Wednesday TeaDay 1/27/10 TeaFairie Dewinger ;) ?

[Chip]

Greetings and salutations everyone. Please do drop in and sit a spell ... and of course share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed tea leaf aroma. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Ok, you looked at the leaf, smelled it ... now you pour water over it. But how do YOU decide when it is actually done to perfection? Please share details, secrets. You can vote for up to 3 today.

I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up.

[bsteele]

What did you just call me?!

Darjeeling #1 in me cup.

[Seeker]

Okay, so I don't actually de-wing the tea fairies - I just, on some days, have trouble hearing them. So on those days, a timer... or counting in my head (or out loud -- one one thousand, two one thousand... )
Then there's days when I listen for the faint whisper of the tea fairies,
hear, or fail to hear, or forget altogether and over-infuse the tea -- sigh.
I aspire to counting breaths, watching steam, watching the infusion, smelling the aroma of the wafting steam...

Done with tea for today - but earlier, my last wan was an under-infused moonlight white (and I used the timer; but, well, I was experimenting, and only infused for 2min; Rishi says infuse for 4-5min, and I must admit I haven't perfected this infusion yet; as of now - 2min @ 185* is too short).
11:55pm Tuesday night here, time fer beddy-bye, G'night. (I know I'm ahead of the day on this, oh well... )

[Geekgirl]

[Jasmin]

I used to just guess how much time went by. Obviously that went wrong more often than not.
Sometimes I look at the tea and it still looks watery and I let it go a bit longer. I'm always off with that. I don't know why I still sometimes do that
Now I usually just use a timer. Except with herbals like rooibos.

I'm having another cup of "Orange Spice Tea" from MRH. Soooo good.

[Victoria]

Yikes Geek, that's one PO'd TeaFairie!! Put down that timer and s l o w l y back away!!!

I do use a timer when brewing English style, or for Japanese greens. Otherwise I just wing it, no counting. I can tell by the color how long to brew the next steep. Or sometimes I just know.

Japanese black for me this morning.

Have a nice day everyone!

[olivierco]

Most of the time I use a timer or the clock on my kitchen wall.

Kaboku sencha this afternoon.

[geeber1]

Geek, does that poppet have a bit of an anger issue? I wouldn't go anywhere near its wings!

I use a timer most of the time, just because I'm inclined to walk off and forget that I'm making tea. But with old favorites, I just know.

No tea yet, I forgot to fill and set the Zoji so it's boiling now.

[LauraW]

Especially for teas that I know, I can tell by the color and aroma - if it looks tasty, and smells tasty, it's probably tasty. Sometimes I just end up reaching for the cup, even if I haven't "examined" it, and it's right; some internal timer dings, the tea faeries buzz in my ear, and it's done.

I figure if I know it takes exactly 4min30sec for this tea, what does that mean practically? What color is it, how does it smell, how warm should the cup be in the hand when it's done? There are so many factors, that time doesn't mean as much for me - I'd rather enjoy it and not think about time.

Earl Grey this morning. Even in the black office mugs, I know just when it's ready!

[brlarson]

My TeaFaeries are flightless but are magical nonetheless. Geekgirl, I love the poppet. They haven't been around for a while!

I always use a timer for first brews and I keep notes about all of the parameters that I use for each tea. For second and subsequent brews of Japanese greens I usually count in my head.

I broke my porcelain Chatsford pot yesterday morning. I really must have needed the tea because I broke the top of the pot while putting on its lid, but a new pot should arrive today. Another odd flub is that I discovered yesterday that my electronic scale had been reset during the Christmas season and was measuring in pennyweights rather than grams, so I've been using 55% more leaf than I thought I was. The four teas that I have been drinking have seemed unusually strong. I looked at the scale after comparing the true weights of my open teas with the weights listed in my spreadsheet and saw that all four teas were overconsumed by roughly the same percentage, so I checked the scale.

Jing's traditional shui xian for breakfast, with Zencha's sencha kiwani coming up for lunch.

[Trey Winston]

I usually let the fairies tell me when it's done, but sometimes I just rip their wings off and employ a timer. That's especially important if I'm serving tea to someone else. Can't trust the fairies to do that right.

White Peony is today's choice.

[gingkoseto]

For most oolongs, I count. For Chinese green and black tea, most of the time I guestimate time.

[Sam.]

I "just know" or take a look at the brew. If it's in a porcelain gaiwan it's easy for me to take a look at the color of the liquor and know whether it's gone far enough (or too far). In my kyusu or yixing you can't really tell the color of the brew (since they're dark themselves) so I guesstimate roughly the same amount of time whenever I brew a tea.

Some daily sencha from O-cha this morning.

[Victoria]

I usually let the fairies tell me when it's done, but sometimes I just rip their wings off and employ a timer. That's especially important if I'm serving tea to someone else. Can't trust the fairies to do that right.

Awwww TREY!!! You wouldn't????????? Here's Tenuki's
fairy pic, I think I see a tear in the corner of her eye.
Awwww.

[geeber1]

I usually let the fairies tell me when it's done, but sometimes I just rip their wings off and employ a timer. That's especially important if I'm serving tea to someone else. Can't trust the fairies to do that right.

Fairies are VERY untrustworthy! Good idea to keep them away from the tea!