I've gone as long as a week between brews.
I take a look at the leaves, and if there's no mold, and there's still life left in the tea, I'll re-brew it.
Why didn't I pitch the leaves over the course of a week...? Eh, I'll answer that one later.
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
I usually keep the session within one day. I sometimes leave leaves overnight in a gaiwan, but never in a Yixing pot.
Mar 10th, '15, 12:14
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Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
We never keep Pu-erh for more than 2 days, the taste would start to warp after that.
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
Here's my 2c...
All depends on the quality of the tea. For the majority of shu puerh, I don't really dig the way most overnight infusions taste, so I will often just toss the leaves when the first session is done. The exception is well aged, high quality shu. Some of those might go up to 5+ days with two infusions per day (one at night, one in the morning), but we're talking original year Gold Needle White Lotus.
Sheng is a different story. Good young sheng might go 3-4 days, great young sheng might go 5+ days, and great aged sheng might easily go 7+ days or more of two infusions per day. I think as long as you are using boiling water twice per day, the chances anything will grow in a Yixing is slim to none. There are legends of two notorious NYC tea masters who drank a 1950's Red Label for 4 months straight in a gaiwan and still found flavor coming forth.
FWIW, I would NEVER put a Yixing in the fridge, as it would absorb all those food aromas rather quickly. The last thing I want is my teapots smelling like onion or garlic.
All depends on the quality of the tea. For the majority of shu puerh, I don't really dig the way most overnight infusions taste, so I will often just toss the leaves when the first session is done. The exception is well aged, high quality shu. Some of those might go up to 5+ days with two infusions per day (one at night, one in the morning), but we're talking original year Gold Needle White Lotus.
Sheng is a different story. Good young sheng might go 3-4 days, great young sheng might go 5+ days, and great aged sheng might easily go 7+ days or more of two infusions per day. I think as long as you are using boiling water twice per day, the chances anything will grow in a Yixing is slim to none. There are legends of two notorious NYC tea masters who drank a 1950's Red Label for 4 months straight in a gaiwan and still found flavor coming forth.
FWIW, I would NEVER put a Yixing in the fridge, as it would absorb all those food aromas rather quickly. The last thing I want is my teapots smelling like onion or garlic.
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
Forever if I keep hitting the tea with hot water at least once a day. Just finished up a green oolong that I steeped for 5 days straight in a gaiwan. Only thing I've changed recently is to cover it up with some plastic wrap when I use a gaiwan or a yixing with a loose fitting lid when I'm done for the night. I was getting a bit of a funky smell that would also show up in the first steep after sitting overnight. With the wrap the smell and taste have disappeared completely.
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
I've got a Yixing pot with Teadezhang's 1000 year old trees in it for 3 days, now. Tastes better to me on day 3 than day 1. No rules on how long a tea can survive in a pot. But, I think a pot will survive longer than the tea!steanze wrote:I usually keep the session within one day. I sometimes leave leaves overnight in a gaiwan, but never in a Yixing pot.
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
I only do that with aged Pu (precious)..other teas I try to discard as quick as finishing a session..
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
My session has lasted 3 days.chrl42 wrote:I only do that with aged Pu (precious)..other teas I try to discard as quick as finishing a session..
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
I nearly alway drink it over a couple of days when brewing gongfu style (except occasionally when brewing with a smaller vessel & can finish same day). I leave it in the open, covered with a tea cloth overnight.
Re: How long do you keep tea in your teapot?
I'm glad to hear I'm not alone in this. I've had some 90s HK from W2T that's been going in a 60ml pot from Petr Novak for several days now, almost a week. The storage flavor (my wife refers to this one as "the musty basement tea") has dropped to the background and other happy little notes are starting to shine through. The body is holding up well too! No reason to dump this if it is still changing and yielding something pleasant to drink!