Jun 30th, '13, 15:01
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few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by b101 » Jun 30th, '13, 15:01

I've just bought my first gaiwan, and want to start gongfuing correctly. I have two little question, I'd like someone to clear up for me:
1. Between infusions- what do you do with the lid? do you put it on or off?
2. between each infusion, how long are the intervals? how much time is passed between each steep?
3. which infusion is considered the best? if there is one

thanks and sorry for my english

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Jun 30th, '13, 16:52
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by Devoted135 » Jun 30th, '13, 16:52

Welcome to the forum! Here are two videos made by forum members that have definitely helped me improve my gaiwan technique. :)

http://www.marshaln.com/2009/05/tuesday-may-5-2009/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIObBLOU ... e=youtu.be

My quick answers, for what they're worth...
1) I usually put the lid back on, but I don't think it matters unless you're worried about heat retention.
2) The time between steeps is determined by how long I take to drink the current steep. :P
3) Whichever one tastes the best to you! :D

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Jun 30th, '13, 18:22
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by debunix » Jun 30th, '13, 18:22

Devoted135 wrote: 1) I usually put the lid back on, but I don't think it matters unless you're worried about heat retention.
2) The time between steeps is determined by how long I take to drink the current steep. :P
3) Whichever one tastes the best to you! :D
I agree with all of these, but can add that in general, I prefer something close to the 2nd or 3rd steep of greener oolongs, and usually something similar for green teas; from puerhs, I usually prefer the late steeps when it's moving towards sweetwater; and highly unpredictable for darker roasted oolongs, where it might be a fruity floral spicy first infusion or a sweet plummy later infusion.

Jul 1st, '13, 03:39
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by b101 » Jul 1st, '13, 03:39

thank you for fast responses :P . the reason i asked about the lid, is because i though maybe moving the lid off may cause the leaves to dry even further? from reading, i have the notion that after each brewing there is a need to minmize the water left in the gaiwan. so for this reason is that sound like logical act?
also, for the time between steeps, can you recognize the tea is getting worse, if say, left for half an hour to rest? thanks :wink:

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Jul 1st, '13, 11:58
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by Evan Draper » Jul 1st, '13, 11:58

Time between steeps is also determined by how much tea you're using. Lid on/off in the interim--I've heard people make arguments either way. Is leaving the lid off going to prevent the tea from "cooking" in between infusions? Or is it going to let too much heat escape? There are some methods--usually not with a gaiwan though--where you ARE leaving a "root" of remaining liquid behind after pouring, to even out flavors. These are not beginner questions. :wink: "Resuscitating" a tea after a long time at rest can be tricky, but it's possible.

Jul 19th, '13, 03:50
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by b101 » Jul 19th, '13, 03:50

after couple of practices, i've found the lid on\off of the gaiwan as the most tricky thing in the gong fu technique. it's really does matter. if i put the lid on between infusions, i get a bad aftertaste, that doesn't really matters which oolong/black i'm using - it's always that same bad bland aftertate. if it's off, that taste is gone, but in the way i feel part of taste of the tea leaves is gone also (i think the reason is the aroma is escaping). when i leave the leaves alone for about half an hour, i can really tell the differnet between lid off\on. does someone have a solution?..

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Jul 19th, '13, 21:27
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by Devoted135 » Jul 19th, '13, 21:27

Hmm, my first thought is you may be leaving too much liquid in the gaiwan and it continues to steep while you are drinking. Barring this, what is the thickness of your gaiwan? It may be retaining too much heat and "cooking" the leaves a bit. Sorry, I haven't run into this so these are just my best guesses.

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Jul 20th, '13, 03:42
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by jayinhk » Jul 20th, '13, 03:42

Gaiwan or teapot, I try to get every drop out of the tea if I'm brewing seriously. Gaiwans tend to cool fast, so I wouldn't worry too much about cooking, but you can tilt the lid a little to let off steam (and volatile compounds that give you flavor) if you want I guess.

Jul 20th, '13, 03:53
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Re: few questions about gong fu cha from a beginner...

by b101 » Jul 20th, '13, 03:53

I think the thickness of my gaiwan is quite thim (really hard to hold for more than few seconds even when i holding the upper part only). I pretty sure no liquid is left. the things that causing the trouble is the steam that is coming off the leaves themselves, not a tea in a liquid form... i think maybe the steam is trapped and turned into water after the gaiwan is cooled. i will try to tilt the lid and see what's happens. i'm afarid again that some flavour will be lost because of the escape of part of the aroma with the steam.

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