Infusing old puerhs

[Deragoth]

Hi tea fellows

I have orderes samples from essenceoftea.com they are aged raw puerhs, but now when they are on the way i am geting scared, since i don't wont to spoil them with bad infusions.

I know there is no telling how long should you infuse tea and is a matter of personal taste.
But please can somebody recomend me some standard infusion time,..do you start with 5s, 10s, 15s,...or you make longer infusions and start at 15s, 30s,...
All i know is that some people make 2 cleaning infusions.

Thanky for helping me

[Drax]

I'm sure you'll get lots of advice on different ways, so here's one example:

I usually go with 1.5g of tea in 1oz of water (so for example, 6g in a 4oz (or 120mL)), with boiling water. I might go a little less for a young, strong tea, or a little more for an older tea.

The steep times will vary on the compression of the tea.

If it's loose, I will rinse <15s. If it's extremely tightly compressed, then I may rinse for up to 90s.

Then the steeps are as long as you like to get a good cup of tea at the strength you like. For the 1.5:1 ratio, after a 30s rinse, I typically do 10s, 10s, 10s, 10s, 15s, 30s, 60s, 120s, 4m, 8m, etc... that tends to brew strong tea.

But seriously, the steeping times are guidelines. Some people pack in 4g or more per 1oz of water. In those cases, you're probably looking at 1s steeps and a much longer number of steeps.

The real proof is in the resulting tea. The only 'hard' part is in the beginning, where if the tea hasn't fully loosened, you may need longer steeps (or the tea will be lighter than it could be).

Hope that helps, and enjoy...!

[wyardley]

I know there is no telling how long should you infuse tea and is a matter of personal taste.
But please can somebody recomend me some standard infusion time,..do you start with 5s, 10s, 15s,...or you make longer infusions and start at 15s, 30s,...
All i know is that some people make 2 cleaning infusions.

I think you already answered your own question. Not just the personal taste thing, but also depends how much tea you're using, how much water, and how fast your brewing vessel pours. I don't really think about time, nor do I think the difference between, say, the timing of infusion one and infusion two. Pour the water in, pour the water out (wait a breath or two in between if it makes you happy). If it's not strong enough, next time, let it sit a little longer. It's not rocket science, nor will tea that's a little too weak or a little too strong kill you.

Especially if you're using a decent amount of tea (say, > 5g / 100ml), I think most of the early infusions should be about the same length of time. Once it starts to thin out, maybe around the 8th infusion or so, start brewing for longer. Just let the color and taste be your guide.

What I would recommend is airing the tea out (just in a dark area open to the room's air in a small bowl or dish) for a couple of days before drinking.

[BioHorn]

Please tell us about your brewing vessel. What size is it?

I have had a number of Nada's aged pu's. Many times I have had good luck with initial very short steep times. Then again, I tend to use higher leaf to water ratio (as do many here.) Usually I will use +- 8 grams for my 90 ml gaiwan. 1 rinse has done well for me. If it is precious tea I will at least test taste the rinse water. I think many great teas have gone in the tea tray
Here is a sample brew:
15 sec. Rinse
#1: 0 sec
#2: 3 sec.
#3: 5 sec.
#4: 10 sec.
And so on. Sounds exciting.
Let us know how it goes!

[shah82]

I think the best advice is to buy a cheap old cake from EoT or TheChineseTeaShop, and practice with that cake a lot. When you get more experienced in making cheaper old cakes taste heavenly, then you can really fix a cuppa, no matter what.

As far as the samples you have already? Don't sweat it. You'll not get the best out of them, given that you're a n00b. You probably won't even appreciate them as well as you could. So just fix it however you want, use your intuition and be flexible in how you brew it the next time or next session. Thinking about dollars, chances, and methods will depress however much you enjoy that session.

[Deragoth]

Thank you for advices.
I drink a lot of puerh so i actualy know "how to" but am unexperienced with older pu. That tip for 10s, 10s, 10s,... to repeat infusions on same time really helped

[TIM]

Thank you for advices.
I drink a lot of puerh so i actualy know "how to" but am unexperienced with older pu. That tip for 10s, 10s, 10s,... to repeat infusions on same time really helped

How old is old Deragoth?

[teaisme]

so then is it pretty safe to say 'generally use longer steeps then younger sheng with hot hot hot water'?

This has been my beginning assessment so far, often found that brewing slightly longer ecked out more of that sweetness and deeper flavour and the extra heat helped a lot too

[Deragoth]

i'm 36

[wyardley]

It really depends how old is old... tea that's even 15-25 years old can still be pretty young and aggressive depending on the storage. But at some point, my tendency is to use more leaf with a tea that's old enough to tolerate it without becoming bitter or astringent, but I wouldn't use longer infusion times than with young tea. I'd just use more tea.

I think shah82's advice is good. Even if the tea seems expensive to you, don't stress about it too much. You're probably not going to brew the tea to its full potential no matter what advice you receive here, but you will start to develop a sense of how it tastes and whether you like it or not. Treat it as a learning experience.

[TIM]

It really depends how old is old... tea that's even 15-25 years old can still be pretty young and aggressive depending on the storage. But at some point, my tendency is to use more leaf with a tea that's old enough to tolerate it without becoming bitter or astringent, but I wouldn't use longer infusion times than with young tea. I'd just use more tea.

I think shah82's advice is good. Even if the tea seems expensive to you, don't stress about it too much. You're probably not going to brew the tea to its full potential no matter what advice you receive here, but you will start to develop a sense of how it tastes and whether you like it or not. Treat it as a learning experience.

Now you know why I asked Deragoth.

[tenuki]

i'm 36

[debunix]

The really good thing about about a nice aged puerh is that it should be reasonably mellow, and tolerate a wide range of infusion parameters without becoming undrinkable.

I only count out my infusions when I'm working with teas that are more aggressive--young sheng, or most green teas--or working on a review, and want accurate notes.

[G-off-re]

One other thing to consider besides just timing is the compressing of leaf.
10s can be very different if your using a lot of broken bits vs. 1 large chunk. Not sure why but people often focus on getting a perfect set of times from someone else with out mentioning what their proportions are.

For me 5g is normally 3/5 whole and end up not needing long steeps or rinses. 5s, 5, 5, 7, 10s..... flavor and color is my timer so its not always the same numbers.

I only avoid broken bits if its young/dry.