Friday TeaDay 2/11/11 Vendor brewing suggestions?

[Chip]

Greetings TeaFriends. Welcome to a new and great TeaDay. We hope you will enjoy much tea and share it with us throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed the ratio of good brews to botched brews. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Much discussion over the ages on this topic. Do you ever follow vendor suggestions for brewing? Please share your thoughts on this. Thanks to Mrs. Chip for this idea.

We are all looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with everyone. Bottoms up!

[entropyembrace]

I rarely pay attention to the vendors brewing recomendations...though I used them a bit with some of O-cha´s senchas when I was starting with sencha this summer.

[auhckw]

>Yes, at least try it their way

At least try... then improvise according to my taste preference

[Nenugal]

I try following brewing suggestions from trustworthy shops like teaspring and o-cha if I consider them reasonable. Otherwise I improvise.

[olivierco]

Virtually never but I sometimes try brewing suggestions from teachat members.

Golden needles this morning.

[brlarson]

I usually try the vendors brewing suggestions at least once if the vendor is reputable. Sometimes they're way off and sometimes they're spot on.

Finished the evening with tencha from Hibiki-an. I love the nose of this tea.

[el gringo]

It really depends on how well I know that type of tea. In my limited experience the recommended temps have never been too far off, but the steeping times have tended to be way too long for my tastes; maybe I just like my tea quite weak

[Stentor]

Only with teas (types of teas) that are new to me. Even then I usually try to find posts regarding brewing that tea here on TeaChat. I usually do not agree that much with the vendor's suggestions.
Also, I pretty much always preheat my brewing vessel and since you never know if the vendor takes this into account or not, the suggested temperature is usually the parameter I disagree with the most.

With known teas I only "follow" the instructions if they happen to coincide with what I would do anyway.

[JBaymore]

I sometimes try it thier way....just to see.

best,

..............john

[tortoise]

Maybe...depending on if I have experience with the tea or the vendor. Some vendors I know use boilerplate instructions that are the same for nearly every tea they sell. I never try it their way. If I am new to the tea/vendor, I may give there instructions a shot...maybe.

Irish breakfast this chilly morning.

[Chip]

Rarely, I guess after a decade of really crazy brewing instructions, I had pretty much gave up on them.

WORST BREWING DIRECTIONS AWARD goes to RoT (republic of tea) who on their tin directed boiling water for 3-5 minutes for my first green tea (12 years ago). I went so far as to call them, and the CS person said bitter is a sign of a good tea! Somehow I figured it out on my own.

Fortunately we are seeing better brewing directions from vendors these days.

Thing is, I do understand it is difficult to offer the right directions that are universal for all drinkers. But they should at least be in the ballpark and for the actual tea in the package.

[GreenwoodStudio]

The brewing suggestions always seem really different then what I've read here on TeaChat. I'm having some Keemun now that I just brewed up in my new gaiwan. I did a quick rinse, and then a couple of 5 sec. infusions and it's great. The directions say to do 3-5 min. using boiling water, yuck.

As a side note, I went to Teavana the other day in Buffalo, NY to see what they had. No one there had ever heard of a gaiwan. In fact, I don't think they believed me that such a thing existed It was weird.

[TwoPynts]

I always at least try it the vendor's suggest way once. If that doesn't work, I go with my gut.

Brandon's 8582 from the OTTI about to go into the pot today.

[artmom]

I sometimes try it thier way....just to see.

best,

..............john

+1

[ErikaM]

That question made me laugh. I'm having flashbacks of some of the crazier brewing instructions I've seen.

I voted maybe, depends on how crazy the suggestions are.