Glass Brewing

[depravitea]

I'm posting this under Green Tea simply because that's what I brewed, I suppose you could do this with any tea you were inclined to.
I just read about this on Tea Nerd and decided to give it a try (after further research on wikiCHA.)
This is a really nice way to brew. Simple, interesting to watch, tasty results.
The only cons I would mention would be having to strain the tea through your teeth when drinking. Though that's not a big deal to me, I don't mind eating a few leaves really. Also, after taking a drink, the leaves tend to stick to the side of the glass, and you need to push them down. I tried to persuade the leaves to rejoin the collective by swirling the remaining tea, but succeeded only in splashing myself.


I brewed a no name green, nothing fancy (so if this completely sucked it would be no big loss.) Happy to say, the precautions were unnecessary.



Anyone else ever try this? Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

[Chip]

Yeah, I enjoy this with Chinese greens mostly. Creates a more mellow brew usually.

"Sinkers" work better.

[Maitre_Tea]

I think that glass-brewing is a way of "testing" high quality Long Jing. I remember a vendor I talked to in China said that high quality Long Jing would be parallel when you glass brewed it

[entropyembrace]

I do this fairly often...it's a nice way to drink whole leaf teas that don't have a tendency to become bitter. Anything that does get bitter easily really isn't all that pleasant brewed this way!

[depravitea]

Chip - Which teas do you find are more apt to sink than others?

Maitre_Tea - What about this method makes it good for testing teas?

entropyembrace - Avoid the possible bitter teas because it's basically one very long steep?

What water temp does everyone prefer, do you find it differs from tea to tea like normal, or doesn't it matter?

The more I try this, the more I like it. I'm on my third glass already lol

[Maitre_Tea]

Maitre_Tea - What about this method makes it good for testing teas?

I think it only applies to Long Jing, but something about the shape the leaves makes it suspend in the glass such that the leaves are length-wise in the glass, not width-wise...does this make sense?

[depravitea]

Yeah, so basically, how the leaves are suspended in the liquid is in itself a measure of quality? That's really interesting.
I'm gonna have to read up on that.

[TEAcipes]

I do this with Shin-cha a lot. Cold brew in a pitcher - it's really really green and pretty. I pour in through a strainer before serving though.

It also works with other tender greens like Gyokuro.

[depravitea]

I just placed an order with O-Cha, so I'll have some sencha to experiment with very soon!

I glass brewed some Dragonwell today, I REALLY like this method. Half of it is just watching the leaves steep.
My son and I were both in a semi-trance-like-state staring at the leaves floating around the glass.

[Maitre_Tea]

I just placed an order with O-Cha, so I'll have some sencha to experiment with very soon!

I glass brewed some Dragonwell today, I REALLY like this method. Half of it is just watching the leaves steep.
My son and I were both in a semi-trance-like-state staring at the leaves floating around the glass.

Were the leaves upright when being brewed?

[depravitea]

I just placed an order with O-Cha, so I'll have some sencha to experiment with very soon!

I glass brewed some Dragonwell today, I REALLY like this method. Half of it is just watching the leaves steep.
My son and I were both in a semi-trance-like-state staring at the leaves floating around the glass.

Were the leaves upright when being brewed?

I would have to say that the majority of them were vertical as opposed to horizontal. Maybe some 45-degree-angle action as well.
Have you also tried glass brewing longjing?

[Chip]

The ones I like to glass brew the most are the more needle types such as Chinese green Zhu Ye Qing which really puts on the best leaf dance show and just brews realllly nicely this way.

[Maitre_Tea]

I just placed an order with O-Cha, so I'll have some sencha to experiment with very soon!

I glass brewed some Dragonwell today, I REALLY like this method. Half of it is just watching the leaves steep.
My son and I were both in a semi-trance-like-state staring at the leaves floating around the glass.

Were the leaves upright when being brewed?

I would have to say that the majority of them were vertical as opposed to horizontal. Maybe some 45-degree-angle action as well.
Have you also tried glass brewing longjing?

To be honest, Long Jing and other Chinese greens aren't my cup of tea...
but I have seen a vendor in China take out different quality Long Jing and glass-brewed them so I can see the difference in quality. There are some nuanced things to look for in addition to the leaves being upright, but I forget what they were. Like Chip said, I loved watching the leaves dance around in the glass

[tealeaf]

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the Chinese-style tea glass/thermos with built-in filter. I had a plastic one (from Yellow Mountain Imports) for a few years, but I recently bought a lovely glass one from Xiu Xian Tea: https://xiuxiantea.merchantsecure.com/p ... ductType=4 (I have the large silver tree design.)

This is my default cup at work. It's a wonderful break to pour in the water, drop the leaves on top and spend a good five minutes watching them expand and sink down into the cup.

All the benefits of a glass, plus it's portable and holds the temperature of the water, and with a built in filter to avoid picking tealeaves our of your teeth.

[depravitea]

That's really interesting! Thanks for the link.