Western Style Brewing?

[Nexius8510]

I've heard a few people talking about brewing teas (black teas I usually notice) using Western Style brewing? I was just curious as to what that actually means! Thanks!

[olivierco]

Western style is about 2.3 grams per 6 ounces water. Longer steeps of 3-5 minutes are pretty typical.

Gong fu stule brewing implies more leaves, less water and then shorter consecutive steeps.

[fencerdenoctum]

Western style brewing instructions:

1. Put on cowboy hat and boots
2. Lasso tea tin

Wait, thats not right. Western brewing deals with using the kind of teapot your used to seeing (such as Adagio's personalitea or their glass teapots). The most notable style of these pots is the English "Brown Betty." Brewing western style is usually one teaspoon of tea per 6 oz. of water and waiting about 4 min (for blacks that is) with really hot water. Gong fu brewing really searches the tea out and you get to observe the subtle nuances as you do subsequent steeps, while western brewing is more...casual I suppose.

I typed this whole thing out then I saw that Chip answered you in one sentence. I'm not one for brevity. Sorry Chip!

The tea sipping swordsman,
Fencerdenoctum

[Nexius8510]

Thanks so much! I had read up a little on gong fu style and was thinking that maybe could mean the same thing, but I just wasn't sure! Are there any types of tea that gong fu style isn't recommended for?

[fencerdenoctum]

I'd say black personally. Due to their heavy processing, they dont hold up to multiple steepings as well as greens, oolongs, or puerh. I'm sure some folks here know some blacks you can gong fu though.

The Tea Sipping Swordsman,
Fencerdenoctum

[Beidao]

I would not gongfu a Sencha. I do Gongfu Keemun and sometimes Yunnan Gold or Darjeeling.

[silvermage2000]

Hm interesting wouldnt be more expensive though because your using more leaves and what not?

[stanthegoomba]

Gongfu uses up tea quicker, but you can get a lot of mileage from a single session if you re-steep.

Many of us mortals often settle on a compromise of the two brewing styles for the sake of convenience, our wallets, or even personal preference. For instance my favourite way to brew Yunnan black tea is at 4.5 grams in a 10 oz pot for 3 minutes. What would you call that?

[Nexius8510]

I would not gongfu a Sencha. I do Gongfu Keemun and sometimes Yunnan Gold or Darjeeling.

I've heard of people liking to gongfu Sencha and others who do not. What is everyone's general consensus as to why or why not?

[Victoria]

Because the leaf is finer, it works better with broader leaf teas, like oolongs.
Same problem with most blacks.

[fencerdenoctum]

I wouldn't gongfu a sencha either. Sencha brewing is a whole different kettle of fish.

[shardy53]

I do my tea western style in a 16 oz pot or an Ingenuitea. I use two heaping teaspoons of BLACK tea and steep for 4 mins. Then I pour the first brew in a 32 oz thermos, and do a second 16 oz infusion for 5 mins and pour that into the same thermos. I then have four good cups of tea to drink all morning.


Steve

[Chip]

I wouldn't gongfu a sencha either. Sencha brewing is a whole different kettle of fish.

agreed...

I almost always Western/English brew blacks. Partially because I generally don't want to resteep blacks much more than once. Partially because blacks brew a really nice cup this way.

[Space Samurai]

Sencha brewing is a whole different kettle of fish.

I've often been curious what we call this. Its not quite gongfu and it certainly isn't 'western style' either. Thoughts?

There are some High quality Chinese blacks (hong cha) that I think do well with gong fu.

Hm interesting wouldnt be more expensive though because your using more leaves and what not?

This is why with gong fu the idea is to use small gaiwans and yixing pots, sometimes as small as 1-3 oz (30-90 ml)

[snafu]

Sencha brewing is a whole different kettle of fish.

I've often been curious what we call this. Its not quite gongfu and it certainly isn't 'western style' either. Thoughts?

Jujutsu Cha?