One of the most oft repeated ‘golden rules’ in making tea is “one teaspoon for each person and one for the pot”.
We will dispute THAT golden rule in a while but the crux of this post is that there are no golden rules whatsoever when it comes to brewing tea.
This is not some post-modern relativism shtick about how you can make it any way you want. If that is the case we wouldn’t need all these articles on brewing tea. How you brew tea, makes a difference in the taste.
However, the notion that you can stick to a particular set of rules and make a perfect cup of tea every time is only possible for someone who sets the bar for perfection too low.
Here are 4 reasons why a Golden Rule does not work:
Teas are created differently
There are a couple of levels to look at it.
Tea is tea, no?
At the top level is treating all teas as ‘tea’- i.e. using the same method to brew different teas across the board.
Fairly experienced tea drinkers would be able to identify the fallacy of this, how different teas at thrive best under certain temperatures. While boiling water is key for Puer, it will scald delicate green tea leaves.
I have written about this here so I won’t go into more details.
The Golden Rule for Brewing Oolong Tea?
Next is sticking to a set of rules for a particular category of tea- e.g. brewing all oolong teas the same way. This however disregards the fact that oolong tea is the most diverse category of tea.
Use the exact same methods and parameters to brew Taiwanese High Mountain teas and Phoenix Dancong and you will see what I mean.
The high heat needed to unleash the unique aroma of Dancong would in turn scald the lightly oxidized and roasted High Mountain teas. In addition the short infusion time of Phoenix Dancong would be inadequate to coax the sweetness out from the High Mountain teas.
Accentuating this problem is that of using volumetric measurement- e.g. the old adage of one teaspoon for each person and one for the pot.
This originated from the United Kingdom at a time where tea invariably meant black tea and commercial grade mass produced ones at that.
It would be fine to measure machine harvested and machine mass produced leaves but for handpicked and handmade teas it is a different proposition altogether, especially across regions with different production styles.
The Yunnan Black is made from Camellia sinensis var assamica (better known in China as Yunnan Dayezhong) and Keemun from Camellia sinensis var sinensis plant. The Yunnan Dayezhong- as its name suggest (Big Leaf Variety)- is bigger than the Qimen.
If you are using your good old teaspoon as a unit of measurement, the same volume will result in a stronger taste of the Keemun compared to the Yunnan Black perpetuating the misconception that the Yunnan Black is a weaker tea.
Then is the issue that every variety- e.g. Anxi Tieguanyin, Wuyi Shuixian etc.- is made different. The age, the roasting levels, levels of oxidation and terroir are just some of the factors that affect how to best optimize the taste of the tea.
Speaking of optimize…..
Not all Tea Drinkers are the same
“All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes”
I love George Orwell’s OTHER writings- Animal Farm and 1984- but his 11 golden rules, other than the 5th one, are completely useless.
While it is true that most oolong tea drinkers for example like their tea strong, it is not true across the board. Try making a really strong infusion of Taiwan High Mountain tea and you will see my point. Not to mention green or white tea.
Then there is a matter of personal preference.
The ‘golden rule’ that Chaozhou friends share for making Dancong is this:
- Add boiling water
- Infuse 1 minute for the first infusion, 2 minutes for the second and 3 minutes for the third
Being part Chaozhou, I am wont to disagree with them but on this occasion I will pass. The times when I tried this, it was unbelievably bitter. There was a bittersweet aftertaste that resonated as well as a lingering aroma but it was still bitter.
On a less extreme manner, for oolong tea I always recommend people to start with 5g for every 100ml of water or so with the caveat adjust for personal preference. (I usually add somewhere from 7-10g depending on which tea)
Not all Occasions are the Same
If I am drinking tea on its own- which I do almost 90% of the time- the quantity and infusion time would be reduced from that of during a Bak Kut Teh session for example. With the spicy soup and oily (but entirely delectable) pork ribs, I would scarcely appreciate subtlety in tea.
The added bitterness on the other hand accentuates the peppery goodness of the soup.
Another example would be the intensity of my brew would increase in a lethargic afternoon as compared with the first tea of the day when I like to start mellow. This could be the case for a tea that I can drink both in the morning or the afternoon, such as a Wuyi Shuixian.
The Equipment Varies
This warrants a post on its own but the short rationale boils down (pun unintended) to heat absorption and retention.
1 minute infusion in a pre-warmed Yixing pot is quite different from 1 minute in an un-warmed steel pot.
Also how long I can infuse my tea in a tiny gaiwan is constrained by my willingness to endure scalding on my fingers- i.e. I would use a higher ratio and shorter infusion time (read: more finger friendly) to compensate for this.
Conclusion
Unless the tea is outright spoiled- in which case you can usually tell before brewing- or shows little redeeming qualities, even if I don’t enjoy the first infusion, I will adjust.
When that fails, I generally would give the tea a second chance before giving up on it altogether.
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