Making Gunpowder Green Tea

[Darkness]

How many teaspoons of the little pellets is standard? One tea spoon per cup seems to come out pretty strong.

[PolyhymnianMuse]

How many teaspoons of the little pellets is standard? One tea spoon per cup seems to come out pretty strong.

Gunpowder tea is usally quite bitter and needs short steeps in order to come out pretty decent. Its not exactly the best quality of tea and that reflects the price so it may nothave much to be desired. How much water are you using and how long are you steeping it for?

[shogun89]

I use 1 teaspoon per 8 oz. 190* water for about 1.5 minutes.

[PolyhymnianMuse]

I use 1 teaspoon per 8 oz. 190* water for about 1.5 minutes.

Try lowering your water temperature or cutting your time down to about a minute and see how you like it.

[eor1122]

I just tried some gunpowder myself. It was "Pinhead Gunpowder" from a local tea shoppe. I don't know if it's a bad batch or what. But it was horrible.
From what I have read (on-line) it is suppose to have a smokey taste. I didn't realize smokey meant cigarette smoke. It smelled and tasted like an ashtray.

I pray yours is better. The directions on my package read 1 tsp per 6 oz filtered water. Heat water to 180 degrees and steep for 2 minutes.

[Trioxin]

Hmm. When I brew it, I usually way it to the standard 2.5g which might be less than an actual teaspoon. Since its so tightly compressed, a little will go a long way. And as suggested before, drop the temp down to 180.

[shogun89]

Its pretty much a love or hate tea. I happen to think it is pretty good but not love it. I know I just contradicted myself.

[chad]

Its pretty much a love or hate tea. I happen to think it is pretty good but not love it. I know I just contradicted myself.

I know exactly what you mean!

I have some Twinings Gunpowder that I break out when I want to, I don't know...maybe punish myself! I actually like it even though it isn't anywhere as nice as the darjeeling, white and assam that reside in my desk drawer.

I think it's a lot like drinking tequila straight...you know it's gonna "hurt" but you do it anyway!! (Not the film version of salt, lime, toss -- man up and drink it STRAIGHT! Neck of the bottle or from a cored out jalapeno pepper!!)

Anyway, I have to be in a certain mood to enjoy the Gunpowder. I use water from our commercial coffee maker dispenser -- I need to bring my Thermopen in to check the temp for reference. I use a slightly rounded teaspoon in my infuser in my 12 oz. mug.

[chad]

Since I killed this thread I'll add another note!

I recently read a David Lee Hoffman interview where he talked about traveling through Morocco where the tea is mostly Gunpowder green tea with mint and sugar.

Also, I recently asked a nice little coffee shop if they did tea? They said yes and showed me a list of flavored and herbal teas along with green tea - Gunpowder. I actually kept a straight face as I ordered my decaf latte -- but I'll probably stop in again just to see what they do to Gunpowder green tea.

I'm actually working through several infusions of Twining's Gunpowder green today. It grows on you. As I said in the previous post, I use hot water from the continuous use commercial coffee makers at work and believe the water is around 190-ish. Anyway, I steep the first infusion about 1-1.5 minutes and the first infusion is always the strongest (duh!) with a bit more bite that subsequent refills. I don't really increase the infusion time until the 4th or so infusion and the color, taste, astringency, etc. are really ok.

I don't drink it every day, but Gunpowder green has found its way into my rotation.

[rheimbro]

I didn't know what to make of it the first time I tried it, but now it has become my afternoon tea at work. The hot water dispenser comes out just around 180 F so I can really only do teas with lower temps anyway.

It has somewhat of a 'heavier' feel to it, which keeps me from reaching for a snack in the afternoon instead. I find it to be quite filling on its own.

I am almost out of my tin from adagio, but just ordered some more from imperial tea court so I am interested to see how they compare.