Hey Kristen,

If anything it sounds like you have it perfectly! Eyeballing the amount
and going by sound/"feel" of the water is exactly how it should be
done. There never will be a thermometer or scale involved in my tea
making. (although I must admit I've used one twice but to check how
close my "feel" for a particular temp really was before brewing a
seriously expensive tea.)

I'm a jasmine green fan as well, and it is still a comfort tea for me
even after all these years and teas. I do find a lot of enjoyment from
dragon pearls/tears which are little rolled balls with two leaves and a
bud and a jasmine petal. Worth a shot as the quality is top notch.

You're doing just fine, stick with it and your feel will get even
better with time. I generally now get within 5 degrees of the water
temp I want by time and feel alone, which is close enough in anyones
book. There is a ton of info in these archives, and while I primarily
enjoy Japanese greens I have started to get more into chinese greens.
Congrats.

Dominic

Kristen wrote:

Kristen verizon.net> wrote:

Outrageously. It can vary a lot from year to year with the same tea,
even. Most of it comes out in the first steep too, since it's very soluble.

There are all kinds of xanthines in tea that have similar effects to
caffeine, most notably theophylline. They are all more or less in the
same chemical family with caffeine and most folks just wave their hands
and call all of them together "caffeine" even though technically they
are not.

Hi,

I am a green tea lover, and thought I knew a little about it until I
read your posts. I've been drinking it almost daily, especially jasmine
tea, for several years (5, 6?) but have recently eliminated simple
carbs from my diet (sugar, white flour, white rice, etc.) so my daily
tea has become even more of a pleasure. I drink one 24-ounce pot. I can
see some of you would cringe if you saw me prepare it: eyeballing the
quantity, and pouring the water when it "sounds right." But I'm always
very happy with the result, so...

I'm looking forward to doing some searches here for answers to some of
my long-held questions: how much does the caffiene content vary among
types and brands; what are the other caffeine-like substances I've
heard about; what's the recent research on green tea benefits, and so
on.

Happy to be here!
Kristen

I have to agree with Dominc, the way you are brewing is perfect "for
you". Since I am an engineer I am a bit meticulous about understanding
variables. So I did *start* out using thermometers and scales etc, but
that was only until I got a *feel* for what it took to make tea the way
I like it, and how to repeatably brew tea the way I like it. Once I
developed that *feel* I stopped using the instrumentation. Now,
admittedly, I do still use the toys on occasion when I am trying to
tackle a new tea genre, but eventually I get back to the touchy feely
method.

If you are always happy with the result - you are way ahead of most of us
here :))))))))))))
My advice - buy a simple gongfu set and try more wulongs, both cheap an not
so cheap. The more you try the more your skills will develop and the more
your skills develop the more you will want to try.

Sasha.

"Kristen" verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1169035075.517225.246120@11g2000cwr.googlegroups.com...

I have to admit, this is sort of exciting. I belong to several Yahoo
Groups, and had done a green tea search there a few times over the last
couple of years. There's not much activity. And now here you all are on
Google! It's kind of like walking into a room and discovering everyone
is listening to your favorite music or talking about your favorite
book. I know people who are passionate about coffee and/or beer
brewing, but not tea, and certainly not the lovely green stuff.

I think you're right Dominic. I feel wise when I just "know" the water
is ready. I'll stick with the way I do it.

Jasmine is my tea of choice, but I drink others as well. A Teavana
store opened near me recently, and I bought some gyokuro there. I'm
sure it was over-priced, but it sure is yummy. I have already checked
out some of the vendors I've seen mentioned here, and am very excited
to try some new things. I also love Republic of Tea's Spring Cherry
green tea. I imagine most of you skip flavored teas, but I really enjoy
it. I have a thing for cherry blossoms and japanese culture, too. Can't
really explain it, since I'm not Asian.

"Kristen" verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1169121088.776122.116790@m58g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...

LOL! Surprise!

If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

I'd think if they're serious, they're brewing with loose leaves and using
those little silver strainers with little silver tongs for sugar lumps. "One
lump or two, dear?"

Lewis Perin wrote:

Way to win a new gal over ;) I bet you say that to all the ladies :)

But yes, to be exact, this is Usenet and Google Groups is just a nice
easy web-based way to access it.

Dominic

Gee, Lew, aren't you a ladies man!

Sasha.

"Alex Chaihorsky" hotmail.com> writes:

Uh, I love my wife.

/Lew