Brewing tea in the Kettle, a question of technique!

[MisterPanda]

Hello everyone. I have just gotten a new teapot and kettle. Like most of you know, the best way for teas to infuse is by letting them brew completely free in the pot (instead of cooped up in the included infuser baskets). So you can just dump the tea in with the water in the pot, but My teapot is about 22 ounces and I can hardly drink the tea fast enough for it to not terribly overbrew when I leave the leaves in the pot.

SO

I decided to get a nice tea kettle which has been designed to be able to brew tea inside. I chose this one:



Firstly, it is cast iron which will match my new Iwachu set perfectly. Secondly, the entire top of the kettle is the lid, so removing the brewed leaves and cleaning the kettle will be a sinch! (Much easier than if it was a traditional kettle with a small round hole in the top.

OK

So I finally get to my problem! When I heat my water in the kettle, I will pour a bit into the teapot to preheat it. Theoretically I would then have a kettle of hot water, and some tea. BUT aren't you supposed to pour the water ONTO the tea, and not add the tea TO the water? Im worried that this reversal of sequence might effect my tea negatively.

I tried pouring the water out, and then adding the tea to the kettle, and then adding the water again. Unfortunately this drastically lowers the temperature of the water.

So can anyone give me some ideas/tips? If I took a kettle of water at the appropriate temperature, added the tea and stirred a bit, would that work as well as pouring the water on the tea?

Thanks so much for your help everyone!

Ryan Shanabarger

[Chip]

There are some sencha and other greens that I will pour the leaf into the water at the appropriate temp, but this is an exception to the rule.

[tingjunkie]

I tried pouring the water out, and then adding the tea to the kettle, and then adding the water again. Unfortunately this drastically lowers the temperature of the water.

That's how I have always done it with my tetsubin. I'd be shocked if I was losing a lot of temperature in the 15 seconds (or less) it takes me to pour the water out of the pre-heated pot, put the leaves in, then put more hot water on top. That's the whole point of cast iron- they retain the heat for a long time. Maybe you are just over-thinking it?

[MisterPanda]

The pot may retain the heat, but the water won't. If you take that water from the kettle, pout it into another containter, add tea to the kettle, and then pour the water back in... I wouldn't be surprised if there is a 10 degree difference at least. I'll have to measure it to be sure I guess.

[tingjunkie]

Ah, now I see. I just dump the few ounces of water I used to heat the pot, then add all new water.

[MisterPanda]

Ok, let me try and clarify. It's confusing to write even ^_^

This is the process I am currently considering:

1. Pour fresh water into KETTLE on stove. Heat to correct temperature.
2. Pour a portion of this water from the teaKETTLE into the teaPOT to preheat the POT.
3. Put the measured tea leaves into the remaining water in the teaKETTLE.
4. Stir/swirl the leaves lightly to cover with water.
5. Allow tea to brew in KETTLE, while the teaPOT is waiting with the preheating water.
6. Pour out water from POT now that it is preheated adaquately.
7. Pour infused tea from KETTLE through a strainer into teaPOT.
8. Enjoy tea by serving from teaPOT into teacups.

Ok, so the question is this: Step 3-4 I am adding leaves to water, instead of pouring the water on the leaves like normal. Assuming that I carefully stir or swirl the pot a bit to ensure that the leaves are covered and mixed with the water, will this change in sequance have a negative effect on the final product .

Hopefully that clears up what I meant!

And thanks for the replies so far everyone!

[scruffmcgruff]

Panda, you are making this infinitely more difficult than it needs to be. Here is what you do:

Heat water in kettle.
Pour some water into teapot to warm the teapot. Discard this water.
Place tea leaves in the empty (and warm) teapot.
Pour water from kettle into teapot, steep for desired time.

Not that hard! Just think about it logically.

Edit: I just noticed you are trying to brew in the kettle. Don't. The end result is far worse, with only minimal extra effort (actually much less, if you go about it your way). The only people I know of that make tea in a kettle are the Tibetans, but then they also add rancid yak butter to their tea so I don't have much faith in their taste.

[MisterPanda]

Thanks for the reply. The problem is that once the tea brews for the appropriate amount of time, I cannot drink it fast enough for the rest not to become bitter and overbrewed. My teapot is 22 ish ounces, so its usually 15-20 minutes before I finish the whole pot. By then the tea would be gross if I left the leaves in there!

And im not sure that it is just the Tibetans. In fact, the two pot method is listed as the easiest in a great book I just read (The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide). Unfortunetely it is ambiguous as to whether two teapots are being used, or if a kettle and pot can be used.

That being said, why do you believe that the 'end result is far worse' when brewing in the kettle? My enamel lined kettle is designed specifically for that, so there's no issue with taste interacting with metal or anything...

~ryan

[Chip]

Thanks for the reply. The problem is that once the tea brews for the appropriate amount of time, I cannot drink it fast enough for the rest not to become bitter and overbrewed. My teapot is 22 ish ounces, so its usually 15-20 minutes before I finish the whole pot. By then the tea would be gross if I left the leaves in there!

And im not sure that it is just the Tibetans. In fact, the two pot method is listed as the easiest in a great book I just read (The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide). Unfortunetely it is ambiguous as to whether two teapots are being used, or if a kettle and pot can be used.

That being said, why do you believe that the 'end result is far worse' when brewing in the kettle? My enamel lined kettle is designed specifically for that, so there's no issue with taste interacting with metal or anything... ~ryan

Not to be a smart azz, very few people who drink tea regularly, and have tried just about everything, brew in a kettle. It is just bound to create problems.

Also, if you brew in a pot, you can pour the entire pot into a pitcher of some kind. This will prevent over steeping.

And lastly, you might be answering your own question. 22 ounces is a pretty big steep for one person. Especially when you start factoring in resteeps. You may end up drinking 100 ounces or more of the same "session" of tea. If you brew smaller steeps of 5-10 ounces, you can pour the entire pot contents into your cup often times, and it can save money as well.

[scruffmcgruff]

And im not sure that it is just the Tibetans. In fact, the two pot method is listed as the easiest in a great book I just read (The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide). Unfortunetely it is ambiguous as to whether two teapots are being used, or if a kettle and pot can be used.

The "two pot method" is different than brewing in a kettle, sorry for the confusion. I was referring to the practice of putting tea in a kettle to steep while it is boiling over a heat source. The second teapot in the two-pot thing is just a fancy replacement for a pitcher, which is often an unnecessary replacement for a cup!

Also, while I haven't read that book, I can tell you that 90% of English-speaking people who write books about tea have no idea what the hell they are talking about when it comes to enjoying tea. Books are good for history and art, usually, but you will learn far more about the various types of tea and how to brew them here!

That being said, why do you believe that the 'end result is far worse' when brewing in the kettle? My enamel lined kettle is designed specifically for that, so there's no issue with taste interacting with metal or anything...

Once again, sorry for the confusion, I was referring to another kind of kettle brewing. If you are really intent on using the two-pot thing, here is a revised set of instructions. Note that "teapot B" can be replaced by a pitcher or cup, it's all the same really.

-Heat water in kettle.
-Pour some water into teapot to warm the teapot A. Either pour this water into teapot B to warm it, or use more water from the kettle to warm teapot B. Discard all this water.
-Place tea leaves in the empty (and warm) teapot A.
-Pour water from kettle into teapot A, steep for desired time.
-Pour tea from teapot A into teapot B.

You *could* use the hot but empty kettle as a replacement for "teapot B" but it's a little unorthodox. If you do it that way, you can't heat more water while you are still working on a previous infusion and you have to clean out your kettle a lot more often.

[t4texas]

Rather than trying to re-invent tea brewing methods in new and more difficult and less efficacious ways, you could just use tried and true methods found in this topic and throughout this forum.

The book's description of the two pot method is clear enough, also. It's a good book in many ways. Just slow down and read it.

[MisterPanda]

Im not really trying to re-invent anything... I just have a problem with my brewing and I was looking for some suggestions. Its not like I think the water onto tea method should be improved upon. Im just saying I thin i might have to add tea to water, and I was wondering if it would have a negative effect on the quality.

[t4texas]

As someone already said. You. are. making. this. much. more. difficult. than. it. has. to. be.

I give up.

[MisterPanda]

Perhaps if you took the time to read my entire post you would understand why Im not sure I will be able to do it traditionally.

Frankly, you are being kind of rude! Im just asking for peoples opinion about the quality of the tea that would be produced. Im NOT asking for random people to suggest that I am being stupid or incorrigible.

Thanks to the others who have offered advice.

[scruffmcgruff]

Well, generally people solve your problem by decanting the tea all at once into a pitcher or multiple cups, if you are brewing for more than one. If you shelled out for that kettle (it's a g kettle by the way, my mom has the same one) I'm sure you can afford another quality vessel to decant into.

I hope I don't sound too antagonistic here, but I think people are getting frustrated because you appear to be creating non-existent problems. I'm not saying your questions are stupid and I can see how you arrived at them, but you most likely already have all the necessary tools to do it the easy/right way, so I do agree that you are probably over-thinking this.