Multiple steep question

[jennytea]

Where do you leave the wet tea between steeping it the next time? Leave it in the filter in a dish or something? I only have one filter and so I've been putting it in a collander so I can use my fliter for something else. What do you guys do?

[hooksie]

Whether or not it's the best practice, I tend to leave my leaves in the pot or gaiwan, without the lid. Then, upon using them again, I do a flash rinse really quickly to liven the leaves and hopefully kill anything that may have snuck it's way into the moist environment between the leaves.

[entropyembrace]

I dont use a basket infuser...I just let the leaves lay in my pot between infusions, if it sits more than a couple of hours I clean it out and start over with new leaves. Since you're using a basket infuser I'd suggest just setting it on a clean dish until you're ready for the next infusion and clean it out if it sits more than a couple of hours.

[wyardley]

If you pour all the tea out from the brewing vessel after each brew, then you don't need to worry about the leaves.

[Herb_Master]

Where do you leave the wet tea between steeping it the next time? Leave it in the filter in a dish or something? I only have one filter and so I've been putting it in a collander so I can use my fliter for something else.
What do you guys do?

Many of us tend not to use teapots with strainers, but use small pots. A collection of pots either dedicated to different types of oolong, or different levels of roasting might solve your problem.

I suppose if the tea that you are switching to mid flight is similar to the one you are taking a break from you need 2 pots for the same types of tea, which is never a bad thing when you want to do side by side tastings.

If you like the versatility of one pot with strainer then perhaps you should look into the possibility of acquiring a back up strainer.

I would imagine trying to transfer the leaves frtom strainer to holding vessel and back would result in some messy operations and partial loss of leaf. There are so many wonderful teapots out there have you considered adding a 2nd?

[Herb_Master]

if it sits more than a couple of hours I clean it out and start over with new leaves.

I often end up leaving mine for 24 hours (never the intention when I start out) and placing the teapot in a hot bath while the real kettle is heating, have had some wonderful infusions!

Have you ever experienced problems leaving wet leaves more than a few hours?

I understand the potential risk and can see what happens to the leaves if you leave them for a few days, but if I leave my small yixings with lid ON, in a cool location, I think overnight and up to 24 hours can be OK.

[Chip]

For most oolong, if there is no screen at the base of the spout, you can simply put the leaves directly in the pot anyway, and then pour through your strainer. Although for many oolong, very little leaf if any will come out due to the larger whole leaves.

This way your leaves have plenty of room to expand fully and allow extraction of the most flavor.

[entropyembrace]

if it sits more than a couple of hours I clean it out and start over with new leaves.

I often end up leaving mine for 24 hours (never the intention when I start out) and placing the teapot in a hot bath while the real kettle is heating, have had some wonderful infusions!

Have you ever experienced problems leaving wet leaves more than a few hours?

I understand the potential risk and can see what happens to the leaves if you leave them for a few days, but if I leave my small yixings with lid ON, in a cool location, I think overnight and up to 24 hours can be OK.

I haven't had any problems letting it sit longer, I'm just paranoid of mold growth.

[hooksie]

if it sits more than a couple of hours I clean it out and start over with new leaves.

I often end up leaving mine for 24 hours (never the intention when I start out) and placing the teapot in a hot bath while the real kettle is heating, have had some wonderful infusions!

Have you ever experienced problems leaving wet leaves more than a few hours?

I understand the potential risk and can see what happens to the leaves if you leave them for a few days, but if I leave my small yixings with lid ON, in a cool location, I think overnight and up to 24 hours can be OK.

I haven't had any problems letting it sit longer, I'm just paranoid of mold growth.

Give it a nice boiling rinse.

[Rainy-Day]

Going off on a tangent here, in regard to how long to wait before leaves have to be discarded: I never keep them longer than 30 minutes - more than that and I throw them out. I find that if the leaves were allowed to cool down (which may be no longer than ~30mins but sometimes 15-20 mins), I can taste an "off" flavour. This may be due to the fact that I prefer lighter brews, if I brewed strong, I might have let it sit for up to a couple hours. I do a flash rinse anyway, and it does help a bit if leaves sat long enough to cool down, but not enough for me.