Chinese Black Teas, Recommendations?

[Classica]

I am also wondering about brewing temperatures and multiple infusions for these teas. Though I've tried multiple steeps with my Irish Breakfast, the second steep is never satisfying. Can different back teas stand multiple brews? Also, should I use boiling water?

Boiling water, or anywhere between 90-212 F really, should be fine. How much water and leaf are you using, and how long do you leave it in each time?

Generally, when brewing black tea I've had luck with 5.5g of leaf in a 250ml (~8.5oz) tea pot, steeped about 30-45 seconds with boiling water. I've not tried any Irish Breakfast blends, however to my understanding they're generally strong and (IIRC) based on Kenyan black teas - could possibly be poorly suited for this method.

What is unsatisfying about the follow up infusion? Too weak? Too bitter?

M.

I usually brew two measuring teaspoons of tea per 16 oz. I steep anywhere from 4 to 5 minutes. Realistically, I've probably sucked all the flavor out after that.

[MEversbergII]

Sounds like "western" style brewing which, indeed, doesn't lend itself well to second infusions.

M.

[daidokorocha]

I find 4-5 to be a bit far too long, personally. Western style tea/water ratio can be fine for second infusions, given that the time spent in the pot is far less. You could try two infusions of a minute and thirty seconds steeped or something about that, if you'd like to experiment with it. All teas are different. Some blacks might even take to dropping the water a bit to an oolong range for first infusion and then upping it to a boil for the second. Feel free to be creative.

[bob]

I'm drinking this at the moment:

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-bla ... amica.html

Quite nice Chinese black tea. I usually prepare it a bit stronger, 3 - 4 g of leaves per 250 mL water, 4 min infusion, and then add a little bit of milk. Makes lovely aromatic, robust and malty drink, goes great with breakfast (bread + jam or honey).

[MEversbergII]

Yunanese assam - I've looked at it, but have yet to try it. What's it in comparison with more "traditional" assam?

M.

[Bef]

Ask http://www.jingjiatang.com about his gushu black tea. For me, this is a standout tea.

Sent them two messages in the last few days, but didn't receive any answer...

Do you know if they always take a long time to reply?

[bonescwa]

Ask http://www.jingjiatang.com about his gushu black tea. For me, this is a standout tea.

Sent them two messages in the last few days, but didn't receive any answer...

Do you know if they always take a long time to reply?

For me, a sign of a good seller is someone who doesn't answer right away, which means they:
Probably have a life
Probably have a job
Probably don't make a ton of money selling tea, they probably do this for fun/a bit of extra money/access to more tea for themselves/etc
So you're probably not going to get ripped off

This has been my experience with buying tea online, could be totally wrong, I have no idea. But overall, I wouldn't worry about 2 days.

[Tead Off]

Ask http://www.jingjiatang.com about his gushu black tea. For me, this is a standout tea.

Sent them two messages in the last few days, but didn't receive any answer...

Do you know if they always take a long time to reply?

No idea. Maybe they are on Holiday.

[Tead Off]

Qimen. A delicious Chinese black/red tea that is extremely smooth and easy to drink. I would recommend this to anyone who is worried about bitterness.

[Bok]

I can recommend to try Taiwanese Black teas if you can find them. If you brew them gong fu style you can easily brew them 6 times and more, depending on the quality. I just bought a high mountain black tea from my local shop and the flavours are unlike anything I’ve ever tasted in a black tea.

Black tea was originally introduced to Taiwan during the japanese colonization of Taiwan and was at the time to be a counterpart to Lipton’s teas. The Taiwanese then further developed them on their own.

I can recommend the Sun moon lake variety which has a nice honey taste to it, see this article for more info: http://www.essenceoftea.com/blog/catego ... moon-lake/

[Bef]

Ask http://www.jingjiatang.com about his gushu black tea. For me, this is a standout tea.

Sent them two messages in the last few days, but didn't receive any answer...

Do you know if they always take a long time to reply?

No idea. Maybe they are on Holiday.

Turns out they only had some issues accessing their e-mail account.

They have a regular black tea that is very cheap, and their Gushu black tea that is about 6 times the price of the latter. Their Gushu looks mysterious. It is dried under the sun (they told me, like a puerh). It's a new process. This tea should get better with some aging, but they don't know how much aging, as they have used this process for a few years only.

I'm curious to know more about your personal experience with this tea.

[Tead Off]

It tastes good.

[MEversbergII]

Is it something you can only acquire via e-mail? Didn't see it on their site.

M.

[Bef]

Is it something you can only acquire via e-mail? Didn't see it on their site.

M.

I think so. Really interested in trying that one. But it doesn't come cheap (RMB 150 / 50g + about $10 for shipping). So buying 100g would almost cost $60. Not saying the price is too high for this product, but trying it isn't cheap.