I poured a bit too much Special Green (chinese, cheep, but decent) Gunpowder in my teapot this morning even for a fast steep. It was half full by the time the tea had unrolled and the first cup was bitter after 10 seconds. I did not want to throw out tea that could be used, and I had plenty of people (student newspaper office) willing to drink it, so I tried something new.
My smaller teapot has a metal filter basket (~2.5" wide, 3.5" deep) which I filled with leaves - about half of what had been in the pot. I made a cup by simply pouring hot (sub boiling) water slowly (total ~20 secs for a med cup) through the filter and unrolled leaves.
It was good. Not bitter at all, but still flavorful. Better than the few pots of Gunpowder I had made before. It also lasted a long time, it was more than drinkable when we ran out of takers at around cup 10.
I am yet to do any more serious tests (correct amount in teapot side by side), but I am intrigued. If I am making enough to justify filling the filter, why not just use it?
Anyone done this? Thoughts?
It sounds like you are doing something that roughly resembles Chinese Gongfu brewing as you are doing multiple rounds of short infusions instead of one longer one. So I'd say that what you are doing while it may seem nontraditional is not as radical as you make it out to be - just a cruder and possibly more practical way of doing it.
John Grebe
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
~C. S. Lewis
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
~C. S. Lewis