On Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:24:14 -0800 (PST), "Dominic T."
> wrote:
>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
The tea arrived a few days ago and I have started testing. I also
ordered several teas from Upton that I thought might be similar so I
could do some side-by-side testing.
The Upton teas a
ZO15: "Wu Yi" Water Fairy Oolong
https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart...sp?itemID=ZO15
ZG45: Pi Lo Chun Superior Organic
https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart...sp?itemID=ZG45
TT11: Oolong Standard Grade
https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart...sp?itemID=TT11
TT29: Oolong Choicest Select
https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart...sp?itemID=TT29
TT41: Tie-Guan-Yin Vintage Style
https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart...sp?itemID=TT41