Poll: How many grams?

[gingkoseto]

Interesting vote

I rarely take any measurement and there is variation based on tea. But I guess my mode is 5g/100ml (volume of the vessel). I got this impression from occasional measurements. And I use 5-15 sec. for the first a few infusions.

Another question I have is, do you guys use more tea, less tea or same amount for oolong, compared with puerh?

I think I use slightly more tea leaves for oolong, generally speaking.

[gingkoseto]

By the way, 2004 and "up" means younger or order?
Not that it makes huge difference on tea grams for me.

[debunix]

do you guys use more tea, less tea or same amount for oolong, compared with puerh?

More leaf for a delicate green oolong, same or occasionally less for a touchier Dan Cong or yancha.

[bearsbearsbears]

7-10g/100ml, depending on potency and leaf size. Generally when brewing something I've never had before, I use 7g for small to average leaf size, 9 or 10 if the leaves are big.

Count me among those surprised by the number of 5g & below responses. I'm curious if brew times are lengthened to compensate. If not, it's like a short list of whose opinion I should weigh more because they use a similar brewing parameter.

[Drax]

This poll discusses "half" of the equation... the other half being steep times.

So in my case, I tend to use 1g of leaf to 1oz of water for both pu'erh and oolongs. But my steep times are drastically different. Pu'erh tends to be 10s for the first 5 steeps or so and increasing from there. Oolong tends to be 60s for the first and second, and going up by much larger intervals.

Of course, I adjust times as needed...

[tea-awed]

I usually judge how long my 1st steep will be by the rinse. Most times it will be between 5-10secs. Depend a lot on how tightly compressed the cake is.
I never weighed how much oolong I use. I do it by eye looking to have a very full gaiwan at the end.

[David R.]

do you guys use more tea, less tea or same amount for oolong, compared with puerh?

More leaf for a delicate green oolong, same or occasionally less for a touchier Dan Cong or yancha.

I do the exact opposite ! Less leaves with longer brews for a green oolong, and a heavy ratio with yancha and dan cong.

Concerning puerh, I chose 5g, but I can use less if the tea is very young. I begin with 20-30 seconds, less for the second and then increasing again. I know some people who really like to use even fewer leaves and begin with 1 min brew.

My impression in the end is that dosage has to be adapted to the very tea used. I find some are just better with a stronger ratio, while for others it kills the tea, with too many things overlaping.

[the_skua]

7-10g/100ml, depending on potency and leaf size. Generally when brewing something I've never had before, I use 7g for small to average leaf size, 9 or 10 if the leaves are big.

I never thought about adjusting for leaf size, but definitely agree with starting light for new teas.

[bryan_drinks_tea]

for sheung, about 5 grams. for aged sheung, about 6 or 7, depending on the tea.

for shu, 5 to 7 grams and quick infusions. I haven't had any aged shu.

[bearsbearsbears]

I never thought about adjusting for leaf size, but definitely agree with starting light for new teas.

Too much stem in the bigger leafed variety cuts down on potency, in my experience. 7g of stemmy pu'er works like 5.5g leaf, 1.5g stem. 10g roughly in the range of 7g leaf and 3g stem.

Or so I tell myself!

[Bob_McBob]

Also, I think most people would be surprised to learn that their "100 mL" vessel actually holds significantly more or less than exactly 100mL. A gaiwan sold to me as 100mL in fact holds 83mL.

Every single yixing pot I own is slightly larger than the stated volume, based on filling it to the brim, putting on the lid, then measuring either the weight from tare or volume in a graduated cylinder.

Buying gaiwans is a total crapshoot because you have no idea whether the vendor is stating the volume to the brim, to the lid, etc. unless they actually tell you. I have "100ml" gaiwans that hold 70ml and 120ml (no idea there...). I only buy gaiwans (and preferably teacups) from places that are specific about their measurements now.

[tingjunkie]

You forgot the option "Scales are for vendors and sissies."

(To be honest, I've been meaning to buy one myself.)

[BioHorn]

Depends on the tea. Normally 5-10 grams with an average of 7 in 90ml gaiwan or +- 100 ml pots.

[entropyembrace]

You forgot the option "Scales are for vendors and sissies."

(To be honest, I've been meaning to buy one myself.)

I bought a scale for espresso where less than a gram can make a difference...

Even I have a good scale handy I don´t use it for measuring out tea to brew, I´m so used to doing without one. What has been interesting is measuring out the tea the way I normally do and just checking to see how much it actually weighs. I found I was using a lot more than I thought for puerh...and a bit less than I thought for gyokuro. That didn´t change how much tea I use, since it was calibrated by taste rather than numbers...but at least I can communicate how I´m brewing to others with more clarity.

[AdamMY]

Since a trend for many of us, is we rarely weigh our tea before brewing. I propose a slightly altered question. How full do you aim for your gaiwan/ yixing to be after the leaves expand almost completely (4 brews in or so)? For Young pu, I aim for it to be roughly three quarters full, or just below the lid of the gaiwan.