One of the oft repeated points on this site is the importance of brewing tea.
How it is prepared make a world of difference in the taste of your tea. There are the major points namely:
i) Parameters- i.e. Quantity to tea leaves, water temperature, infusion time and number of steeps
ii) Quality of tea leaves
iii) Utensils
iv) Water
v) Skill of the Brewer
At first glance, one might feel i) and v) are redundant- isn’t brewing skills a matter of following the parameters? If so, one might believe a machine might actually succeed at brewing the perfect cup of tea! (Yes, I’m aware some people actually do believe it)
There should be a disclaimer that brewing tea is often a matter of style and personal preferences and it is a lifelong journey. 10 years down the road, I should have new experiences and discoveries that will lead me to disavow everything I wrote here, at least I hope to.
That’s part of the joy of making tea.
With such a protracted prologue we should really get down to things:
1) Smell, smell and smell
But it’s not just the act of smelling the brewed tea before drinking- there are different stages of smelling.
Firstly, smell the dry leaf. It sets the stage for the main show later. To highlight the aroma further, warm the pot, place the leaves and gently shake it up and down once. Smell the leaves again; the aroma will be released even further.
*Note if it’s an aged tea, it usually smells flat. Even good aged tea.
Secondly, smell the lid of the brewing vessel. Particularly for a gaiwan, the aroma is well-trapped within the vessel. Smelling it is not only relaxing, it helps the brewer better identify the stage of brewing. After a while, you will be able to associate a certain level of fragrance that tells you the tea is just right.
This is a much more relaxing brewing method than relying on timers which can be surprisingly inaccurate as well.
Then, smell the tea before drinking it but your already knew that.
After consuming the cup, smell the fragrance that lingers in the cup. For well-made oolong teas especially, this is a delightful treat with an orchid like fragrance emerging.
At each stage, the tea smells different as some fragrances are more ‘active’ in hot temperature and will overwhelm the rest. After the tea cools, you will identify fragrances that were not there previously, adding a whole new dimension to the experience.
In addition, teas that have been scented with additives often smell bland when the tea cools to room temperature- this habit helps in separating good tea from lousy ones.
Oh, one more thing- smell the wet leaves, if it’s still fragrant you should be able to eke out at least another steep.
2) It’s pouring
Pour hot water around the vessel rather on the leaves itself:
If it’s a Yixing pot, pour the water on the edge of the opening such that the water partially flows down the sides of the pot.
This has 2 effects: firstly it preserves the heat of the vessel better. Secondly the heat of the water is reduced by the pot and the taste is smoother.
Pour in a circular motion so the heat is distributed evenly.
For a gaiwan, the principle is the same except that you pour along the walls of the vessels and allow it to slide down to the leaves.
3) In-game adjustments
If the brew is too bitter, reduce the steeping time, water temperature or quantity of tea leaves.
If it’s too bland, do the opposite.
If it’s not aromatic enough, try increasing the water temperature.
There are other specifics depending on which tea but the principle is that if it doesn’t work on the first try, adjust.
The act of paying attention to little details and trying to identify the counter-measure will hone your senses and help you enjoy your tea better.
On a personal note, I feel my most common problem is often too much tea leaves but this is a somewhat unique situation. A lot of the teas I drink are what’s left after packing teas for sale, hence there’s quite a bit of leaves and fanning that get broken in the packing process. For the same volume or weight of tea, a higher weightage of broken leaves will result in a more tannic brew and hence a smaller amount should be used.
*Incidentally this is why I think scales don’t necessarily give you a perfect brew*
What I do is usually just remove some of the tea leaves, a practice that may seem wasteful but my principle is that tea is meant to delight, if I use all the leaves and it doesn’t bring me joy, isn’t it better to use only some of it?
This post got a bit longer than I had intended to so I will break it up into 2 parts- to be continued later.
