Hey,I recentlly got into oolong teas and love it,I love a strong cup in the afternoon...i have no idea what type i have,it doesn't say on the package but from what i recall it is a more oxidized one.
From what I understand you can brew oolong more then one time but every time i tried I get something with less flavour then the first cup.Now,is my tea bad,my tehnique or is it just the way it should be?
Apr 24th, '10, 16:57
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debunix
Re: Quick question about re-steeping
Each tea leaf has only so much flavor. You can extract most of it in one or two long steeps prepared with a small amount of leaf and a large amount of water, or in several to many short steeps prepared with more leaf for a smaller amount of water. A lot of us prefer this latter approach because different flavor elements are extracted at different speeds, so you can get a more complex variety of flavors from several steeps of a single batch of leaf.
Without knowing what your tea is, how much leaf you're using, how much water you're infusing, and how long you're infusing, it's impossible to be say how many infusions you should expect from your tea.
But when I use about 1 gram of tea per 1 ounce or 30mL of water at about 190 degrees, I expect to get between 4 and 12 steeps of 30-120 seconds apiece from my oolong teas. You end up lengthening the infusions each time as the easily-extracted stuff is gone and you need more time to get the more tightly-held elements.
Hope that helps.
Without knowing what your tea is, how much leaf you're using, how much water you're infusing, and how long you're infusing, it's impossible to be say how many infusions you should expect from your tea.
But when I use about 1 gram of tea per 1 ounce or 30mL of water at about 190 degrees, I expect to get between 4 and 12 steeps of 30-120 seconds apiece from my oolong teas. You end up lengthening the infusions each time as the easily-extracted stuff is gone and you need more time to get the more tightly-held elements.
Hope that helps.
Last edited by debunix on Apr 25th, '10, 12:05, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Quick question about re-steeping
Thnx,that actually does help a lot.I used to just brew it for about 3-4 minutes to get all the flavour and avoid the tannins...sounds fun this way...i'll give it a try Oolongs do seem to have a depth that i'd like to explore.
Re: Quick question about re-steeping
*Gasp!* If you don't have one, get a gaiwan and make your oolong gongfu method, you'd be surprised how awesome it can be!
.:OM:. wrote:Thnx,that actually does help a lot.I used to just brew it for about 3-4 minutes to get all the flavour and avoid the tannins...sounds fun this way...i'll give it a try Oolongs do seem to have a depth that i'd like to explore.