Tea weakness issue

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Aug 7th, '12, 19:50
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Tea weakness issue

by Luke Scicluna » Aug 7th, '12, 19:50

In my hands right now I've got ... well, my keyboard. But next to my keyboard is a freshly brewed pot of Yunnan Gold in my Meguro teapot.

A heaped tablespoon of tea, 15m of steeping. Yes, 15.

It's tasteless.

Any ideas?

EDIT: To be precise, I have this problem with all the teas I have - Yunnan Gold being the most pronounced. I also have Rooibos Vanilla (1tbsp, boiling, 6m); Earl Grey (1tbsp, boiling, 6m); and Golden Monkey (1tbsp, boiling, 4m)

Aug 7th, '12, 22:18
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Empty Cup » Aug 7th, '12, 22:18

I had the same experience when I used Brita water filtering system. Teas brewed into crystal clear liquor with virtually no aroma and no actual taste.

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Aug 8th, '12, 00:58
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Chip » Aug 8th, '12, 00:58

Purified water can brew flat tea indeed. Spring water is much better, but many tea drinkers are then faced with buying gallon jugs of spring water and dealing with environmental impacts.

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Aug 8th, '12, 04:20
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by sriracha » Aug 8th, '12, 04:20

One tablespoon to how much water?

Aug 8th, '12, 06:41
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Luke Scicluna » Aug 8th, '12, 06:41

sriracha wrote:One tablespoon to how much water?
600ml - a full Meguro teapot.

Could the water be making so much difference? I've tried both mineral water and reverse osmosis filtered water.

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Aug 8th, '12, 10:42
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Chip » Aug 8th, '12, 10:42

There is your answer ... your tea to water ratio is way too low.

600 ml is a lot of water ... you could try reducing the amount of water.

Aug 8th, '12, 12:12
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Luke Scicluna » Aug 8th, '12, 12:12

Chip wrote:There is your answer ... your tea to water ratio is way too low.

600 ml is a lot of water ... you could try reducing the amount of water.
I've taken your advice - 5 heaped teaspoons for 5 minutes seems to be perfect for Earl Grey - now I'll try out the others :)

Thanks all!

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Aug 8th, '12, 12:51
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Chip » Aug 8th, '12, 12:51

Glad to hear this is improving your results ...

... but I am curious as I am sure others are as well, why are you brewing 600 ml per steep?

Aug 8th, '12, 17:46
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Luke Scicluna » Aug 8th, '12, 17:46

I'm using the Meguro teapot, and I've got an obsession with having it full :P also, I drink a lot of tea.

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Aug 8th, '12, 18:48
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by MIKE_B » Aug 8th, '12, 18:48

My girlfriend also likes massive mugs of black tea. I use my old cheap 400ml "yixing" with three heaping tea spoons of leaf. I steep for 3 minutes.
She loves it.
Good thing you can find decent Chinese reds pretty cheap!

Aug 9th, '12, 09:14
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by ethan » Aug 9th, '12, 09:14

I used to drink an earl grey rooibus that took at least 8 minutes of steeping to get flavorful.
Another suggestion for your black tea is keep your steeping teapot hot. I sometimes just splash the outside of teapots w/ very hot water or have them sit in some.

Aug 11th, '12, 17:31
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Re: Tea weakness issue

by Luke Scicluna » Aug 11th, '12, 17:31


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