I am a newbie to serious tea drinking, but have spent lots of time
reviewing everybody else's posts- thanks to everyone for all of the
great info.

I picked up some Sencha from T Salon in NYC, and have enjoyed it a lot.
After a couple of pots, I am starting to figure out the best water
temperature, brewing time. My question relates to the clarity of the
tea-- I know that clarity desired in a cup of tea, but I am noticing
that the sencha I am making appears slightly cloudy, although still
relatively clear- is this normal?

What determines the clarity of a tea- does it have to do with the
quality of the tea itself or more a factor of brewing technique.

The color of my Sencha is pale yellow-green, more on the yellow side
than green. By brewing temp/time was 174 F for 1.5 mins.

Thanks to anyone who can shed some light.

Michael

"mspotlight" writes:

I am a newbie to serious tea drinking, but have spent lots of time
reviewing everybody else's posts- thanks to everyone for all of the
great info.

I picked up some Sencha from T Salon in NYC, and have enjoyed it a lot.
After a couple of pots, I am starting to figure out the best water
temperature, brewing time. My question relates to the clarity of the
tea-- I know that clarity desired in a cup of tea, but I am noticing
that the sencha I am making appears slightly cloudy, although still
relatively clear- is this normal?

Sure. It's de rigueur with sencha. It's a sign that the tea leaves
were picked young.

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

mspotlight wrote:

The color of my Sencha is pale yellow-green, more on the yellow
side than green. By brewing temp/time was 174 F for 1.5 mins.

Might want to try lowering both temp and time just a bit.
Cloudiness is nothing to be concerned about. Though there is a
point where cloudiness becomes murkiness, and that's not good.

--crymad

Hi Michael,

That clear tea liquor ist be looked upon as being quality is only valid
for the US point of view.
Most of the substances which cause cloudiness are considered quality
in Europe or Asia.

There are many different philosophies over how long to steep and
brewing temperature.
I always recommend to start with 5 minutes steeping time to get what you
paid for and boiling water.
From there you can start to experiment until you find what you like best.
Trust your own taste buds.
cheers

mspotlight schrieb:
I am a newbie to serious tea drinking, but have spent lots of time
reviewing everybody else's posts- thanks to everyone for all of the
great info.

I picked up some Sencha from T Salon in NYC, and have enjoyed it a lot.
After a couple of pots, I am starting to figure out the best water
temperature, brewing time. My question relates to the clarity of the
tea-- I know that clarity desired in a cup of tea, but I am noticing
that the sencha I am making appears slightly cloudy, although still
relatively clear- is this normal?

What determines the clarity of a tea- does it have to do with the
quality of the tea itself or more a factor of brewing technique.

The color of my Sencha is pale yellow-green, more on the yellow side
than green. By brewing temp/time was 174 F for 1.5 mins.

Thanks to anyone who can shed some light.

Michael

KALLE 12/30/05

Hi Michael,

That clear tea liquor ist be looked upon as being quality is only valid
for the US point of view.
Most of the substances which cause cloudiness are considered quality
in Europe or Asia.

Here in NYC and around the country, my friends understand that a certain
level of cloudiness can just as well mean freshness in a tea. Please don't
generalize.

There are many different philosophies
over how long to steep and brewing
temperature. I always recommend to
start with 5 minutes steeping time to
get what you paid for and boiling water.
From there you can start to experiment
until you find what you like best.
Trust your own taste buds.

Those brewing suggestions will pretty
much kill any decent green tea, white
tea, or yellow tea. I suggest starting out
at around 170F and adjusting up and down
from there. Also, steep for one or two
minutes. If you steep for five minutes, you've
used too little leaf and thus compromised
flavor. Those are my opinions, for what
they are worth.

Michael

The differences in brew clarity have more to do with the pH of the water
(before brewing) than the source of the sencha leaves. Tea cloudiness is due
to flocculation, which is generally a result of pH change. Sencha leaves
contain at least 7 different naturally ocurring acids that I'm aware of.
Thus a slightly acidic water used for brewing will tend toward a clearer
brew. Generally only distilled water has neutral acidity (ph 7.0). Normal
drinking water will either be slightly acidic (below pH 7.0). Arrid
(especially desert) regions have the greatest probability of having slightly
alkaline (above pH 7.0) drinking water, which would be expected to produce
cloudy a cloudy brew, even when the water has good clarity.

Conversely there are flavonoids in tea that can be flocculated when
conjugated with protein, lipid, or carbohydrate. This is not a result of pH
change, nor is it the result of a typical brewing process either.

BTW you really should put one of those low cost charcoal filters on the
spigot of your kitchen sink.

Knack wrote:

BTW you really should put one of those low cost charcoal filters on the
spigot of your kitchen sink.

I use the filtered cold water from the refrigerator's built-in
dispenser, me.

stePH
in cup: bulk oolong from Limbo

"mspotlight" wrote in message
oups.com...
I picked up some Sencha from T Salon in NYC, and have enjoyed it a lot.
After a couple of pots, I am starting to figure out the best water
temperature, brewing time. My question relates to the clarity of the
tea-- I know that clarity desired in a cup of tea, but I am noticing
that the sencha I am making appears slightly cloudy, although still
relatively clear- is this normal?

What determines the clarity of a tea- does it have to do with the
quality of the tea itself or more a factor of brewing technique.

I've observed that squeezing the liquid from a spent teabag into the brew
results in a slight degree of cloudiness. However, that does not result in
any astringent off-flavors.