1. Using tea bags 2. Using too little of loose leaves (more leaves brewed, the better) 3. Not using any kind of filter for the leaves/stewing the leaves in water for too long 4. Choosing the wrong temperature of water (should be brewed at 82 degrees celsius) 5. Not taking advantage of multiple infusions (should steep leaves multiple times, normally 8 times)
The 4th I think is incorrect as some teas scald at that temperature or don't develop at that temp. The last one is also iffy as some teas can't be resteeped, my white loose leaf tea tastes like water after 3 steeps and barely has flavor the second time
I never realized you can make good tea without adding sweeteners like honey or sugar... now that I think of it, the sweeteners are used to cover up how horrible the tea was that I was making before... This is gonna be a huge game changer for me.! Super excited to try some real tea.!
I’m very new to tea (but deep into wine, cheese, whiskey, coffee, etc.), and this is easily the most helpful single resource I’ve encountered. Thank you! Now I want to buy all the cool cups and brewing apparatuses you used!
The truth is that tea bags are more convenient because at the end of the day you only have to wash a mug, but it's not like loose tea is not super time consuming and it tastes much better. This video is very educational.
Don, thank you. I finally convinced myself to brew gong fu style. I don't have much of fancy equipment but I realised that I don't actually need them to brew a nice cup of tea. I couldn't convince myself to use the right amount of tea leaves to be able to brew gong fu. But once I tried it properly there is no turning back. This is the real taste of tea. Thank you!
One other mistake some beginners make I should add: leaving the lid on the teapot after pouring out the tea liquor, causing the tea leaves inside to get cooked. This causes the tastes of the pours afterward to be affected adversely by the leaves getting cooked.
Oh, now I can fully understand it :) Don mentioned in one video, that you should remove the lid from the teapot after pouring out the liqueur for leaves not to get steamed. Well, I did not get it first time - most probably because of my level of an english language skills. Now I see :) No more cooking tea leaves :D
We see really the differences between the different infusions of Tie Luo Han (Iron Monk). It becomes more and more fruitier and less empyreumatic in the second and third infusions. Thank you again for the work of Mei leaf, it's always so instructif , we would say it in french édifiant.
I wanna learn all I can about tea . I believe there is so much beneficial , overall life and health benefits to sipping tea and brewing it and basically finding a space almost meditative , while brewing the tea and then sipping the tea , either alone or with other lovers of a good cup of tea
OMG!!! I have a facebook group for tea, so I was watching this to see what I thought before sharing with them. You completely blew me away with that Connoisseur Tea Brewer! I've been looking for the perfect way to brew tea at work on my breaks and that's it! This is amazing!!!!! (I've been watching your videos for a year or so and I love your passion for tea. I've learned so much. Thank you!)
There is a video from Don about keeping leaves between steepings: they did experiments 3 way. Very good advice: I used the leaf-drying technique for those 15 infusion puerhs: works out every time. :)
I’m amazed how cleverly designed are those (I don’t know the proper name for it) glasses for brewing from mistake number 4. First the lid, then invisible filter which you can place into the lid to stop the water leaking out from the filter and finally those holders for tilting the glass with one finger. Amazing.
The only time when I prefer tea bags over loose tea is when I'm adding milk and sugar. Tea bag tea tends to be stronger and less complex which stands up to additives better while loose tea is better for drinking straight so you can pick up on the more complex and delicate nature of the leaves. Hope that makes sense.
You do realise when the raj took the English in. The Anglish was show how to drink tea the way they made the liquor for their toddlers. And they have been drinking baby tea with milk and sugar ever since.
Also when I drink it like that in the morning I don’t really care bout complex texture. I can then only make 1 cup. But anything else never with a tea bag haha
I purchased two tea cakes like flowers shaped...ripe puerh...its pretty...I hope it is yummy as well. I haven't opened the little purple tea pot yet..still...im waiting for the puerh
Great video! Definitely what i needed to see. Especially about the amount of leaf, but also guess i need a digital thermometer to get a feel for how much cool water to add to my electric kettle .. or get a kettle like the one you have. Seems you knew that temperature really quick!
I really get educated by your videos. We have just started producing orthodox black, green yellow and purple teas. I would like to send you samples for tasting.
I love tour videos ! I am taking tea class in Taïwan with specialists ans people passionate about tea. Your information is very accurate ! You are really a master of tea 😁
i am just back from Huangshan and bought some Mao Feng and Hou GUI tea. Can’t wait to try. I was also in Camden last December and visited your shop. Unfortunately you were not in. From Malaysia. Regards
Thank you for teaching us how to brew right. Now I'm cringing inside over not doing multiple infusions and stewing my leaves. I realized how much tea I've wasted. 🤦♀️. But my one question is what do you do with the tea leaves when your finished brewing? Can you turn them into compost?
Thank you for shedding more light on tea brewing... I have a challenge on a particular Tea which is Mango leaf... I already made them into powder and packed in tea bags 2g per bag but it is taking a longer time for the tea essence to come out of the tea bag...please what can I do....Thank you in anticipation of your response...
I drink teabag/big packet tea dust tea all my life and they never fully satisfy me. Im kinda ready to change into loose leaf eventho i dont even know where to find those in my area. Your videos really do bring out my raging need to live the best tea life😂🤧 Ps: alot of stuff you mention here like adding more tea and not leaving the tea in the water for long are things i notice too But hearing you actually talk abt them really forces me to stop and take note of those factors Because im very experimental wit my brewing but honestly i dont really know what i did was wrong or right so even when i noticed my tea got too drying to drink (astringent i mean) or holding back from putting a decent amount of tea for economical purposes, i just kept doing them😅 welp this is why im here
Thanks for the video. What about brewing multiple infusions Gong-fu style and combining them in one pot? I know it's not ideal, but I think it's better than western style brewing. I do this at work when I don't have time to go to the tea station 12 times.
I’ve never really understood why tea bags were so bad as I enjoy them on a daily basis. However no one else in my family drinks tea so I was never able to experience true loose leaf tea. So today I bought “103 Kings Oolong Tea” and I have to say I’m pretty excited to try it.
I just tried gong fu style Tie Guan Yin and the result was mindblowing compared to the standard brewing method. When should I choose one instead of the other?
Wow, I have always steeped my Tea 5-10 minutes, and often I leave the leaves in for a bit while drinking, I like it strong particularly with herbal teas.
The temperature was the most surprising mistake. I had heard the axiom "take your teapot to the kettle, not the kettle to the tea" which is just another way of saying use water as close to the boil as possible. From that I had always assumed that tea required hotter water than coffee, not cooler as is suggested here.
yeah I knew about temperature, but have just been eye balling it. I'd love a video on electric kettles. Which is the best to get? My Bodum only goes full boil with no temperature readings.
Beautiful ! So interesting ! I thought I had been drinking tea all my life, but it seems I have to start again from scratch. It is so rejuvenating! Thanks.
Thank you for your very interesting and informative videos! I'm learning a lot about this fascinating topic from you. I have one question for you. When I lived in Uzbekistan, there is a big tea drinking culture. And they practice mixing green and black teas, making what they call "Bucket". What do you know about it? Can you please comment or make a video about it? Thank you!
ErraticFragrance tea don't really expire but it changes over time and accordingly to the conditions it is stored in. Some tea kinds people like drinking as fresh as possible but honestly all tea kinds can be aged - therefore can be stored for decades. Nevertheless a video about proper storing tea and also aging it would be great :)
6:00 I Guess I'm in between ...because I use like 5 g for 200ml but i do only one infusion ...leaving it to brew for something like 2 min.... I feel "scared" of doing short infusion...like I'm missing something...
In 8:08 you use have filter above your cup. Why if your cup with loose tea already has one? Btw what if you use small amounts of leas but less water too?
I drink teabag/big packet tea dust tea all my life and they never fully satisfy me. Im kinda ready to change into loose leaf eventho i dont even know where to find those in my area. Your videos really do bring out my raging need to live the best tea life😂🤧
I use teabag for plants nd garden... My nespolo tree likes brewing teabags😊 and the other plants... It's true, u can try! I use free leaf tea ( after brewing tea) too. It works too
Great video for people that are starting the tea journey, I might use it as a tool when spreading the love for good quality tea 😊 In a different matter - could you please do a video about Ya Bao? I've been debating this topic with other tea heads quite a lot lately. I see there is a lot of confusion. Not many sources explain the picking and what those axillary / lateral buds are. So I believe this would be really good topic. Maybe combine it with tea tasting video for new batch of Purple Bud? Or do comparison of Elder White and Purple Bud? Anyway I think this is truly missed and needed knowledge 🤔
And please set the record straight regarding sustainability / viability of the practice, like I wrote on your instagram post for session 6. I’m very confused whether the practice is 1. Legal 2. Even if legal under certain conditions, how does sustainable cropping get controlled (if at all), 3. Enviromental impacts on rare old trees that get industrially harvested for an ever growing and inflated demand. What I read about predatory harvesting practices on gushu and wild buds puts a damper on my enjoyment of both. Verdant recently put out a not too convincing video about the sustainable origin of their sourcing, but they are the only ones actively addressing this at the moment besides kunstdestees in Germany who glat out refused to stock what they see as criminal trafficking of contraband goods. Please give us your take/understanding of the situation as well. verdanttea.com/qianjiazhai-ailaoshan-crassicolumna-wild-tea-2-li-family-zhenyuan-dongsa-cooperative/ www.diekunstdestees.de/epages/63140717.mobile/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63140717/Categories/Blog/W_tend_auf_Wild_Buds_aus_Yunnan&Locale=de_DE
Marianne Fleur that's a good point. It's hard to know if tea is from a source of people that truly respect the environment or just some robbing it "business seekers". I believe this topic interests many of us and in case of Ya Bao I'm sure it's very important that people picking the buds know how to do it in a way to not damage the precious trees.
I’ve been to many a restaurant/tea house (generally western, generally expensive) where the tea is served with the leaves still in, with potentially no way to remove them. Crazy bitter and astringent, even though the leaves are often high quality. I’ve noticed it tends to happen when the tea is more of a “palate change” from something else, like tiered sweets or confections, rather than the focus. Always a bummer. About the tea bags: I get the impression Don hasn’t watched how most brew tea bags, aha. I’ve never seen someone brew a black teabag for less than a minute or two. More like 4-6 for a regular sized cup. Tends to be very strong, giving either a coffee-like hit of bitterness, or an ample platform to add loads of cream/sugar/flavors. I don’t think of it in the same way as true tea, but I won’t lie: I do like me a good London Fog or matcha latte from time to time. Totally different, much more decadent experience. Likewise for having a western style tea party with biscuits, cookies, and other delicacies.
Thank you for the information. I still have to learn a lot. Can you please tell me what kettle do you use? It has an very accurate temperature sensor on it?
I think the convenience of a tea bag is less the time and more the price point, how easy you can find it, and that you don't need anything extra to use them. I like that I can try teas that I either can't find online or in a shop as well as not having to clean my tea balls as often, but it's mostly the selection. There's teas I wouldn't have been able to try otherwise
Where can I buy what I need to brew tea and where do I buy tea from? I want to buy it from a local store but don't know where to go. I'm in Texas in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Could you make a video explaining which teas should be renewed every year and which have their flavor enhanced as they age please, I am really interested in learning about this.
Maybe someone could answer me - does this proper way of brewing ensure that the brewed tea contains everything for making good kombucha? Usually for kombucha tea is steeped for 10 minutes.
I have a feeling the Boats are on way. Question: Say I'm in 3rd infusion (Gong Fu) meant to brew 30 secs and accidentally end up with a minute brew. ( Say doorbell rings, phone rings, some distraction). What do I do on the 4th infusion?
I just use more hot water to dilute the "over brew, " and the following brews on will obviously be weakened and thus require slightly longer brews (As if on 5th brew, the in your example.)
Hey Don, today I had a Gong Fu session with a Tie Guan Yin Oolong. About an hour after, my mood was so good man. I was laughing and giggling at pretty much everything. Is this what being tea drunk feels like or..?
I do a hybrid between western and gong fu, using a larger tea pot (4 cups) and infusing for a long time, but with 4 tablespoons of loose leaf. XD I know a lot of people don't like tannins but I love them for some odd reason. I like my tea to have a wine thickness, if that makes sense. @.@
kinda the same way i do it, i drink tea at work (1-2 l) and leave them in a vacuum insulated bottle and sometimes i dont have much time brewing in the morning.
Dahlia, try cold or ice brewing your tea overnight. I've done that with cold herbal infusions and tried coffee - the result is a less acidic and sweeter liquid.
Rhygar666 It's so worth it when what you get out is a tea bag and hot water. -_- It should be a crime for a place to charge you over 50 cents for that!
Apollo 440 I have done an iced liquor kind of tea before, where I used gunpowder and black making it excessively strong, because I wanted to see if I can make tea like a scotch. Turns out, you sort of can. It used a lot of tea and after I put it in the fridge to chill it, then added those round ice balls. It's not a tea could drink quickly XD so it gave the effect of drinking a scotch. (I bought really cute scotch glasses only... I'm not really a fan of it. It's a bit too strong for me so I thought self, can you make them practical with tea? Yes you can. ^_^)
If you are talking about thing the teabag is placed on at the begining: if I recall right it is a teaboat and he is searching for one to offer in his store.
Yeah, but when you don´t want many infusions, isn´t it a wasting of tea doing it with bigger amount of leaves? Sometimes I want to sit down for a couple of hours and enjoy many infusions and in this case thank you for the advice. I´m maybe somewhere between the two methods, use 2-3 grams for 100 ml. But sometimes I want only quick and little amount of tea.
That's what I'm still doing occasionally, I'm afraid to say :-) Sometimes I think that the producers of tea bags go out of their way to make their wares as unpalatable as possible by giving detrimental brewing instructions. Imagine hitting green tea bags with boiling water and then steeping it for up to 4 minutes!
Now i know why i hate tea. Because i always use a “tea bag” one. It taste disgusting, so i prefer coffee since i had the moka pot and it gave the style of taste I’ve always wanted. After watching your videos, really want to try loose leaves tea. Thankyou for the thoroughly information.
do try But don't go for the most expensive, nor the cheapest one (as I did), loose tea can be worse than teabags (I tried cheap ripe pu-erh mini tuos... they are in the trash now, while I still drink TaeTea jasmine bags). Around my place local teashops are only of 2 kinds : not helpful, or too expensive. So I study tea by myself ! I'm only 2 months in, Pu Erh mainly, and having a lot of fun with samples from Yunnan Sourcing and Chawang Shop, despite being a coffee only person until 3 months ago.
so it is bad to make a lot tea at once ? you have to make many infiutions ? i making it once and drinking 3 cups cuz i have other things to do ! also i boil in the stove so it takes time
Hello, I am a newbie. I have a Question "tea can go well with the stainlessware?" I find many contents about using stainlessware with tea but still not clear. It can be used for tea brew step?
Do you have a video about the recommended time each tea type is freshest? There are some you should wait to drink while others you should drink within the year they are picked.
Hello Mei Leaf, which tea do you recommend for high amounts of l-theanine? How can I reap the most l-theanine from a tea? Note: I cannot consume green tea as it doesn't sit well in my stomach. Thank you for reading this, Cheers from Cincinnati!
How long between infusions is too long and how do you store tea leaves between infusions (I drink tea between 2 to 4 times a day and would love to know how to get the best out of my infusions)
This is probably a silly question, but I brew jun (needs green tea) continuously, for about a year now. I followed someone's recipe and don't use as many tea leaves as you suggest. When I make the brew, I typically use 3 liters of water. Do you have any recommendation of how many grams of tea leaves for that much water? I use the recommended amount of steeping time and temperature 80°°C. Also, I know it's by preference but is there a type of green tea you would recommend for jun?
After watching this I feel like I’ve never had tea before
Same! I feel like I knew nothing about tea before these videos
Haha so true!! So the quick cup of Early Grey with some old ducks at the church fair…does not seem like the same thing AT ALL
Same! XD
1. Using tea bags
2. Using too little of loose leaves (more leaves brewed, the better)
3. Not using any kind of filter for the leaves/stewing the leaves in water for too long
4. Choosing the wrong temperature of water (should be brewed at 82 degrees celsius)
5. Not taking advantage of multiple infusions (should steep leaves multiple times, normally 8 times)
Thank you : )
Thanks... both of you.
He saved my tea, and you saved my time.
The 4th I think is incorrect as some teas scald at that temperature or don't develop at that temp. The last one is also iffy as some teas can't be resteeped, my white loose leaf tea tastes like water after 3 steeps and barely has flavor the second time
@@meowscutie what kind of White tea do you drink? I never get such Little steep with a White tea
I never realized you can make good tea without adding sweeteners like honey or sugar... now that I think of it, the sweeteners are used to cover up how horrible the tea was that I was making before... This is gonna be a huge game changer for me.! Super excited to try some real tea.!
I love how passionate you are about tea. I've learned a lot from your channel!
Me too!
You should listen to your grandmother
I’m very new to tea (but deep into wine, cheese, whiskey, coffee, etc.), and this is easily the most helpful single resource I’ve encountered. Thank you! Now I want to buy all the cool cups and brewing apparatuses you used!
The truth is that tea bags are more convenient because at the end of the day you only have to wash a mug, but it's not like loose tea is not super time consuming and it tastes much better. This video is very educational.
Don, thank you. I finally convinced myself to brew gong fu style. I don't have much of fancy equipment but I realised that I don't actually need them to brew a nice cup of tea.
I couldn't convince myself to use the right amount of tea leaves to be able to brew gong fu. But once I tried it properly there is no turning back. This is the real taste of tea. Thank you!
One other mistake some beginners make I should add: leaving the lid on the teapot after pouring out the tea liquor, causing the tea leaves inside to get cooked. This causes the tastes of the pours afterward to be affected adversely by the leaves getting cooked.
Oh, now I can fully understand it :) Don mentioned in one video, that you should remove the lid from the teapot after pouring out the liqueur for leaves not to get steamed. Well, I did not get it first time - most probably because of my level of an english language skills. Now I see :) No more cooking tea leaves :D
We see really the differences between the different infusions of Tie Luo Han (Iron Monk). It becomes more and more fruitier and less empyreumatic in the second and third infusions. Thank you again for the work of Mei leaf, it's always so instructif , we would say it in french édifiant.
Wish we lived in a world with more tea places!
I wanna learn all I can about tea . I believe there is so much beneficial , overall life and health benefits to sipping tea and brewing it and basically finding a space almost meditative , while brewing the tea and then sipping the tea , either alone or with other lovers of a good cup of tea
OMG!!! I have a facebook group for tea, so I was watching this to see what I thought before sharing with them. You completely blew me away with that Connoisseur Tea Brewer! I've been looking for the perfect way to brew tea at work on my breaks and that's it! This is amazing!!!!! (I've been watching your videos for a year or so and I love your passion for tea. I've learned so much. Thank you!)
So helpful! I found that I really like green tea when properly brewed.
I never dared to reuse my tea leaves for more than three infusions. Perhaps I should try to reuse them more.
As usual an interesting video.
I’d love a video on tea storage; dry leaf and wet leaf with more infusion left to be had.
somedudesmom tea storage for aging, as well as tea storage for keeping the daily drink tasteful. Yes please!
There is a video from Don about keeping leaves between steepings: they did experiments 3 way. Very good advice: I used the leaf-drying technique for those 15 infusion puerhs: works out every time. :)
I’m amazed how cleverly designed are those (I don’t know the proper name for it) glasses for brewing from mistake number 4. First the lid, then invisible filter which you can place into the lid to stop the water leaking out from the filter and finally those holders for tilting the glass with one finger. Amazing.
The only time when I prefer tea bags over loose tea is when I'm adding milk and sugar. Tea bag tea tends to be stronger and less complex which stands up to additives better while loose tea is better for drinking straight so you can pick up on the more complex and delicate nature of the leaves. Hope that makes sense.
Dear sir, can you express brewing of shouson(BPS) one day , thank you.
You do realise when the raj took the English in. The Anglish was show how to drink tea the way they made the liquor for their toddlers. And they have been drinking baby tea with milk and sugar ever since.
Also when I drink it like that in the morning I don’t really care bout complex texture. I can then only make 1 cup.
But anything else never with a tea bag haha
Exactly
.
.
I purchased two tea cakes like flowers shaped...ripe puerh...its pretty...I hope it is yummy as well. I haven't opened the little purple tea pot yet..still...im waiting for the puerh
Great video! Definitely what i needed to see. Especially about the amount of leaf, but also guess i need a digital thermometer to get a feel for how much cool water to add to my electric kettle .. or get a kettle like the one you have. Seems you knew that temperature really quick!
This channel is such a goldmine of wisdom❤
"you might want to have a quick word with them if they serve you tea like this" lol the karen of tea
When you become an addict, you want the best of the best.
I really get educated by your videos. We have just started producing orthodox black, green yellow and purple teas. I would like to send you samples for tasting.
I love tour videos ! I am taking tea class in Taïwan with specialists ans people passionate about tea. Your information is very accurate ! You are really a master of tea
😁
Ty for this knowledge and wisdom.Great video.
i am just back from Huangshan and bought some Mao Feng and Hou GUI tea. Can’t wait to try. I was also in Camden last December and visited your shop. Unfortunately you were not in. From Malaysia. Regards
Absolutely educational
Thank you for teaching us how to brew right. Now I'm cringing inside over not doing multiple infusions and stewing my leaves. I realized how much tea I've wasted. 🤦♀️. But my one question is what do you do with the tea leaves when your finished brewing? Can you turn them into compost?
Thank you for shedding more light on tea brewing...
I have a challenge on a particular Tea which is Mango leaf...
I already made them into powder and packed in tea bags 2g per bag but it is taking a longer time for the tea essence to come out of the tea bag...please what can I do....Thank you in anticipation of your response...
I'm a new fan of this channel. Very informative.
I drink teabag/big packet tea dust tea all my life and they never fully satisfy me. Im kinda ready to change into loose leaf eventho i dont even know where to find those in my area.
Your videos really do bring out my raging need to live the best tea life😂🤧
Ps: alot of stuff you mention here like adding more tea and not leaving the tea in the water for long are things i notice too
But hearing you actually talk abt them really forces me to stop and take note of those factors
Because im very experimental wit my brewing but honestly i dont really know what i did was wrong or right so even when i noticed my tea got too drying to drink (astringent i mean) or holding back from putting a decent amount of tea for economical purposes, i just kept doing them😅 welp this is why im here
WAIT! 12:10. Remove the filter to infuse the same leaves again?
Your disdain for tea bags is awesome. lol
Yes ...a real Tea Prince....ahahah 🤴
Thanks for the video. What about brewing multiple infusions Gong-fu style and combining them in one pot? I know it's not ideal, but I think it's better than western style brewing. I do this at work when I don't have time to go to the tea station 12 times.
This is just what I needed. Super informative and useful video!
I’ve never really understood why tea bags were so bad as I enjoy them on a daily basis. However no one else in my family drinks tea so I was never able to experience true loose leaf tea. So today I bought “103 Kings Oolong Tea” and I have to say I’m pretty excited to try it.
Just bought some 18th century style tea, useful video.
I just tried gong fu style Tie Guan Yin and the result was mindblowing compared to the standard brewing method. When should I choose one instead of the other?
so informative!! thank you 🫖
This was incredibly valuable information. Thank you.
I live in merica so I always use tea bags but I have wanted to get some loose leaf tea and that glass brewer from your website
Wow, I have always steeped my Tea 5-10 minutes, and often I leave the leaves in for a bit while drinking, I like it strong particularly with herbal teas.
The temperature was the most surprising mistake. I had heard the axiom "take your teapot to the kettle, not the kettle to the tea" which is just another way of saying use water as close to the boil as possible. From that I had always assumed that tea required hotter water than coffee, not cooler as is suggested here.
It depends on the type of tea, most black teas can handle boiling water.
yeah I knew about temperature, but have just been eye balling it. I'd love a video on electric kettles. Which is the best to get? My Bodum only goes full boil with no temperature readings.
I'm gonna try my oolongh with a bit more of a gongfu ratio. Thanks for the tip 🙂
Beautiful ! So interesting ! I thought I had been drinking tea all my life, but it seems I have to start again from scratch. It is so rejuvenating! Thanks.
Thank you for your very interesting and informative videos! I'm learning a lot about this fascinating topic from you. I have one question for you. When I lived in Uzbekistan, there is a big tea drinking culture. And they practice mixing green and black teas, making what they call "Bucket". What do you know about it? Can you please comment or make a video about it? Thank you!
Hi Don, could you talk about the shelf life and storage conditions of tea? I alway wonder when my tea is going to expire
ErraticFragrance tea don't really expire but it changes over time and accordingly to the conditions it is stored in. Some tea kinds people like drinking as fresh as possible but honestly all tea kinds can be aged - therefore can be stored for decades. Nevertheless a video about proper storing tea and also aging it would be great :)
just4fit yes, storage for keeping and storage for aging is mentioned a lot!
Very informative, just starting to get into loose tea. Thanks!
Thank you for the education. I've learned so much! Can't wait to start drinking my tea correctly.
I'm new to your channel and I just love your videos! I'm learning so much!
6:00 I Guess I'm in between ...because I use like 5 g for 200ml but i do only one infusion ...leaving it to brew for something like 2 min....
I feel "scared" of doing short infusion...like I'm missing something...
In 8:08 you use have filter above your cup. Why if your cup with loose tea already has one?
Btw what if you use small amounts of leas but less water too?
I drink teabag/big packet tea dust tea all my life and they never fully satisfy me. Im kinda ready to change into loose leaf eventho i dont even know where to find those in my area.
Your videos really do bring out my raging need to live the best tea life😂🤧
Superb video! A thousand thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You made me fell in love with my tea... I hope i visit your teashop someday
Ditched coffee wanted to go to tea, watched this video as I was brewing my first few cups and my mind was blown
I use teabag for plants nd garden... My nespolo tree likes brewing teabags😊 and the other plants... It's true, u can try! I use free leaf tea ( after brewing tea) too. It works too
Great video for people that are starting the tea journey, I might use it as a tool when spreading the love for good quality tea 😊
In a different matter - could you please do a video about Ya Bao? I've been debating this topic with other tea heads quite a lot lately. I see there is a lot of confusion. Not many sources explain the picking and what those axillary / lateral buds are. So I believe this would be really good topic. Maybe combine it with tea tasting video for new batch of Purple Bud? Or do comparison of Elder White and Purple Bud? Anyway I think this is truly missed and needed knowledge 🤔
And please set the record straight regarding sustainability / viability of the practice, like I wrote on your instagram post for session 6. I’m very confused whether the practice is 1. Legal 2. Even if legal under certain conditions, how does sustainable cropping get controlled (if at all), 3. Enviromental impacts on rare old trees that get industrially harvested for an ever growing and inflated demand. What I read about predatory harvesting practices on gushu and wild buds puts a damper on my enjoyment of both. Verdant recently put out a not too convincing video about the sustainable origin of their sourcing, but they are the only ones actively addressing this at the moment besides kunstdestees in Germany who glat out refused to stock what they see as criminal trafficking of contraband goods. Please give us your take/understanding of the situation as well.
verdanttea.com/qianjiazhai-ailaoshan-crassicolumna-wild-tea-2-li-family-zhenyuan-dongsa-cooperative/
www.diekunstdestees.de/epages/63140717.mobile/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63140717/Categories/Blog/W_tend_auf_Wild_Buds_aus_Yunnan&Locale=de_DE
Marianne Fleur that's a good point. It's hard to know if tea is from a source of people that truly respect the environment or just some robbing it "business seekers". I believe this topic interests many of us and in case of Ya Bao I'm sure it's very important that people picking the buds know how to do it in a way to not damage the precious trees.
Do a better quality green tea will give you better quality infusions after the first brewing, and how long should a green tea be steeped?
I have a saying. If you no gong fu, i no talk to you. Thank you Don for showing me the true tea way!
I’ve been to many a restaurant/tea house (generally western, generally expensive) where the tea is served with the leaves still in, with potentially no way to remove them. Crazy bitter and astringent, even though the leaves are often high quality. I’ve noticed it tends to happen when the tea is more of a “palate change” from something else, like tiered sweets or confections, rather than the focus. Always a bummer.
About the tea bags: I get the impression Don hasn’t watched how most brew tea bags, aha. I’ve never seen someone brew a black teabag for less than a minute or two. More like 4-6 for a regular sized cup. Tends to be very strong, giving either a coffee-like hit of bitterness, or an ample platform to add loads of cream/sugar/flavors. I don’t think of it in the same way as true tea, but I won’t lie: I do like me a good London Fog or matcha latte from time to time. Totally different, much more decadent experience. Likewise for having a western style tea party with biscuits, cookies, and other delicacies.
Thanks again for another interesting video. Perfect score. No mistake.
What’s minerality? Explain your psychobabble?
Thank you for the information. I still have to learn a lot.
Can you please tell me what kettle do you use? It has an very accurate temperature sensor on it?
♥ Ty!
I think the convenience of a tea bag is less the time and more the price point, how easy you can find it, and that you don't need anything extra to use them. I like that I can try teas that I either can't find online or in a shop as well as not having to clean my tea balls as often, but it's mostly the selection. There's teas I wouldn't have been able to try otherwise
What is the name of that raised plate in the bowl you sit the tea bag on. What's it's point? Do they come as a set?
Where can I buy what I need to brew tea and where do I buy tea from? I want to buy it from a local store but don't know where to go. I'm in Texas in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Thank you for making this video!
Could you make a video explaining which teas should be renewed every year and which have their flavor enhanced as they age please, I am really interested in learning about this.
Roasted Oolong and Sheng Puerh as far as i know. Green and black don't stand the test of time well.
Maybe someone could answer me - does this proper way of brewing ensure that the brewed tea contains everything for making good kombucha? Usually for kombucha tea is steeped for 10 minutes.
What if you were to do gongfu but with 200ml does that mean normal 4grams for black would need to be 8 grams?
Lol thats why I have to add a ton of honey or sugar to my tea, because its always so dry and dusty like you said. I use tea bags btw
So all this is pretty much standard. Neat
How do you store the leaves to be used multiple times without them molding or losing freshness?
I have a feeling the Boats are on way.
Question: Say I'm in 3rd infusion (Gong Fu) meant to brew 30 secs and accidentally end up with a minute brew. ( Say doorbell rings, phone rings, some distraction). What do I do on the 4th infusion?
I just use more hot water to dilute the "over brew, " and the following brews on will obviously be weakened and thus require slightly longer brews (As if on 5th brew, the in your example.)
I like your approach. Thanks!
Seems many mistakes could be explained just by wanting to spend less money on tea...
Is that possible?
Shh
Hey Don,
today I had a Gong Fu session with a Tie Guan Yin Oolong. About an hour after, my mood was so good man. I was laughing and giggling at pretty much everything. Is this what being tea drunk feels like or..?
What’s known as being a ‘tea Jenny’
can i use leaves like acual mint leaves?
Tea bags are great for the garden
I do a hybrid between western and gong fu, using a larger tea pot (4 cups) and infusing for a long time, but with 4 tablespoons of loose leaf. XD I know a lot of people don't like tannins but I love them for some odd reason. I like my tea to have a wine thickness, if that makes sense. @.@
kinda the same way i do it, i drink tea at work (1-2 l) and leave them in a vacuum insulated bottle and sometimes i dont have much time brewing in the morning.
Dahlia, try cold or ice brewing your tea overnight. I've done that with cold herbal infusions and tried coffee - the result is a less acidic and sweeter liquid.
Sometimes I enjoy the in-between style for jade oolongs. Really brings out the sweetness with longer steeps.
Rhygar666 It's so worth it when what you get out is a tea bag and hot water. -_- It should be a crime for a place to charge you over 50 cents for that!
Apollo 440 I have done an iced liquor kind of tea before, where I used gunpowder and black making it excessively strong, because I wanted to see if I can make tea like a scotch. Turns out, you sort of can. It used a lot of tea and after I put it in the fridge to chill it, then added those round ice balls. It's not a tea could drink quickly XD so it gave the effect of drinking a scotch. (I bought really cute scotch glasses only... I'm not really a fan of it. It's a bit too strong for me so I thought self, can you make them practical with tea? Yes you can. ^_^)
Do you rinse oolong tea? I always rinse Puer but not sure about green, white, oolong, etc.
Hi Don, what is the name of the round stone table you are using? do you sell them on your store?
If you are talking about thing the teabag is placed on at the begining: if I recall right it is a teaboat and he is searching for one to offer in his store.
thanks, i'll be aware on the new teaware!!
Yeah, but when you don´t want many infusions, isn´t it a wasting of tea doing it with bigger amount of leaves? Sometimes I want to sit down for a couple of hours and enjoy many infusions and in this case thank you for the advice. I´m maybe somewhere between the two methods, use 2-3 grams for 100 ml. But sometimes I want only quick and little amount of tea.
don, like always, enjoying you're facts on tea!!
In the bad old days when I knew no better and used tea bags, I used to take out the bag after a few seconds, and reuse a bag several times. 😀
That's what I'm still doing occasionally, I'm afraid to say :-) Sometimes I think that the producers of tea bags go out of their way to make their wares as unpalatable as possible by giving detrimental brewing instructions. Imagine hitting green tea bags with boiling water and then steeping it for up to 4 minutes!
My grandparents do this, think it's quite common with the older generation at least
have you done a video on herbal teas?
Now i know why i hate tea. Because i always use a “tea bag” one. It taste disgusting, so i prefer coffee since i had the moka pot and it gave the style of taste I’ve always wanted. After watching your videos, really want to try loose leaves tea. Thankyou for the thoroughly information.
do try
But don't go for the most expensive, nor the cheapest one (as I did), loose tea can be worse than teabags (I tried cheap ripe pu-erh mini tuos... they are in the trash now, while I still drink TaeTea jasmine bags).
Around my place local teashops are only of 2 kinds : not helpful, or too expensive. So I study tea by myself !
I'm only 2 months in, Pu Erh mainly, and having a lot of fun with samples from Yunnan Sourcing and Chawang Shop, despite being a coffee only person until 3 months ago.
I have a green dragon oolong, what temperature and brew time should I use?and how many grams of leaf?
so it is bad to make a lot tea at once ? you have to make many infiutions ? i making it once and drinking 3 cups cuz i have other things to do ! also i boil in the stove so it takes time
Hello, I am a newbie. I have a Question "tea can go well with the stainlessware?" I find many contents about using stainlessware with tea but still not clear. It can be used for tea brew step?
Super interesting Don :) Thank you for sharing with us
Nice to feel when I find that I don't do any of these mistakes.
Do you have a video about the recommended time each tea type is freshest? There are some you should wait to drink while others you should drink within the year they are picked.
Thank you soo much 😊
Hello Mei Leaf, which tea do you recommend for high amounts of l-theanine? How can I reap the most l-theanine from a tea? Note: I cannot consume green tea as it doesn't sit well in my stomach. Thank you for reading this, Cheers from Cincinnati!
How long between infusions is too long and how do you store tea leaves between infusions (I drink tea between 2 to 4 times a day and would love to know how to get the best out of my infusions)
We did a whole video about this for you: ruclips.net/video/Xfog_jJ9zis/видео.html
Mei Leaf thanks
Just use a vessel half the size and you can drink multiple in one sitting
Very informative indeed...
how to know when my whater is which temperatur if i only got a normal electric kettle?
This is probably a silly question, but I brew jun (needs green tea) continuously, for about a year now. I followed someone's recipe and don't use as many tea leaves as you suggest. When I make the brew, I typically use 3 liters of water. Do you have any recommendation of how many grams of tea leaves for that much water? I use the recommended amount of steeping time and temperature 80°°C. Also, I know it's by preference but is there a type of green tea you would recommend for jun?
The 8 tea infusions were Gong Fu style or Western?
great video very informative thanks for the tips !