a little < 160° water and BANG, great tea, easy to make, and no thinking behind it. I really think it tastes better this way! More of that cashew flavor I enjoy so much in Long Jing. I've done 3 infusions over 3 to 4 hours and I'm sure it will do at least one more, maybe 2 more.

Thanks, Wes!

Salsero wrote:glass brewing or grandfather brewing ... this Meng Ding Gan Lu... Pavina double-walled glass ... < 160° water and BANG, great tea

How interesting! Thanks for sharing!

I found this Gan Lu nice, but not anything special, as I mentioned to you before. I should try the glass brewing for the cashew flavor - love cashews! So, you just add water and start drinking it in a couple of minutes without filtering? Is that the idea?

RussianSoul wrote: Is that the idea?

That's the idea. I started out with 3 gr or 3.5 gr in 8 oz water at 130°, but Wes said he usually goes higher in temp, 150° to 160°. Obviously you have to let it sit a while or it won't brew, but you can let it sit a long time and it's still good, maybe better.

I would imagine using the lower water temperatures would cut out a lot, or even all of any bitterness that you would get allowing you to let it steep longer and pretty much just let it go? I'm going to have to try this, i could just run water through a coffee pot and keep it on the "keep warm" setting.

PolyhymnianMuse wrote: keep it on the "keep warm" setting.

Well, maybe there is some use for those coffee pots after all! Very creative thinking, Poly. Thanks for the idea!

Hopefully this catches on. It isn't the easiest method, but when done right, I don't think any other method compares.

Since I started playing around with water hardness, I've noticed how much the brewing process changes with a slight difference in hardness. With the slightly harder water, I went from using ~140 to ~160 (preheated, uncovered). Just something to consider when using this method.

For the info of everyone else, Yeah Spring, aka Andy, has done more glass brewing than anyone on teachat.

Salsero wrote:

PolyhymnianMuse wrote: keep it on the "keep warm" setting.

Well, maybe there is some use for those coffee pots after all! Very creative thinking, Poly. Thanks for the idea!

I'll have to take the temperature of the water to see exactly how warm the water is kept, but I'm sure it should be somewhere within that range.

It's snowing green. Shake it again.

I finally pulled my 08 gan lu from the crisper tray a few days back, and so far my socks remain decidedly unrocked.

I oversteeped it today, which was just horrific. Seriously, don't.

But the previous few days I've been brewing it more conservatively, with lackluster results. The best I've gotten out of it so far is "similar to tap water, but better" (which is hardly high praise, but better than it probably seems to the reader).

I've been spoiling myself with long jing (emperor and lion) and other more exciting offerings (from teaspring), and this just isn't doing it.

That poor Meng Ding Gan Lu is playing to the worst reviews. No one says it is bad ... but everyone says they would rather be drinking something else. Such a shame, cause the dry leaves are so pretty to look at!

Salsero wrote:That poor Meng Ding Gan Lu is playing to the worst reviews. No one says it is bad ... but everyone says they would rather be drinking something else. ...

Indeed.

RussianSoul wrote:Indeed.

But the dry leaves are so pretty to look at!