Hi everyone. I'm getting into a major Anxi / tieguanyin phase, and
I've been having some issues with weird grassy tastes. It might be
that I've bought crappy tea, but I want to make sure. So, I was
wondering: what temperature water does everyone use for greenish
tieguanyin?

Thanks in advance.

Alex

On Mar 25, 10:24*am, Alex wrote:
Hi everyone. *I'm getting into a major Anxi / tieguanyin phase, and
I've been having some issues with weird grassy tastes. *It might be
that I've bought crappy tea, but I want to make sure. *So, I was
wondering: what temperature water does everyone use for greenish
tieguanyin?

Thanks in advance.

Alex

Sounds like it's the tea.

You can brew it with hot water -- very hot water in fact -- and still
not get grassy notes if the tea's good. How long do you infuse your
teas for?

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Alex writes:

Hi everyone. I'm getting into a major Anxi / tieguanyin phase, and
I've been having some issues with weird grassy tastes. It might be
that I've bought crappy tea, but I want to make sure. So, I was
wondering: what temperature water does everyone use for greenish
tieguanyin?

Maybe you should try roasting it a bit. In my experience, a toaster
oven a bit below 200F can fix the grassiness in under an hour.

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

On Mar 25, 12:10*pm, MarshalN wrote:
On Mar 25, 10:24*am, Alex wrote:

Hi everyone. *I'm getting into a major Anxi / tieguanyin phase, and
I've been having some issues with weird grassy tastes. *It might be
that I've bought crappy tea, but I want to make sure. *So, I was
wondering: what temperature water does everyone use for greenish
tieguanyin?

Thanks in advance.

Alex

Sounds like it's the tea.

You can brew it with hot water -- very hot water in fact -- and still
not get grassy notes if the tea's good. *How long do you infuse your
teas for?

MarshalNhttp://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Thanks for the snappy and thoughtful responses, Lew and MarsalN. The
broader situation is that I got what is allegedly some very good
(lightly roasted) tieguanyin and I've been practicing on some other
stuff in preparation for drinking the good batch. I've been steeping
it for various lengths of time, but not less than 30 seconds. Maybe I
should try treating it like a good puer. Anyway I was getting a very
grassy result so I put in less leaf, and steeped for a 1:00, then
1:30, then 2:00, as I would if I was doing a side-by-side comparison.
It was pretty much all grass all the way through, although the earlier
steeps had a very promising hint of peach in the smell. So, I started
to think maybe the water was too hot, although when I use overhot
water on Taiwanese oolongs the result is vegetal rather than grassy.
It sounds like I may just have some bad / old / under-roasted tea.

thanks again

Alex

On 2008-03-25, Alex wrote:

Hi everyone. I'm getting into a major Anxi / tieguanyin phase, and
I've been having some issues with weird grassy tastes. It might be
that I've bought crappy tea, but I want to make sure. So, I was
wondering: what temperature water does everyone use for greenish
tieguanyin?

I think boiling or very close is good for the rinse or first infusion to
open the leaves, then maybe a little cooler later (or pour on the side
or lid of the brewing vessel if you're too lazy to wait).

If you're getting really grassy notes, you might be able to make it
taste a little better with cooler water.

w

Hi Alex, you mentioned light roasted. Are you sure it is even roasted?
The grassy note present seems 2 point otherwise. The tea might be
baked at the last stage 2 dry off the water content in the leaves, but
roasting it would change its note 2 deep floral with a light roast.

1stly, do you use a gaiwan or a clay teapot to brew it? I suggest a
porcelain gaiwan.
2ndly, how much leaves do you use? I suggest just enough 2 cover the
base
3rdly, bring the water temperature 2 85c & no higher
4thly, pour the water from the side of the gaiwan 2 3/4 full
5thly, leave the gaiwan open till you are ready 2 pour it

Hopefully this gives you a better brew, or you can store the tea away
& taste it again in about 6 months' time...

Kevo