When a tea leaf is heavier it has more flavor in it. For example pu-erh is a very dense and heavy leaf. I agree 2.25 grams of pu-erh is not very many leaves. But that's all you need for 6 ounces of water. Your white tea leaves are very thin at light. Each tea leaf does not yield much flavor. That is why looking at the tea leaves are deceiving. 2.25 grams of white tea leaves is a lot of leaves. You need that many leaves based on the lack of weight for the leaves. I urge you to try my method for a week. I have been weighing tea for 4 months and have never made a bad cup. There is a reason tea tasters use the formula of 2.25 grams for every 6 ounces. I agree you can play with the amount of leaves. But why do it if you have a proven formula used by professionals.
Nov 2nd, '07, 00:43
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What a mook...FataliTEA wrote: Well, that and they don't trust themselves.
I use different weights of leaf for many teas. Even with my scale, it requires some trial and error. But once I find the perfect weight for a particular tea, I can repeat it to perfection almost every time.
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!
Nov 2nd, '07, 00:47
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Actually, most professional tea tasters do not follow the 2.25 grams per 6 oz. And Japanese tea is made with anywhere from 3-10 grams per 200 ml (6.8 oz)...in fact some gyokuro is made with 10 grams per 60 ml...not my recommendation, but I use a lot more weight than 2.25 grams. 2.25 per 6 oz is the traditional English cup of tea recommendation.jashnew wrote:When a tea leaf is heavier it has more flavor in it. For example pu-erh is a very dense and heavy leaf. I agree 2.25 grams of pu-erh is not very many leaves. But that's all you need for 6 ounces of water. Your white tea leaves are very thin at light. Each tea leaf does not yield much flavor. That is why looking at the tea leaves are deceiving. 2.25 grams of white tea leaves is a lot of leaves. You need that many leaves based on the lack of weight for the leaves. I urge you to try my method for a week. I have been weighing tea for 4 months and have never made a bad cup. There is a reason tea tasters use the formula of 2.25 grams for every 6 ounces. I agree you can play with the amount of leaves. But why do it if you have a proven formula used by professionals.
Nov 2nd, '07, 01:06
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Granted...some of those weights are extreme, yet practiced in some Japanese circles.jashnew wrote:Chip- I would love to see where you read 3-10 grams per 6.8 ozs of water. 10 grams of Japanese Sencha for 6.8 ounces of water would be very strong and undrinkable. Do you have a link I can go to. Also I think we are forgetting how little six ounces is. That's not even a cup.
Oolong is another example...much more than 2.25 grams per 6 oz typically.
But I am not saying your practice is wrong, just not universal. There is no rule of thumb for all teas in all methods of brewing. If your method works for you, that is all that matters for you. We must each discover our own tea journey. I used to use 2.25 grams for every tea. I now enjoy varying the tea weights.
http://www.maiko.ne.jp/english/sencha.htm
http://www.maiko.ne.jp/english/gyokuro.htm the gyo recommendation is for 100 ml or less.
I can provide many more links for you to check out if you would like.
By the way. I use 4-6.8 grams per 200 ml (6.8 oz) for Japanese teas.
I myself have been using my scale almost as a robot would, haha. Thanks for pointing this out, I'm almost ashamed that I haven't been taking advantage of my scale in this manner.FataliTEA wrote:But Jash, even with a scale, you must find out how much leaf is perfect for each kind of tea. 1 gram of fuka is different from 1 gram of sencha which is different from one gram of pu-erh; there are teas that need less leaf (by weight) and teas that need more leaf.
If you're using 2.25 grams of leaf per 6 ounces of water for every kind of tea, then your simply defeating the purpose of having a scale. The reason most people like their scales is that the scale allows them to experiment, and find the exact weight of leaf for each different kind of tea. Well, that and they don't trust themselves.
I first began using my scale so I could know I wasn't using more tea than I needed with each infusion (yes, I don't trust "eyeballing" it all the time), since although I'm not frugal with my tea purchases, I like to get the most out of what I do have - but if I've potentially been using more than I really need to on some teas...ooooh...such a dilemma...
haha
Guess I should be more experimental from now on.
Haha, good luck Cloudy!
And Jash, it's also true that it doesn't matter which way you're measuring it, as long as you're measuring. I know that fuka, being all crushed up, is in a sense more dense than white teas. I also know that white teas are quite fluffy, so when I eyeball these teas, I eyeball them by volume, knowing the the lighter teas need more leaf, and the denser ones less.
And Jash, it's also true that it doesn't matter which way you're measuring it, as long as you're measuring. I know that fuka, being all crushed up, is in a sense more dense than white teas. I also know that white teas are quite fluffy, so when I eyeball these teas, I eyeball them by volume, knowing the the lighter teas need more leaf, and the denser ones less.