How do you brew?

[maxman]

I know this is a basic question, but my belief is that there is always something new to be learned.
I use a small 8-10oz Hall teapot. I put in a good rounded teaspoonful of aged or green pu erh. Over this I pour about 2-3oz of boiling water, let it sit for about 5-10 seconds, then pour off this rinse water. Then I pour in 8oz of boiling water and let it steep for one to several minutes, usually.
I'll do this for a second and third infusion, without the rinse.
I never get over three infusions from my tea.
Sometimes I'll let the 3rd infusion go for 5-10 minutes.
Sometimes I wonder about my method because I read about people getting many more infusions than I do, and it seems like some people brew smaller batches.
I had a gaiwan (which broke) that only held 4oz.
It made good tea, but not much of it.

Sound about right?

[Trioxin]

I personally use a 5 - 6oz Yixing clay pot with about 6 - 7 grams of tea (3 - 4 times as much as you are currently using). No rinse with times ranging from 10s to 5min. Most shengs will give me 10 - 15 good 4oz infusions.

[thanks]

Depends on how the tea reacts to the first few infusion times, but here's how I've been doing it lately.

5.5g in 100ml gaiwan, water just off boiling with a flash rinse. Then 7s, 12s. If the tea is too strong/nasty/bitter at 12s, I'll then do these infusion times; 15s, 25s, 33s, 48s, 1m, 1:30, etc. If the tea is fine the way it is, then I get aggressive by going to times of 25s, 48s, 1m, 1:45, 2:30, 5m, then from here to taste.

[tony shlongini]

I know this is a basic question, but my belief is that there is always something new to be learned.
I use a small 8-10oz Hall teapot. I put in a good rounded teaspoonful of aged or green pu erh. Over this I pour about 2-3oz of boiling water, let it sit for about 5-10 seconds, then pour off this rinse water. Then I pour in 8oz of boiling water and let it steep for one to several minutes, usually.
I'll do this for a second and third infusion, without the rinse.
I never get over three infusions from my tea.
Sometimes I'll let the 3rd infusion go for 5-10 minutes.
Sometimes I wonder about my method because I read about people getting many more infusions than I do, and it seems like some people brew smaller batches.
I had a gaiwan (which broke) that only held 4oz.
It made good tea, but not much of it.

Sound about right?

Sounds diametrically opposed to my experience on just about all counts.

I think that pu'er fares better with more leaf, less water, and a shorter brewing time, especially for the first several infusions. If I were to only get three infusions from a tea, not only would I not consider repurchasing it, I'd probably toss whatever remaining portion I had.

An 8-10 oz pot is family sized. Most folks eventually settle into the 100-150ml range, roughly 3-5 oz.

A teaspoon is used to measure rolled oolongs, not pu'er. I'd suggest doubling, if not tripling, the amount of leaf (and I hope you're breaking it off of a cake, tuo, or brick, rather than purchasing it loose) and only filling the pot halfway with water if that's your only pot.

Some shengs are so potent that they seem to require a negative amount of brewing time, and most good ones only need 5-10 seconds for the first brew (or first several, for that matter). Nothing will give a flash infusion quicker than a gaiwan.

Think of it as drinking many cups of fine espresso rather than a large mug of plonk.

[maxman]

I kind of thought these would be the kind of replys I would get. I've read about the kind of brewing you all have mentioned but I've never had it summarized so well. I've been hesitant to drink such a "concentrated" brew, but if it hasn't hurt any of you then I should be OK.
I will give your method(s) a try.

[stanthegoomba]

I kind of thought these would be the kind of replys I would get. I've read about the kind of brewing you all have mentioned but I've never had it summarized so well. I've been hesitant to drink such a "concentrated" brew, but if it hasn't hurt any of you then I should be OK.
I will give your method(s) a try.

Careful you don't get TeaDrunk!

[Salsero]

I will give your method(s) a try.

Let us know how it goes.

[maxman]

Depends on how the tea reacts to the first few infusion times, but here's how I've been doing it lately.

5.5g in 100ml gaiwan, water just off boiling with a flash rinse. Then 7s, 12s. If the tea is too strong/nasty/bitter at 12s, I'll then do these infusion times; 15s, 25s, 33s, 48s, 1m, 1:30, etc. If the tea is fine the way it is, then I get aggressive by going to times of 25s, 48s, 1m, 1:45, 2:30, 5m, then from here to taste.

Guess you learn something new everyday. I tried the "recipe" listed above and it turned out great. I was always afraid to brew using a lot of tea and a little water because I thought I would end up with some kind of bitter road oil.
The tea came out very tasty and not overly strong. I still haven't got past the third infusion, but that is only because it got late and I don't like to drink caffeine too close to bedtime. I really don't drink a lot of tea during the week. I'll brew up a couple of PG Tips tea bags at work, then have a cup or two of green tea with supper. If I drink more than that it keeps me up.
But as I mentioned, I only got to the third infusion and the tea was still dark and tasty, and it showed no signs of getting weak. I will definitely experiment with this some more as I get time.
I've been buying my tea from The Pu erh Shop in Indianapolis.

[yee]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLcGch6koh4
This is what they do with pu-erh in china. You can also do that using smaller teapot or gaiwan.