I bought a 4-ounce tin of this tea, and could use some advice on
preparation - it was expensive enough that I don't want to waste any
more than I have already.

Here's what I've tried already:

First, I ran some experiments on how long it took to make 180 F water,
the recommended water temperature.

I have a stainless steel mug that holds two cups.

I have a stainless steel mesh tea ball that is too big to fit the
opening of my mug. Blah.

I have one of those mostly-solid-with-little-holes tea balls that you
find at the grocer's, and that are excruciatingly difficult to unscrew
without traction gloves. I ended up trying to use this one, because it
fits into my mug.

With the tea ball, I added one wide teaspoon (a soup spoon, really),
slightly less than a level spoonful, to the ball, and infused for
about five minutes. The tea had not much flavor or aroma, so I chalked
it up to using half the amount of tea needed. Did I use too little
tea?

Next, I tried two slightly less than level spoons full to the tea
ball, and infused for about five minutes. The flavor was a bit
stronger, the aroma was up. The tea tasted a bit "vegetably" to me -
maybe a light asparagus-like flavor. Is this normal? Or did I use too
much tea?

I opened the two-spoons tea ball, and the leaves were packed into the
shape of the ball, so I figured this is probably really bad for proper
infusion, and that maybe I just needed to infuse the leaves loose in
the cup, for the second infusion. I did this, and noticed no change in
flavor or aroma, and the leaves really took up a lot of space in the
bottom of the mug, after infusing...

So maybe I'm just doing this all wrong.

To recap, I'm using good filtered water at 180 F. I'm warming the mug
before adding tea or water. One spoon seems a bit weak, two spoons
seems a bit much, and the tea doesn't seem to have the "best tea I've
ever tasted" quality as stated by John Harney. At $70 USD for four
ounces, I expected a bit more.

To be fair, I am used to black teas like Harney's Darjeeling Highlands
blend and their Irish Breakfast Assam blend, so maybe my taste buds
aren't quite comfortable with the Top Ti Quan Yin. This is also my
first experience with any Oolong tea.

Any advice to help me explore and get the best experience from this
Oolong?


Thanks a bunch,
Mark Edwards

I personally don't like the taste of tea from a stainless steel mug. I
get a definite metallic taste freom it. Try bone china or porcelain.
That should improve the taste right there.

Yes, the tea leaves plenty of room to infuse. In a pinch, infuse the
tea in a pyrex cup or something, and then strain it into your teacup.

I use 1/2 tablespoon for a 9-oz cup for Ti Quan Yin.

I wouldn't pay $70 for 1/4 lb of tea unless I had tried it first. (You
have probably already figured that one out.) I *would* invest in a nice
teapot.

>The tea tasted a bit "vegetably" to me -
>maybe a light asparagus-like flavor.

Either you used too much tea, the tea is old, or poor quality. You
should try to get yourself a gaiwan and brew it using that. At 70
bucks, you are just starting to get into the higher grades of TGY, so
it should taste slightly better than "vegetabley".

"Mark Edwards" > wrote in message
...
> [snip]
> Any advice to help me explore and get the best experience from this
> Oolong?
>
Mark,

Based on my experience:
1. Get a porcelain or ceramic teapot - 2-3 cup size is fine.
2. Use one rounded dessertspoonful of tea per 8-10 oz of water.
3. Measure out 2-3 teapot's worth of water and put into clean containers. I
use small glass carafes.
4. Put a pot's worth of water into a heating vessel and heat to 190-200F.
5. Put tea in teapot and add heated water.
6. Steep 60-90 seconds, then pour off all the tea into a serving pot or
mugs/cups. TGY is typically made from tightly rolled whole leaves and
stems, and it will expand a LOT. Don't waste your tea but trying to brew it
in a teaball.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 one or two more times, adding 60-90 seconds to each
subsequent steep.

Good TGY will produce a range of interesting flavors in each steep: if the
tea was lightly oxidised and unroasted the profile is floral/fruity; if more
heavily oxidised and roasted one gets (at least I get) toasty flavors with
notes of leaves and wood.

I've had TGYs that were wonderful for US$15-30/4 oz. Perhaps the best I
ever tasted was a "Monkey picked" TGY from Imperial Tea Court I got in
February - jade style, intensely aromatic and floral, balanced, and long (3
beautiful infusions). I paid $20/oz. For $17.50/oz one should have at
least a fleeting glimpse of nirvana. If your tea doesn't respond, you
either don't like TGY or you got ripped.

Regards,
Dean

Mark Edwards wrote:
> Any advice to help me explore and get the best experience from this
> Oolong?

Not much advice here, save to echo the advice of a couple of others in
this thread:

Get a real teapot.

Also get a strainer with a handle, to pour your tea through when it's
done brewing. Most teapots come with an "infuser basket" that fits
inside, but this is hardly any better than the tea ball you're
currently using. Let the leaves swim free inside the teapot.


stePH
--
GoogleGroups licks balls.

Thank you to all who responded.

I experimented over the weekend, and came up with a plan that makes a
very nice cup.

Early this year, the only microwave save "teapot" I could find was a
plastic two-cup measure, with a whistling top ( allegedly to prevent
superheating the water). I have been using this to heat my water.
Since I have been using teabags, I just infused in my cup (um, let me
rephrase that - grin).

This weekend, I picked up a small teapot in which I could infuse the
leaves, and from which I could strain the tea. This adds an
intermediate step - I still heat the water in the two-cup "teapot"
before pouring the water over the leaves in the new pot.

Judging from the taste and aroma, the correct amount of tea (for me,
anyway) is half a gram per ounce of water - 8 grams for my two-cup
mug.

So all is well, and I am now enjoying my loose leaf tea.



Mark Edwards