I follow the directions but the tea is always too watery

[jaquettec]

First tea I made

2010 Spring Yong De Bai Ya - Sun Dried White Buds

1tbsp tea, boiled water and let it cool for 30 seconds, then brewed for 8 min. Teapot was prewarmed. I could taste a tea flavor but it still had a mostly water taste.

Next tea I had just now and still too weak watery taste.

It is: Den's Sencha (Pyramid Tea Bag)

prewarm pot, used 11oz of water, boiled water, transfered boiling water to a cup, then poured from cup into teapot (assuming thats around 180deg). Then I brewed for 2 min. Does that sound right? Because it didnt taste right.

Looking for suggestions. These are the only two cups of tea I have ever made.

[iannon]

how much water on the first one?

11oz is probably going to be too much for that tea bag IMHO. You will probably find most here will drink their Japanese greens at a closer to 5 or 6oz or less for as much leaf as is probably in that tea bag.

I would just kick up your leaf ratio or down with the water and try it

[jaquettec]

o ya, first one is 6oz water.

I used 11oz of water because it said on the site "Our tea bags are over-sized and can be used to brew cups from 12oz to 16oz."

I use the kyusu from dens also and it only goes up to about 11oz

[iannon]

well..if it tastes too weak then id play with those water volumes anyway. at least for the japanese greens. brew to your taste! dont worry about the directions if they fail you the first time. just adjust from there

[jaquettec]

Ok, I reused the teabag and made another with 6oz water. It tastes the same still. This time I brewed for about 3 min also. still weak taste. I find it hard to believe reusing it would have no effect when making those changes

[debunix]

The white buds are particularly delicate flavored, and light weight, and I found a lot were needed for a given amount of water.