I usually make oolongs in a regular way,
using a large 3-cup pot and 1-2 steeps, in
fact, mostly just one steep, exactly like
I prepare greens and whites. It's far more
convenient for me because my kitchen
is not very suitable for elaborate gong-fuing
and even if I use an electric kettle the whole
thing takes a long time, about an hour, give
or take.

When I do oolongs in a regular way, though,
I feel a little like I'm wasting part of their
potential, especially with more expensive
oolongs.

Does everybody use gong-fu to prepare
oolongs, for the most part? What's the
split for you? If you do gong-fu daily or
almost daily, do you get used to it so
much that it becomes much quicker
and easier?

On Jul 3, 6:28 pm, Rainy gmail.com> wrote:

On Jul 3, 8:52 pm, "Dominic T." gmail.com> wrote:

Gongfu is the only way to do oolongs. That's if you want to drink a
decent cup of tea. If you don't mind wasting good tea, and having a
crappy cup, then gongfu is optional. Just for fun, and to compare, I
tried the same tea made 3 ways: gongfu, in large gaiwan, in large
teapot. Gongfu by far made the best infusions. Large gaiwan didn't
even come close.

Gongfu is not hard if you have the set-up in 1 dedicated place.
Except, the clean-up afterwards takes a long time. Lots of small cups
to wash.

But yeah, when you have the set-up for gongfu, it does become the much
quicker and easier method. And also best-tasting method. And most-
enjoyable method.

"Dominic T." gmail.com> writes:

On Jul 4, 4:05 am, niisonge yahoo.com> wrote:

On Jul 4, 1:46 pm, Rainy gmail.com> wrote:

At work I usually go for the water cooler (heater). We have two in our
office and I ramped the one's heater dial up to max which gets me
almost boiling water, while the other is perfect for greens. I also
have a "Hot Shot" which is a personal water heater that I sometimes
use if I want a puerh or something like that.

At home I have almost exclusively switched over to an electric kettle.
I actually prefer my real kettle on the stove but it is just to
inefficient in comparison. I find that the 4 stage filter on my tap
(and really good tap water to begin with) and the electric kettle are
a very close second.

- Dominic

I always use a cordless eletric kettle. In China, I use a little
Kamjove kettle; 0.8 liter capacity. In China, I have also used one of
those hotplate burner thingys and a small stainless steel kettle. That
works too. But the Kamjove is the easiest, simplest, and cheapest
option. A small Kamjove kettle costs about 80 yuan here - depending on
where you buy it. And that's what everyone in Fujian uses for gongfu
too - either a Kamjove or the hotplate burner thing. (The relatively
few use a plastic jug kettle - but that's kind of a step backwards -
they produce an off-taste to the water).

Now, in Canada, it's another story. Stupid kettles commonly available
everywhere are really big, hulking monstrosities. The stainless steel
eletric kettle I had in Canada (Hamilton Beach) holds 1.7 L. But the
switch burnt out on that one. Used it too much. Now I can get a new
one. But 1.7 liters is really too big. A 1 liter kettle is just about
right - whether eletric or plain old stovetop kettle.

Um, hell no. Too much time. I like a big mug of tea, not dainty little
cups that give two sips and you're done.

I drink tea when I'm doing other stuff, because I'm always doing other
stuff. Sitting around pouring tea over and over again would bore the
stuffin' outta me.