>Square Peg wrote:

>> I just bought some tea from Adagio and I am trying to see which ones I
>> like. Being more or less a beginner at tea, I want to make sure that I
>> am brewing them correctly so that I don't reject a good tea becasue of
>> faulty brewing technique.
>>
>> Adagio is not much help with brewing information. I have a small jar
>> of Earl Grey Bravo. The only instructions on the jar are "212? 5 min".
>>
>> Their website is not much more helpful. The preparation page,
>>
>> http://www.adagio.com/info/preparation.html?SID=0d31718aee8e4d014040d0e90f81410c
>>
>> has one paragaraph:
>>
>> Suggested ratio is one teaspoon of leaves per cup of water. However,
>> the light and voluminous teas will taste best with twice that. To
>> steep, please use boiling water (212F) when preparing black, dark
>> oolong and herbal teas. And it's important to use cooler (180F) water
>> when steeping green, light oolong and white teas. And remember to not
>> over-steep, or your tea will taste bitter. Rule of thumb is 5 min. for
>> most black, 7 min. for dark oolong and white, and only 3 min. for
>> light oolong and green teas.

>
>I use around 3 mins for greens, lower temp for
>greens than whites works better for me, but I
>don't measure. I think 7 min for dark oolong is
>too long, for whites I use around 4-4:30 minutes.
>I would not use 5 minutes for black teas, for a
>good golden yunnan I'd use around 3:30-4:00, for
>an assam or ceylon I'd use around 2:30-3:00, but I
>have preference for lighter teas. In fact I mostly
>drink whites and greens.
>
>Now pu-erh can be brewed for a long time, around
>8-10 minutes easily, maybe even more.
>

>>
>> I believe most rfdt people prefer measuring by weight vs volume. I do
>> have a small kitchen scale. I measured 4 teaspoons of this Earl Grey
>> into the basket using a level measuring spoon and taking care not to
>> compress the tea. It weighed 6 grams.

>
>I measure by sight. I suspect I use 40-50%% less
>leaf than recommended because I like lighter
>brews. It's so much up to a preference that using
>their guidelines isn't of much use IMHO.

>> I then brewed 4 cups of tea. I heated 4 cups of water in the microwave
>> until it just started boiling. I put the 6g of tea in a 4-cup pyrex
>> measuring container and poured the still bubbling water over the
>> leaves. I immediately took a temperature reading. It showed 198?.

>
>Try not using the microwave. I used it once and it
>came out pretty bad, I have best luck with glass
>kettles on gas stove. Even glass kettle on a slow
>electric stove makes tea that to me tastes way
>off. Especially greens and whites. I would rather
>drink good water than tea (even made with good
>grade leaf) made from microwave or electric
>burner. I haven't used a fast electric kettle,
>afaik a lot of people here use it and it may be
>good, but I'm doubtful.

>Did you even cover the pyrex? Especially in the
>case of black tea, temp has to be maintained at a
>high level, so a good pot is designed not to let
>heat out, and in england they even put cozies over
>the pot to keep it even hotter.

>> Just before the timer went off (I had set it for 5:00), I took another
>> temperature reading, which showed 175?.

>
>Sounds like it wasn't covered. Buy a cheap glass
>pot for around $25 (many places online, etc) - or
>a glazed earthware pot (important that it's
>glazed). It can be used with any kind of tea and
>is more suitable to tea brewing and handling than
>pyrex thingy.

>> Then I poured the tea through a strainer into a glass thermos and
>> discarded the leaves.
>>
>> I have had one cup and it's pretty good. It had just a very slight
>> hint of bitterness. I have sometimes gotten a bitter brew with Earl
>> Grey, which is probably caused by brewing too long. I sometimes forget
>> to set the timer and just guess.

>
>Try three minutes and 3 spoons. Maybe you like
>light brews too.

>> Anyway, I have a few questions and would appreciate any help:
>>
>> 1. Is 6g of Earl Grey for 28 oz of water about right?
>>
>> 2. Is 5 min about right?
>>
>> 3. Is the ending temp (175?) about right?

>
>Don't sound right to me. Not sure what it should
>be, probably a bit lower than
>195 would be good.
>

>>
>> 4. Are there any problems with my brewing technique?
>>
>> 5. Do I need a more accurate scale? Mine only goes down to 1 gram, so
>> that 6 grams could have been anywhere from 5.5 to 6.5, a range of over
>> 25%%. If I were brewing just one cup, which I never do, a reading of 1
>> gram could be from 5. to 1.5, a range of 300%%.

>
>Yes, that's not accurate enough. There are scales
>for $10 on dealextreme.com that are 1/10g accurate
>or better. Reportedly very good for tea.
>

>>
>> 6. For a thermos bottle, is glass better that stainless?

>
>Yes, especially for greens/whites. For blacks I'm
>not so sure, but my guess is even for blacks glass
>is better.
>

>>
>> 7. If I want to experiment with this tea to see what I like, what
>> should I vary and in which direction?

>
>I don't think such flavored teas are very good,
>anyway. Try to make it a little lighter if it was
>bitter, but I don't think there will be much
>variation in flavor, I mostly drink good whites
>and greens and golden yunnan and sometimes pu-erh;
>they're so much better. I can sometimes drink a
>simpler ceylon or assam, but I need really good
>teas every day or I will be unhappy! Not to stop
>you from enjoying the tea, it's just hard for me
>to recommend much in the way of changing/improving
>its flavor, because it's just a simple flavor. In
>a good pot that keeps temperature up there, it may
>get to be somewhat better.
>
>Water is also important. Try spring water a few
>times to know how it should taste like in brewed
>tea. Many people use filtered water. Tap water is
>not good for tea flavor IMHO.
>

>>
>> 7.a. I would guess that brewing longer than 5 min would probably
>> increase the bitterness, so try 4.5 or 4.0 minutes.
>>
>> 7.b. It's a black tea. Does it make sense to try brewing at lower than
>> boiling? How much lower will make a difference?

>
>I've heard recommendations of using right-before
>boiling temperature for black teas, from a fairly
>reputable source. In my experience almost-boiling
>worked as well as boiling, but I mostly just use
>boiling for blacks.
>
>Pu-erhs should always be brewed with boiling.
>

>>
>> 7.c. I would guess that the most significant factor would be the
>> amount of tea (other than brewing too long).

>
>In regard to quantity/time, I noticed that if a
>green tea is a little boring/weak in flavor, it
>can be saved to some extent by using shorter
>brewing times and more leaf. Down to 1 minute and
>2x more leaf.
>
>I think these things are most important:
>1. good tea
>2. spring water, or at least filtered
>3. clean kettle on gas stove (maybe some electric
>kettles are ok)
>4. brewed in a closed glass or glazed ceramic pot
>where leaf can float in full volume of water (i.e. not
>infuser)
>5. strained into some container that won't steal
>heat from tea (e.g. another glass pot or a large
>cup) - a thick ceramic pot is not very good for
>that in my opinion, cast iron pot or anything like
>that is even worse.
>
>After these requirements are fulfilled, it's
>possible to play with amount of leaf and
>brewing time to further enhance the tea!