Thursday TeaDay 2/19/09 Steep Times?

[Smari]

Sal - love the photo; cups look very pretty!

As for poll answer, it depends on the tea. It can vary from 30 seconds to 4 minutes max.

This morning, had mateVana. I think I will have alishan next.

[boywoodhe]

I voted for 2 min or less.
I love my black teas and I like to steep about 2-2 1/2 .
Drinking a nice cup of Antony & Cleopatra from the tea table. yummy

[Intuit]

I'm usually having my beloved India/Ceylon black teas brewed properly, Western Style, in a Chatsford style pot. A heavily oxidized oolong might be brewed just a tad longer. Served with a dollop of milk, in a mug. :devil:

[olivierco]

less than 30s for wuyi and other oolongs
30s for bancha
60s for sencha
90s for gyokuro
120s to 240s for black, white and chinese greens
and I don't know for matcha how to evaluate the steep time.

I voted 1 min or less.

Kaboku sencha in a few minutes.

[snafu]

Can't really answer this one for tea in general. As mentioned by others, it depends on the tea, brewing style, how much leaf is used, temperature, etc.
Common first steeps for me are maybe: oolong 30 seconds, sencha 75 seconds, gyokuro 90 seconds, puerh 10 seconds, genmaicha 120 seconds, black tea 30-240 seconds, mint tea 5-10 minutes, etc.

This morning, O-cha's Shizuoka Surugawase (about 75 seconds).

[disillusioned]

For some reason it always seems to be about 3 minutes for me

[geeber1]

I mostly drink blacks, so I start out with 3 minutes and then can usually get another 4 minute steep from the same leaves. Depending on which tea, I can sometimes get a third for 5 minutes before the leaves give out.

Ceylon Sonata in my cup this morning.

[ErikaM]

I voted 2 minutes, although it ranges anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, depending on the tea.

This morning I'm drinking E Mei E Rui, which just came yesterday from Dragon Tea House. The truth is, I was browsing the store and ordered it mostly because the photo of Emei mountain was so pretty. It turned out to be a lucky choice, because I'm *really* enjoying this tea.

[Victoria]

No time for tea at home this morning,
in my cup at work is Seven Cups
AlisShan Jin Xuan

Have a nice day everyone!

[silvermage2000]

For me I agree It depends on the tea.

[Susana]

Silver Needle in my pot AGAIN! I would say the second infusion was about two minutes this morning.

Yesterday I used a giant guywan filled with Silver Needle and filled filled a mason jar before work.

Today I will have Silver Needle Kumbucha that I made.

Does anyone see a trend?

JUNKIE

[Pentox]

I voted 1 minute or less, most of my stuff is 45s for the first steep.

Today: Last of my mengjian oolong from Lupicia.

[GT500Driver]

I mostly drink blacks, so I start out with 3 minutes and then can usually get another 4 minute steep from the same leaves. Depending on which tea, I can sometimes get a third for 5 minutes before the leaves give out.

Ceylon Sonata in my cup this morning.

I voted "Under 3 Minutes" and that, geeber1, is exactly what I do with my blacks. With greens I do between 1 1/2-3 minutes, whites about 2 minutes, herbals anywhere from 6-10 minutes. This is a pretty complex question...

Having a resteep of Kunan Concerto from Adagio right now. Had the first steep when I left for school a few hours ago. Probably going to have some Vanilla Rooibos with a friend in the next hour. After that, who knows..

[JP]

This poll really should be split into multiple polls to reflect the different types of teas. Brewing time is highly dependent on what type of tea it is.

[brlarson]

This poll really should be split into multiple polls to reflect the different types of teas. Brewing time is highly dependent on what type of tea it is.

Yup, and it also depends on your brewing method. I brew teas differently on weekday mornings than I do when I have the time to brew them properly.
I'm surprised that so many folks have the time to custom brew each cup