This is mostly a place to dump some of my thoughts on my favorite beverage. Of course, others are free to post as well and share the love. Let's start with several rookie mistakes a lot of people make
1) Most teas do not do well with boiling water. a good rule of thumb is as follows
black tea: 190F
green teas
Japanese sencha: 160F
gyokuro: 140F
genmaicha: 170-180F
white teas
silver needles: 190F
white peony: 140F
shoumei: 160-180F
oolong teas:
darker, more roasted oolongs: 195 to boiling
high mountain oolongs: 180-190
Oriental Beauty: 190
pu erh
raw pu erh: 190F
ripe pu erh: boiling
2) you don't actually need to go organic. in fact, organic labeling is of greatest benefit to mid-to-low quality producers who want something to command higher prices among gullible westerners. the best Chinese and Japanese teas sell out locally, so they don't have need to go through the expensive and bureaucratic process of getting organic labelling. additionally, the higher elevation of most quality tea plantations means that pesticides are unnecessary and traditional organic methods are being used anyway.
3) you aren't using enough leaf. generally, for conventional ("western style") brewing, 1-2 tablespoons is the right amount. for traditional Chinese/Taiwanese brewing ("gong fu"), fill up a much smaller vessel about 1/4 to 1/2 full. this will yield a smoother, more flavorful brew which you can steep 5-10 times as opposed to 1-3 for western style.
4) make sure you're buying from a supplier who physically goes to China, Japan, Taiwan, etc to scope out single-farm teas. As with point 2, the best tea producers have little incentive to reach out to American or European retailers or to larger bulk wholesalers. you need someone who goes to them.
1) Most teas do not do well with boiling water. a good rule of thumb is as follows
black tea: 190F
green teas
Japanese sencha: 160F
gyokuro: 140F
genmaicha: 170-180F
white teas
silver needles: 190F
white peony: 140F
shoumei: 160-180F
oolong teas:
darker, more roasted oolongs: 195 to boiling
high mountain oolongs: 180-190
Oriental Beauty: 190
pu erh
raw pu erh: 190F
ripe pu erh: boiling
2) you don't actually need to go organic. in fact, organic labeling is of greatest benefit to mid-to-low quality producers who want something to command higher prices among gullible westerners. the best Chinese and Japanese teas sell out locally, so they don't have need to go through the expensive and bureaucratic process of getting organic labelling. additionally, the higher elevation of most quality tea plantations means that pesticides are unnecessary and traditional organic methods are being used anyway.
3) you aren't using enough leaf. generally, for conventional ("western style") brewing, 1-2 tablespoons is the right amount. for traditional Chinese/Taiwanese brewing ("gong fu"), fill up a much smaller vessel about 1/4 to 1/2 full. this will yield a smoother, more flavorful brew which you can steep 5-10 times as opposed to 1-3 for western style.
4) make sure you're buying from a supplier who physically goes to China, Japan, Taiwan, etc to scope out single-farm teas. As with point 2, the best tea producers have little incentive to reach out to American or European retailers or to larger bulk wholesalers. you need someone who goes to them.
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