On Nov 16, 1:42*am, Prof Wonmug > wrote:
> I ordered the following teas to try from TeaSpring. Would you care to
> tell me how you brew them? I would like to try your brewing
> parameters.
>
> * * * * Shui Xian 200 grams
> * * * * Bi Luo Chun 200 grams
> * * * * Long Jing 200 grams
>
> Thanks
>
> PS: Please don't worry that I'll slavishly use only those parameters.
> If you will disclose your secrets, I promise to try a whole bunch of
> other parameters and just see what happens. :-)

I think you will be pleased, even with your apprehension. Those are
three teas I keep stocked all the time from there. Because I drink
them so often, I play pretty loose with their brewing because by now I
know what works for me. Basically it follows with the guide I had
posted a while back.

For the Shui Xian, I take my electric kettle to boiling and then let
it cool back a touch (maybe a minute or so) to where there are no
bubbles. Then I tend to use Bodum yo-yo mugs, so I put about 2g of
leaf (but this tea makes a nice cup all the way down to only 1g which
is nice to stretch it a bit) in the infuser and pour in about 6-8 oz.
of water for about 30-45 seconds. I usually get about 1-2 more cups
from this same leaf depending if I went with only 1 or 2g of leaf. You
can brew longer for 1-2 min. easily, but this is how I prefer it most
times.

For the BLC and LJ, I stop my kettle before it even begins to come
close to boiling ("shrimp eye" stage would probably be fine) often I
will use the water straight from our water cooler/heater which is
around 120F normally. I normally use my gaiwan with these and about
4oz. of water to 1g or so of tea, again sometimes 2g depending on my
mood. I sip them straight from the gaiwan so brewing time is hard to
say, I start drinking as soon as the water is cool enough to drink.
Sometimes I will pour off into a cup so it doesn't overbrew, but by
using less leaf it is less of an issue. I'll usually drink 2,
sometimes 3 infusions total like this before the leaf is spent.

I like going lighter on the leaf often, but I have found that point
over time where it is just enough leaf to be strong enough but not
overly strong or weak to the point that some of the character is lost.
I just recently finished a tasting of a lot of Indian teas and 4g of
leaf was pretty much the standard, it just seemed like a waste to me
for 8oz. of water. After the tasting I went back and re-tasted with 2g
and nothing really changed. It could be that I grew up valuing a
dollar and making things stretch that shape some of my habits, but I
often find that the reduction in leaf alters very little and returns
twice as many cups.

I truly hope you enjoy the tea and the flavors since you had some bad
experiences in the recent past, and feel free to change parameters to
your hearts delight. I'd like to see a pivot table and a Venn diagram
when you are done Then I'll know you really enjoyed yourself

- Dominic