I've been drinking tea for some years, but never managed to
understando how to do multiple infusions of the same leaves. So, I
have the the impression that I am wasting the leaves, not withdrawing
all their potential.
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
My questions are these:
Multiple infusions must be made one immediately after another? If not,
how long can I wait before infusing the same leaves again? One hour?
12 hour? One day? a couple of days? That's an important issue, because
normally I only drink tea at night and not always like to drink
several mugs, specially if they are of the same type of tea.
If I can store used leaves for one day, I should I do it? Keep them in
the infuser?

Thanks in advance!

Joao Baptista
Lisbon - Portugal

On Feb 18, 9:01 pm, wrote:
I've been drinking tea for some years, but never managed to
understando how to do multiple infusions of the same leaves. So, I
have the the impression that I am wasting the leaves, not withdrawing
all their potential.
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
My questions are these:
Multiple infusions must be made one immediately after another? If not,
how long can I wait before infusing the same leaves again? One hour?
12 hour? One day? a couple of days? That's an important issue, because
normally I only drink tea at night and not always like to drink
several mugs, specially if they are of the same type of tea.
If I can store used leaves for one day, I should I do it? Keep them in
the infuser?

Thanks in advance!

Joao Baptista
Lisbon - Portugal

Olá Joao,

Well, I think multiple infusions may be tough to do with your current
setup. Not that there is anything wrong with it, just that it isn't
optimal for multiple infusions beyond maybe two. I'm not sure what
kind of tea you are drinking either, so maybe let us know that bit of
info too if you would.

Basically multiple infusions are done with smaller vessels and a
decent amount of leaves. Small as in a gaiwan, brew-in mug, or smaller
Yixing teapots. They should all be done in a fairly short time frame
and at most a couple hours, personally in a covered vessel I'd say 6-8
hours max before the air is going to react with the tea and affect the
flavor, but 2-4 is normally as long as I personally would go. Some
types of tea stand up better than others as well, Puerhs being tops
and other higher fermented/fired teas blacks, oolongs, etc. White teas
are hit or miss and might be good for 2-3 infusions and the same with
most greens... again depending on the individual tea.

In a large teapot and with only one person drinking it, one or two
infusions is about all you could ask for. Hope that helps!

- Dominic

On Feb 18, 9:01*pm, wrote:
I've been drinking tea for some years, but never managed to
understando how to do multiple infusions of the same leaves. So, I
have the the impression that I am wasting the leaves, not withdrawing
all their potential.
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
My questions are these:
Multiple infusions must be made one immediately after another? If not,
how long can I wait before infusing the same leaves again? One hour?
12 hour? One day? a couple of days? That's an important issue, because
normally I only drink tea at night and not always like to drink
several mugs, specially if they are of the same type of tea.
If I can store used leaves for one day, I should I do it? Keep them in
the infuser?

I would say not more than about half an hour, but
it may be because I'm overly sensitive to metallic
taste that old leaves acquire. Even half an hour may
be too long. It also depends on tea and type of
preparation, with large amount of pu-erh in a
gaiwan, it can last longer because area of contact
with air vs. volume of all leaves is smaller. If
you don't want to drink more tea right away, don't
bother with repeat infusions. I think, aside from
gong-fu style brewing, which is a special case,
multiple infusions are not all that economical
because you need to use a lot of leaves. If you do
just one infusion, you can use very little amount
of leaves and brew them a little longer. Multiple
infusions maybe more convenient for making a very
large amount of tea for many people, because then
it saves you the trouble of refilling with fresh
leaves, cleaning the spent leaves out, etc. So
you'd fill the pot with tons of leaf and do a
quick first infusion, then give half a cup to
everyone, then do 5-7 more infusions through the
next hour or two. -ak




Thanks in advance!

Joao Baptista
Lisbon - Portugal

i infuse the tea until i dont like its taste anymore/ or until taste
fades beyond my ability to enjoy it.
most of the time 3-4 infusions

the teas i have i already know about how much tea, water and how many
times i can re-infuse. for new teas one has to experiment.

What tools to use? whatever i put my hands on:
any sort of cup/mug, (usually 10oz cup, or a little 4oz gaiwan)
throw leaf in it,
pour water,
let infuse,
strain into different cup / or if already used the egg-mesh infuser no
need to strain

How long between infusions?
depends on the tea, and derived from experimenting:
green, oolong, black(china) i wait less than 10 minutes,
for black the most i done is 1 day. :P
(remember, the wet leaf kind of continues brewing after taken out of
the water).

after 1-2 infusions i adjust time(increase) or water(decrease)

(i usually also let the wet leaf wait around for 1-2 days - to see if
it grows anything
,in 3 years only 1 time it grew fungus - so i suspect it was probably
not from the tea.)

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:01:17 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I've been drinking tea for some years, but never managed to
understando how to do multiple infusions of the same leaves. So, I
have the the impression that I am wasting the leaves, not withdrawing
all their potential.
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
My questions are these:
Multiple infusions must be made one immediately after another? If not,
how long can I wait before infusing the same leaves again? One hour?
12 hour? One day? a couple of days? That's an important issue, because
normally I only drink tea at night and not always like to drink
several mugs, specially if they are of the same type of tea.
If I can store used leaves for one day, I should I do it? Keep them in
the infuser?

Thanks in advance!

Joao Baptista
Lisbon - Portugal

I got rid of my automatic coffee maker, which might be useful for
brewing a pot of tea if you sacrifice multiple infusions and just go
for a ratio of water and leaves. Don't know if there are automatic
tea makers out there.

But I get along just using the basket from the coffee maker sitting on
top of a large mug, with a paper filter I fill to the top with water
over the leaves. Basket doesn't drain until you depress the lever
that normally inserts under the coffee maker head, so after steeping
when I back it into my mug with the lever depressed, it drains
filtered tea. Leaning the basket against something as it drains into
your mug keeps it straight so you don't have to stand there holding
it.

I mention this as a simple way to do multiple infusions, even do a
quick 30 second blanch first. I've been doing okay with the blanch,
then 1 minute, 3 minute, and 6 minute infusions, using about 2 tbs.
tea and distilled water at about 130 degrees.

By the way, I use the coffee maker basket and filter alone to make
coffee, too. It's by far the quickest decent cup of coffee, using 1/2
minute to steep 1/3 cup of grounds. A second infusion is okay to my
taste. bookburn

"Dominic T." writes:

On Feb 18, 9:01 pm, wrote:
[...]
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
[...]

Well, I think multiple infusions may be tough to do with your current
setup. Not that there is anything wrong with it, just that it isn't
optimal for multiple infusions beyond maybe two. I'm not sure what
kind of tea you are drinking either, so maybe let us know that bit of
info too if you would.

Sorry, but he's using a mug, not a big pot, with the infuser basket.
With a decent green tea, I would expect three infusions, more if it's
a really good tea. Brewed this way, oolongs and Pu'ers should support
more than three infusions.

Basically multiple infusions are done with smaller vessels and a
decent amount of leaves. Small as in a gaiwan, brew-in mug, or smaller
Yixing teapots. They should all be done in a fairly short time frame
and at most a couple hours, personally in a covered vessel I'd say 6-8
hours max before the air is going to react with the tea and affect the
flavor, but 2-4 is normally as long as I personally would go. Some
types of tea stand up better than others as well, Puerhs being tops
and other higher fermented/fired teas blacks, oolongs, etc. White teas
are hit or miss and might be good for 2-3 infusions and the same with
most greens... again depending on the individual tea.

I do agree, though, that you increase the scope for lots of infusions
by increasing the ratio of amount of leaf to size of brewing vessel.
I habitually use a gaiwan of approximately 100 ml because I love the
way the taste and aroma change in the course of many steeps.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
recent addition: Yong Hu Ming Cheng

On Feb 18, 8:01*pm, wrote:
I've been drinking tea for some years, but never managed to
understando how to do multiple infusions of the same leaves. So, I
have the the impression that I am wasting the leaves, not withdrawing
all their potential.
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
My questions are these:
Multiple infusions must be made one immediately after another? If not,
how long can I wait before infusing the same leaves again? One hour?
12 hour? One day? a couple of days? That's an important issue, because
normally I only drink tea at night and not always like to drink
several mugs, specially if they are of the same type of tea.
If I can store used leaves for one day, I should I do it? Keep them in
the infuser?

Thanks in advance!

Joao Baptista
Lisbon - Portugal

For my greens, I brew one mug, then put the infusor in the
refrigerator (in an empty mug) for the next day. I get one mug a day
for a week this way. For my Assam fannings, I brew the first cup one
minute, then brew the second cup a couple of hours, then throw the
grounds away. I do only one mug for my Ceylon. Toci

On Feb 19, 10:26 am, Lewis Perin wrote:
"Dominic T." writes:
On Feb 18, 9:01 pm, wrote:
[...]
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
[...]

Well, I think multiple infusions may be tough to do with your current
setup. Not that there is anything wrong with it, just that it isn't
optimal for multiple infusions beyond maybe two. I'm not sure what
kind of tea you are drinking either, so maybe let us know that bit of
info too if you would.

Sorry, but he's using a mug, not a big pot, with the infuser basket.
With a decent green tea, I would expect three infusions, more if it's
a really good tea. Brewed this way, oolongs and Pu'ers should support
more than three infusions.

Oops, sorry, I saw Chatsford and my mind skipped over the mug bit... I
assumed it was a Chatsford teapot/infuser. Good catch Lew.

- Dominic

On Feb 19, 7:26*am, Lewis Perin wrote:
"Dominic T." writes:
On Feb 18, 9:01 pm, wrote:
[...]
As I am the only tea drinker at home, I use a mug with a Chatsford
mesh infuser.
[...]

Well, I think multiple infusions may be tough to do with your current
setup. Not that there is anything wrong with it, just that it isn't
optimal for multiple infusions beyond maybe two. I'm not sure what
kind of tea you are drinking either, so maybe let us know that bit of
info too if you would.

Sorry, but he's using a mug, not a big pot, with the infuser basket.
With a decent green tea, I would expect three infusions, more if it's
a really good tea. *Brewed this way, oolongs and Pu'ers should support
more than three infusions.

Basically multiple infusions are done with smaller vessels and a
decent amount of leaves. Small as in a gaiwan, brew-in mug, or smaller
Yixing teapots. They should all be done in a fairly short time frame
and at most a couple hours, personally in a covered vessel I'd say 6-8
hours max before the air is going to react with the tea and affect the
flavor, but 2-4 is normally as long as I personally would go. Some
types of tea stand up better than others as well, Puerhs being tops
and other higher fermented/fired teas blacks, oolongs, etc. White teas
are hit or miss and might be good for 2-3 infusions and the same with
most greens... again depending on the individual tea.

I do agree, though, that you increase the scope for lots of infusions
by increasing the ratio of amount of leaf to size of brewing vessel.
I habitually use a gaiwan of approximately 100 ml because I love the
way the taste and aroma change in the course of many steeps.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
recent addition: Yong Hu Ming Cheng

Howdy - I am a lurker learning from the various discussions. I have a
2 or 3 brewing I do with my 2 quart heavy pot and one of those
stainless steel tea things I got at some kitchen store. My daily mix
is a fairly good ceylon that I thought did not have the body I like so
I added about 1/10th of an excellent Lapsong Souchong to it and brew
it strong. I fill the mesh with the, leaf pour boiling water through
it and set the leaf aside in a beaker with a small lid over it. The
second time I brew I let it sit about 1 minute and the third time I
let it sit until I like the color. Since I always drink it with milk
that seems to work for me. You people are obviously more careful tea
drinkers than I but I just try things until they work for me. My
favorite tea (the very best in the world LOL) is an Assam tippy
something I got at Murchies on Vancouver Island. I will soon have no
more and will hunt another good tea that will hold up to milk.

Any suggestions for another assam or a chinese tea with the body to
hold up to milk like Assam has. Or I could make another mix from a
tea I bought a pound of and need to doctor it in order to use it up.
That Lapsong souchong will put hair on anyone's chest.

For multiple steepings it is really convenient to use a "magic
steeper" or what we call a simple steep. I hate to be commercial here
but there is a picture on the front page of our online store www.admaritea.com
but before anyone complains about a self serving post, these things
are available on many sites! The nice thing is the steeped tea drains
from the bottom leaving the leaves in the mug ready to accept a second
steep.

Personally, I find the greens, oolongs and pu'rehs work the best for
multiple steeping. For me, black tea loses too much flavor for a
second go 'round. In a prior post, someone was not as positive about
multiple green steeping. That might be that the water is too hot or
the step time too long on the first steep.

Richard

mary writes:

[...]
My favorite tea (the very best in the world LOL) is an Assam tippy
something I got at Murchies on Vancouver Island. I will soon have
no more and will hunt another good tea that will hold up to milk.

Any suggestions for another assam or a chinese tea with the body to
hold up to milk like Assam has.

If you ever get to the mainland, Spring Cottage Tea House in Richmond
has a very good Dian Hong (tippy Yunnan.) You might even like it
without milk, since it has very little astringency. (No connection
with the shop except for being a happy customer.)

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Feb 20, 9:41 pm, wrote:
For multiple steepings it is really convenient to use a "magic
steeper" or what we call a simple steep. I hate to be commercial here
but there is a picture on the front page of our online storewww.admaritea.com
but before anyone complains about a self serving post, these things
are available on many sites! The nice thing is the steeped tea drains
from the bottom leaving the leaves in the mug ready to accept a second
steep.

Personally, I find the greens, oolongs and pu'rehs work the best for
multiple steeping. For me, black tea loses too much flavor for a
second go 'round. In a prior post, someone was not as positive about
multiple green steeping. That might be that the water is too hot or
the step time too long on the first steep.

Richard

The "magic steeper" or as it is better known here and in our archives
is Adagio's ingenuiTEA, it is decent for the purpose but with some
research in the archives meets with mixed reviews. They are neat and
do work for the intended purpose but just a bit clumsy and overkill. A
simple gaiwan and a tea cup/mug to pour off into once steeped serves
the same purpose and is a much more elegant solution.

If it was my comments as to greens and multiple infusions that is
being referenced I still firmly stand by my comment in that many
greens do not stand up well to multiple infusions, some do though as I
stated. I can make some really good Bi Lo Chun last for 3 maybe 4
infusions, I can also get one solid infusion from some gyokuro or
certain senchas or a number of Chinese greens. Same thing goes for
black teas, many die off after one infusion but there are numerous
exceptions.

- Dominic

I agree that most CTC black teas are good for only a single infusion.
However, I find that many whole-leaf (or as whole as possible) Chinese
black/red teas are good for at least two or three infusions. I am
currently finishing up some black rosettes I bought from Yunnan
Sourcing on ebay and they have staying power, most likely due to being
large/whole leaf and also due to being tied. Both aspects allow the
leaf to release its goodness slowly over several steepings. Plus, the
later steepings are often smoother and/or not as bitter as the first.

Alan

Richard

The "magic steeper" or as it is better known here and in our archives
is Adagio's ingenuiTEA, it is decent for the purpose but with some
research in the archives meets with mixed reviews. They are neat and
do work for the intended purpose but just a bit clumsy and overkill. A
simple gaiwan and a tea cup/mug to pour off into once steeped serves
the same purpose and is a much more elegant solution.

If it was my comments as to greens and multiple infusions that is
being referenced I still firmly stand by my comment in that many
greens do not stand up well to multiple infusions, some do though as I
stated. I can make some really good Bi Lo Chun last for 3 maybe 4
infusions, I can also get one solid infusion from some gyokuro or
certain senchas or a number of Chinese greens. Same thing goes for
black teas, many die off after one infusion but there are numerous
exceptions.

- Dominic

I have been thinking about this lately, I have about five gaiwans and they
are nothing but a pain for me to do gung fu in, as far as pouring off the
liquid. I'll brew and drink from them (with pleasure) but using them as
brewing vessels for me is really difficult, partially because I have really
tiny hands but also because of the water temp. They don't have a spout so
my tea tends to go all over. If I do multiple steeps and decant them,
they're in a yixing pot or a piao pot anymore. (I don't do the greens in a
yixing obviously). Or I use a small glass pitcher/fair cup that I bought for
brewing greens specifically. But I've pretty much given up on gaiwans as a
purely brewing vessel, talk about making a mess...(in my case that is)

Oh and also, regarding greens, I do usually go for 3-7 steeps on a green but
I definitely go to the, er, not-bitter end with them, lol. I get about two
steeps that will stand up to milk and sugar with a red dian hong or other
chinese red tea. Oolongs vary by the tea itself, shui xians I can get about
4-5 out of these days. My favorites are the Taiwan oolongs where I can get
fragrance over quite a few steeps, 5-7. Of course how well this all works
depends on whether I'm actually doing the gung fu high-tea-leaf/low water
ratio or just trying to get a second steep out of a standard amount of
leaves for a cup (about 4 grams per 8 ounces for me these days)

Melinda

Please don't consider this a visit from the Gaiwan Police. You are
within your rights not to use one, but maybe there are things you
haven't considered.

"Melinda" writes:
[...]
I have been thinking about this lately, I have about five gaiwans and they
are nothing but a pain for me to do gung fu in, as far as pouring off the
liquid. I'll brew and drink from them (with pleasure) but using them as
brewing vessels for me is really difficult, partially because I have really
tiny hands

Maybe you know this, but there are gaiwans available in many sizes,
including ones small enough for a child's hand.

but also because of the water temp.

In my experience, the difference between a gaiwan that's very hot to
the touch and one that's comfortable is a matter of how much the lip
flares. (More is better.)

They don't have a spout so my tea tends to go all over.

Maybe your trouble controlling the pour is related to the size and heat?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html