Hi - I'm new to this forum, and relatively new to being a tea enthusiast. I've been drinking loose leaf tea for several years. I have used tea balls or cups with infusers and lids. Now I would like to get a yixing pot for green oolong. At home I'm planning to drink 2-3 cups after I get home from work (first cup after dinner, last cup 2-3 hours later). My question - how do I keep the leaves in between steepings? Should some water remain in the pot..etc.
Thanks!
Aug 28th, '11, 13:14
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Joined: Jan 10th, '10, 16:04
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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debunix
Re: Question re: Multiple infusions
All you need to do is pour the tea out, all of it, and let the leaves sit in the pot. As long as you're not waiting days between infusions, there's really not much to worry about. With oolongs, you'll be brewing with water very close to boiling, and hitting the leaves repeatedly with that, so not much is going to grow over a few hours or even overnight.
If you're really new to multiple infusions, the more important question is, how big should the pot be? Because if you've been brewing more western-style, a teaspoon of leaf to an 8 ounce cup, a pot of that size might seem just right, but a lot of the tea junkies around here will use a 3-4 oz pot, a lot more leaf than you'd expect (enough that when fully wetted/unfurled, the leaves pretty much fill the teapot), and brew 6-10 infusions or more.
And many of us have a collection of larger pots that see very little use any more.
If you're really new to multiple infusions, the more important question is, how big should the pot be? Because if you've been brewing more western-style, a teaspoon of leaf to an 8 ounce cup, a pot of that size might seem just right, but a lot of the tea junkies around here will use a 3-4 oz pot, a lot more leaf than you'd expect (enough that when fully wetted/unfurled, the leaves pretty much fill the teapot), and brew 6-10 infusions or more.
And many of us have a collection of larger pots that see very little use any more.
Re: Question re: Multiple infusions
I'd pretty much agree, except the greener the oolong, the more it will oxidize when exposed to air. Think of taking a bite of an apple, then letting it sit on your counter for a couple hours- the same thing sort of happens to lightly roasted teas. If covered in a decent pot for 2-3 hours, there should be about 0% chance of any harmful bacteria growing, but the tea might taste just slightly off, or not up to its full potential.debunix wrote:All you need to do is pour the tea out, all of it, and let the leaves sit in the pot. As long as you're not waiting days between infusions, there's really not much to worry about. With oolongs, you'll be brewing with water very close to boiling, and hitting the leaves repeatedly with that, so not much is going to grow over a few hours or even overnight.
If you only want three cups per night out of a decent green oolong, then you are looking for something close to a 8oz (240ml) pot, and using around 3-4g of tea. (Just estimating.) One day, you should invite friends over, go ahead and put about 14g of tea in the same size pot, and see what you've been missing though!
That will give you 7-20+ cups from a good tea, and those cups will take you on a journey. 