Hello, I'm fairly new here and to the world of Tea in General.
I'm having an issue with getting water to the right temperature. I know it's important to hit the correct temperature for different types of tea. For example, trying to Brew pu'erh the recommended temperature is 98C. When boiling the water if I stick a thermometer in the kettle I get a reading of about 100C as the water begins to boil. However, as soon as I pour the water out into a cup (still boiling) the reading drops to about 87C before it even hits the leaves.
I should add that I'm using a small 1 cup tea pot to boil the water. Not sure if this has anything to do with it?
Thanks for your help in advance.
Sep 5th, '11, 13:39
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Re: Water temprature
Hi and welcome to the forum.
Yeah, your temp will always drop when you pour into any vessel that is a cooler temp. You can increase the temp in your pot by doing a preheat pour, then pour this water into the cups to preheat them.
It is a matter of personal preference whether or not someone preheats the pot, but I tend to for most teas.
For greens, you can still use the preheat water to brew by pouring it into the cups or into a water cooler (yuzamashi)). Then when the water is the right temp, pour the leaves into the pot (an added bonus, smell the dry warming leaves!!!) then pour the water back into the pot. This won't work for the "hotter teas" as the water will cool too much.
Yeah, your temp will always drop when you pour into any vessel that is a cooler temp. You can increase the temp in your pot by doing a preheat pour, then pour this water into the cups to preheat them.
It is a matter of personal preference whether or not someone preheats the pot, but I tend to for most teas.
For greens, you can still use the preheat water to brew by pouring it into the cups or into a water cooler (yuzamashi)). Then when the water is the right temp, pour the leaves into the pot (an added bonus, smell the dry warming leaves!!!) then pour the water back into the pot. This won't work for the "hotter teas" as the water will cool too much.
Re: Water temprature
Hello and thanks for your reply.
I tried preheating the pot and it did make a difference. Still not quite as hot as I need it to be but definitely hotter. After preheating I was getting up to 92 - 93C. Still can't get it up to 98C though.
I tried preheating the pot and it did make a difference. Still not quite as hot as I need it to be but definitely hotter. After preheating I was getting up to 92 - 93C. Still can't get it up to 98C though.
Re: Water temprature
You're not going to be able to get water at 98C with all the heat loss involved.
The good news is that the recommended brewing temperature is usually just the starting water temperature. In other words, everybody has the same "problem" of the water cooling down!
If the brewing recommendation is to use boiling water, then it will suffice to boil water in a kettle and then pour it into your teapot. The resulting temperature loss will be acceptable and normal.
The only other way to get around this heat loss would be to have a system that continually boils the water while the tea is brewing.
The good news is that the recommended brewing temperature is usually just the starting water temperature. In other words, everybody has the same "problem" of the water cooling down!
If the brewing recommendation is to use boiling water, then it will suffice to boil water in a kettle and then pour it into your teapot. The resulting temperature loss will be acceptable and normal.
The only other way to get around this heat loss would be to have a system that continually boils the water while the tea is brewing.
Re: Water temprature
When people say to use boiling water, they don't mean the water in your brewing vessel should be actually at 100C the whole time it's in contact with the tea. As Drax says, everyone has this same problem.
You can adjust the temperature up or down slightly based on things like whether or not you let the water stop bubbling before you pour, the height and speed of your pour, whether you pour on the tea directly, or on the edge of the brewing vessel, etc. etc.
Having a tea kettle which holds heat longer / better does make a difference in terms of how "hot" the water coming out of it seems to be. In other words, even when they're both coming directly off a heat source, I notice a difference between how tea comes out when I use a glass or stainless kettle vs. a heavy-duty earthenware or iron kettle.
You can adjust the temperature up or down slightly based on things like whether or not you let the water stop bubbling before you pour, the height and speed of your pour, whether you pour on the tea directly, or on the edge of the brewing vessel, etc. etc.
Having a tea kettle which holds heat longer / better does make a difference in terms of how "hot" the water coming out of it seems to be. In other words, even when they're both coming directly off a heat source, I notice a difference between how tea comes out when I use a glass or stainless kettle vs. a heavy-duty earthenware or iron kettle.