Gong fu Cha Newbie Question: What are your favorite steeping times?

[oolongaddiction]

I've dived in head first into gong fu brewing and loved every moment of it. I found a nice android app called Gong Fu Tea Timer, it has timers for various teas but you can create your own which I like. When I was western brewing far too many times I was flooded with one dimensional flavor notes but with gong fu brewing I get all the nuances , the whole shebang.

I've tried flash brewing and just brewing according to my own feelings but what are yours and any info on how to better taste the tea would help also!

[teaformeplease]

It definitely depends on the tea but flash brewing is usually too light for me. I'll usually infuse my tea for at least 20-30 seconds to start with and then increase that over time.

[oolongaddiction]

It definitely depends on the tea but flash brewing is usually too light for me. I'll usually infuse my tea for at least 20-30 seconds to start with and then increase that over time.

What is the temperature that you use to brew your oolong tea? 190F, is just right for me so far.

[teaformeplease]

I use boiling water for just about everything that isn't green tea.

[AntonioCaruzo]

There’s a few ways to answer this. There are recommended steeping times for the different genres of tea, although they differ a bit depending on the source. It’s useful to learn but I’d encourage you to approach each tea individually. Get to know it and adapt. Using different temperatures is appropriate too, on the other hand you can always fall back on using boiling water.

And about flash brewing, remember that the time it takes to pour is included in the steeping time. For me, flash brewing is fine sometimes, but usually only for first infusion. I always increase the time with each infusion. The exception is sencha where I begin with a longer and then do flash infusions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zoey]

I've dived in head first into gong fu brewing and loved every moment of it. I found a nice android app called Gong Fu Tea Timer, it has timers for various teas but you can create your own which I like. When I was western brewing far too many times I was flooded with one dimensional flavor notes but with gong fu brewing I get all the nuances , the whole shebang.

I've tried flash brewing and just brewing according to my own feelings but what are yours and any info on how to better taste the tea would help also!

An app - wow!
Thanks for sharing. I'll download it too.