How to Properly Brew Longjing

[Faramir1976]

Tried a lower temp and adding leaf. I have to say that I got something half decent out of it... maybe lowering steeping time will also improve taste.
If it didn't get better I would have turned the pond outside my workplace into lake Longjing.
Thanks for the advice.

[gingkoseto]

Here is Chinese way to brew longjing, hope you like this way.

1. first boil the water to 100 degree; after boiling, let the water sit for about 1 minutes to cool down to 85~90 degrees.

2. First put 2~3 grams of tea into glass; then pour water to reach 1/3 of the glass. Rotate the glass gently for 15 seconds, and smell the aromas; then re-pour water into the glass to reach 3/4 of the glass.

3. Next, steep the tea for about 2~3 minutes; in the meantime, watch the tea leaves up and down in the water, and also, the tea buds standing up at the bottom of glass, just like the bamboo shoots.

4. Don’t drink all the tea soup before second infusion. You should re-pour the 85~90 degrees water when there is still 1/3 of tea soup, and steep for about 3 minutes, so as to get the same taste as the first infusion.

5. For third infusion, it is almost the same as the second one, except for the steeping time. A little big longer, about 4 or 5 minutes, because at this infusion, almost all the tea inner substances coming out already.

This is my favorite way of having long jing And tea solo you made such a clear description!

[Jayaratna]

2. First put 2~3 grams of tea into glass; then pour water to reach 1/3 of the glass.

Is this to be made in a preheated glass?

Thanks!

[tea soho]

For Jayaratna:

Well, any glass is ok, as long as it can hold around 150ml water. Normally for personal drinking, straight glass cup is preferable.

Becuase you just hold the bottom and top of the glass, which is not hot at all. So you can still rotate the glass in a gentle way, so that tea leaves or buds can stretch out totally, and get a full body taste of tea.

Sorry dont know how to quote.

[Salsero]

Here is Chinese way to brew longjing, hope you like this way.

1. first boil the water to 100 degree; after boiling, let the water sit for about 1 minutes to cool down to 85~90 degrees.

2. First put 2~3 grams of tea into glass; then pour water to reach 1/3 of the glass. Rotate the glass gently for 15 seconds, and smell the aromas; then re-pour water into the glass to reach 3/4 of the glass.

3. Next, steep the tea for about 2~3 minutes; in the meantime, watch the tea leaves up and down in the water, and also, the tea buds standing up at the bottom of glass, just like the bamboo shoots.

4. Don’t drink all the tea soup before second infusion. You should re-pour the 85~90 degrees water when there is still 1/3 of tea soup, and steep for about 3 minutes, so as to get the same taste as the first infusion.

5. For third infusion, it is almost the same as the second one, except for the steeping time. A little big longer, about 4 or 5 minutes, because at this infusion, almost all the tea inner substances coming out already.

This is my favorite way of having long jing And tea solo you made such a clear description!

Do you 2 also recommend this style for other Chinese greens? I've been meaning to try it out ever since Gingko first mentioned using higher temps, but I don't have any Long Jing on hand. I do have a couple other greens however.

[tea soho]

Hi Salsero,

Normally for brewing high quality tea, or premium green teas, we will adopt this way.

For high quality green tea, since most of them are buds with tender leaves, so the temperature is normally around 85~90 degrees. then adopt the brewing way i mentioned before. Since high temp will damage the tender buds.

But for tea tasting in the tea lab, we will use above 95 degree boiling water to taste the tea, since under high temp, if there are any impurities, or problems during tea process, through our smell, taste and others, we can score the tea.

in all, for daily appreciation of premium green tea, just 85~90 degrees of boiling water; whereas for tea tasting in tea lab, above 95degree boiling water is a must.

[Salsero]

Thanks. It sounds like you work in the tea industry. Good information.

This afternoon I hope to get a chance to try some Hai Nan Island Bai Sha Lu, Yang Yan Gou Qing, or Huang Shan Mao Feng using that method including the water 185° F to 190° Fahrenheit (85° C to 90° C).

[tea soho]

Yes, i am in the tea industry.

Now i am taking care of the export parts of tea bags of Changxing Tea World & Food Co. www.top-teaworld.com. it mainly produces the tea bags, or refined loose leaves tea for beverage or extracts. So working on how to find buyers overseas, especially the European and US markets.

Besides of that, I am also working on the consultancy, logistics, purchasing jobs for my friend, who is going to start premium tea business in Canada, especially Puer tea and green tea at the beginning.

In this april and early May, stayed almost 15 days in Zhejiang and 8 days in Yunnan, in Yiwu town, in Nan Nuo Mountain, Jinggu county. really love Yunnan big trees. extremely good surroundings and honest, kind minorities, expreience different cultures.

Hai Nan Bai Sha Tea, never tasted before. It is also very rare in China. But heard of it before.

Yang Yan Guo Qing, sorry, dont know what tea it is. Never heard of.

Huang Shan Mao Feng, cool tea, special character is its lightly smoky fragrance, very sweet, and lingering aftertaste. but other Anhui green teas are extraordinary good, such as Song Luo green tea, Liu An Gua Pian, Tai Ping Hou Kui.

But anyway, Sheng Puer is my favorite, especially if you have been to Yunna. My feeling is human being is extremely insignificant when standing in frond of over several hundred years old Puer tea. I will send you some pictures soon in Yunnan.

[gingkoseto]

But for tea tasting in the tea lab,

Ha! You have a cool job!

[tea soho]

Thanks. Gingko.

Yes, I love the jobs, especially drinking tea in Yunnan. what a cool place. You should definitely visit there and see the big trees.

[gingkoseto]

Thanks. It sounds like you work in the tea industry. Good information.

This afternoon I hope to get a chance to try some Hai Nan Island Bai Sha Lu, Yang Yan Gou Qing, or Huang Shan Mao Feng using that method including the water 185° F to 190° Fahrenheit (85° C to 90° C).

I agree with tea soho that the method is mainly for expensive tea with subtle flavor. The method is good at extracting the flavor without hurting tea leaves. I believe it works for many teas but I usually am not that careful on high mountain teas, which are good and easy going and therefore can stand higher temperature (and with an open top vessel, the temperature will drop soon anyway).

I love the yang yan gou qing you gave me! It's a relatively newly "invented" tea (started to be made in 1980s) and not as famous as many other traditionally famous green teas in China (probably also because it's not produced as much as others). Due to its curled shape, I found it's just fine to use lower temperature (85C) since the leaves will sink to the bottom and then will be fully immersed. It also has the high mountain tea feature and I found it handles higher temperature (90-95C) pretty well too. Such a tasty and easy-going tea!

Did you get the bai sha lu from jingsteashop? Let us know if you find it bitter, if you like the bitterness, or if you manage to brew it without bitterness

[gingkoseto]

Thanks. Gingko.

Yes, I love the jobs, especially drinking tea in Yunnan. what a cool place. You should definitely visit there and see the big trees.

When you have time, write more about your job and how you proceed toward your career, please!

I am not a puerh fan yet... but I do love Yunnan and hope to visit there again soon!

[Salsero]

Indeed, tea soho, I have to agree with Gingko that your job sounds very cool, especially the travel to Yunnan. From the pictures and video I have seen it looks like a very beautiful place and the minority people that live there sound wonderful. I never thought about the feeling of standing before ancient trees, but it must be quite moving.

I also like sheng puerh. I'm sure you have noticed the TeaChat forum devoted to puerh.

A tea vendor in the US posted some videos of his travel in Yunnan. You can see them at YouTube (if it's not blocked in China) HERE.

Gingko, thanks for the additional guidance on those greens. I'm glad you liked the yang yan gou qing. I am still working my way through the enormous number of samples you sent me.

[brad4419]

Thanks so much for the link Sal I loved the video. Especially when they showed Nannuo mountain because thats were my first sheng came from. Now when Im drinking it I can see where its from. Also this part they played the song from the beginning of Forest Gump where the feather is floating around.

[Salsero]

Did you get the bai sha lu from jingsteashop? Let us know if you find it bitter, if you like the bitterness, or if you manage to brew it without bitterness

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question earlier. Yes, this is the very inexpensive green tea from Jing. When I have brewed it at lower temps, I like it quite a bit and don't find it to be bitter. It is certainly a very good bargain at 100 grams for $3.00.

I am trying some now using the method you and Tea Soho have described. Unfortunately, the "glass" I am using is made of plastic and has a plastic taste that I never noticed before. I think Bai Sha Lu might not be the best choice for this style of brewing since it is made of pieces of the leaves, rather than buds, and is steamed rather than pan fired. Also, this first infusion is starting to get some astringency or bitterness about five or ten minutes into drinking it.

I guess you just drink from the same glass in which you brew, right? I shouldn't decant, so that means the first infusion can last quite a long while depending on how rapidly I drink.