Wednesday TeaDay 3/4/09 Ooops, brewed incorrectly?

[TaiPing Hou Kui]

I would have to say occasionally...either when trying out a new tea or I will start brewing and then start reading an e-mail...get distracted...start writing a response and then I realize my sencha has been brewing for 5 minutes.......not a good cup....thankfully this doesent happen too often. Currently nothing in my cup....I was about to brew some sencha karigane when all of a sudden my kamjove kettle began smoking and caught on fire on the inside ! I promptly ran it outside and threw it in the snow.....and I also contacted the company I bought it from and sent them pictures....we shall see how this turns out......

-Nick

[GT500Driver]

I said occasionally as well, though lately it's been more often since I've been trying new teas out.

Blacks I tend to have down now, since I like them stout and just have to make sure not to brew so long it gets bitter, they're pretty forgiving.

Greens and whites are hit or miss, since they all seem to take different times, and my newer ones I don't have down quite yet. And I've only had one Oolong, from Adagio, and it was ok, but not particularly exciting.

There was the other day when I made some dragonwell then the power went out... Forgot about it until 15 minutes later when the power came back on. I took a whiff of it and poured it out, just wasn't worth it.

Started my teaday with Assam Melody from Adagio. I'm not a big black fan, except in the mornings. This was good though. Now Darjeeling blacks, different story.

Trying to decide if I want to have some Sencha Overture right now, or maybe something new I haven't tried... Either way I'm going to be experimenting with the brewing, since I'm new to sencha, essentially.

[JustinW]

Last week while making sencha I forgot to boil the water first. That was the look on my face.

[Jasmin]

Like most here, sometimes I forget that I have a tea brewing. With some teas a few minutes here or there don't matter. With others, like green, 15 seconds can make a big difference.
Right now I'm drinking my own "daydreams". I couldn't have found a better name. It's so good. My best blend, I think.

[Chip]

Sippin' sencha and listening to my computer fan groaning abnormally. I guess I better check that out pronto ... in my everyday Hagi cup, Kagoshima Sencha from Yuuki-Cha.

I brewed this one purrrfectly.

[Trey Winston]

Last week while making sencha I forgot to boil the water first. That was the look on my face.

That happened to me once, but with instant c*ffee. I can sympathize.

[Dreamer]

Hi All,

I said it rarely happens that I brew incorrectly, because I have no idea if what I do is "correct" or not!!! I almost always get a cup/pot of tea that I enjoy so I'm happy!

This morning I enjoyed some Assam Melody (Adagio) in my travel mug. Later some Stash red and white. This afternoon I'm thinking I must have some gyokuro or matcha.

Have fun,
Dreamer

[Dreamer]

P.S. I had to laugh about forgetting to boil the water!!! That would be tough to recover from if you poured it in the pot already and weren't using an infusor! So far I haven't had that happen.

I have had the sad discovery that there wasn't enough water in the kettle...just infused with the bit I had and added some more hot water.

Have fun,
Dreamer

[hooksie]

One day I forgot to put the infuser back in my ingenuitea after cleaning it out.

Needless to say, hilarity did not ensue.

Mainly because the leaves caught in the valve and wouldn't let it close. Let your imagination handle the rest.

This morning I mixed some Yunnan Gold with a touch of Assam. It was wonderful.

[acdidion]

Since I bought a timer and thermometer I rarely over steep, but I don't use a scale so sometimes I don't use enough leaf, but Im pretty good at eyeballing my teaspoon for the amount.

Sencha in my cup this afternoon.

[JustinW]

P.S. I had to laugh about forgetting to boil the water!!! That would be tough to recover from if you poured it in the pot already and weren't using an infusor! So far I haven't had that happen.

I have had the sad discovery that there wasn't enough water in the kettle...just infused with the bit I had and added some more hot water.

Have fun,
Dreamer

Sadly recovering from this err was not possible, but I tried. I quickly poured the water from the pot into a saucepan, boiled it, and steeped it for a shorter time. Suffices to say it turned out horrible.

[Geekgirl]

I was about to brew some sencha karigane when all of a sudden my kamjove kettle began smoking and caught on fire on the inside ! I promptly ran it outside and threw it in the snow....

Holy crap! I hope things work out.

[Chip]

I was about to brew some sencha karigane when all of a sudden my kamjove kettle began smoking and caught on fire on the inside ! I promptly ran it outside and threw it in the snow....

Holy crap! I hope things work out.

Human error on my part, but remembered it with TPHK's experience.

My first kettle lasted 1-2 days, I had it plugged in next to my stove and mindlessly placed it on a very hot cast iron burner. I think it was a Bodum plastic model (bleh). The thing instantly smoked, was melting down/liquifying, and was seemingly about to catch on fire.

I grabbed it running to the door and heaved as hard as I could, more in anger at myself for being so stupid with my 40 dollar piece of melted plastic.

My next one, same model, lasted 5 or more years before I finally was so grossed out by it and the fear of plastic in teaware ... I just could not bring myself to use it again ... that I got my UtiliTea which I love love love.

[cherylopal]

I didn't vote but fall somewhere between occasionally and all the time. I've had lots of great brews but then a bit of a learning curve with the japanese teas. And i've had some issues with my gyokuro lately-

i made two infusions of the sakura sencha and took it with me this am to a cont ed class. the hotel had bigelow green tea bags but they didn't look, smell or brew green. I passed. Came home too late to resteep my sakura sencha-


and i've done in my share of kettles- really a pot is safest for me and my house!

[murrius]

Tea brewing disasters somewhere between occasionally and rarely these days. I use a timer and a UtiliTea that allows me to control temp. The only way I blow it is by putting in too much / too little leaf or if I'm feeling wild and crazy and start to experiment. My last experiment involved putting a lot more oolong into my poor little yixing than I usually do and then brewing at a higher temp. First infusion = crap; second infusion (lower temp) = crap; third infusion (brief steep) = drinkable.

So far today only an organic sencha (and coffee at meetings inspired by the need to appear awake).