Tips for a beginner? (Switching from coffee)

faj
Posts: 710
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:45 am
Location: Quebec

Sun Jun 26, 2022 2:38 pm

ChihuahuaTea wrote:
Sun Jun 26, 2022 1:22 pm
I’m still a bit confused as to storage. Seems that some say pu’er needs ventilation or air circulation as it’s fermented? I might be reading bad adobe, or misinterpreting what I am reading.
I have no meaningful experience storing aged tea. However, having been exposed to quite a few of those discussions, I would suggest that a lot of what you read has to take into account that people storing pu'er may have various objectives, including aging (changing the resulting brew), or long-term storage (enjoying for years or decades). For aging, it is often considered that the ideal temperature is higher than what you find in the typical North-American home, and also mode humid. Some people have custom-built, temperature- and humidity-controlled (or so they wish) storage systems. Some people are happy keeping their pu'er in a cupboard. But one thing no one wants is mold on their pu'er, and ventilation reduces the risk that pu'er is exposed for a prolonged period to conditions amenable to mold growth. Ventilation can take away excessive humidity accumulated in an enclosed space, as well as let some humidity in to avoid excessive dryness.

That being said, if you are storing small amounts for short-term storage in a place that is not unusually cool and damp, it probably does not matter much to you.
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Baisao
Posts: 1397
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:17 pm
Location: ATX

Sun Jun 26, 2022 2:39 pm

ChihuahuaTea wrote:
Sun Jun 26, 2022 1:22 pm
I’m still a bit confused as to storage. Seems that some say pu’er needs ventilation or air circulation as it’s fermented? I might be reading bad adobe, or misinterpreting what I am reading.
That’s a rabbit hole and the proper way for sheng is to be determined decades from now when people get their results.

For shou, keep it in a cool, dry, odor-free place and never refrigerate/freeze. Stupid simple. I store a lot of mine in a hat box. Others in unsealed large glass bottles. Still others in the Mylar packages they came in. Shou is the easiest tea to store.
ChihuahuaTea
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:53 pm
Location: United States

Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:25 am

So today I had an oolong of I think good quality
(https://westchinatea.com/30g-big-dark-l ... gL3DvD_BwE)

If I pour my tea pot to the brim it holds about 2 fillings of the cup I use.
So I had been doing that first steep, pouring half of the pot into my cup, sipping it, then pouring the remaining tea from the pot into my cup (which had been steeping longer)

I had not noticed much of a difference in the pu’er or the black tea I had tried.
But this one!
The second cup was bitter and bad!

The first pour was nice. I enjoyed it very much. But this was my first experience with what some here have mentioned with respect to over-steeping and bringing out the bitterness

I after that I just filled the teapot half way (one cup size) and it worked well.

Thanks again for the tip.
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Baisao
Posts: 1397
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:17 pm
Location: ATX

Tue Jun 28, 2022 1:36 am

ChihuahuaTea wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 12:25 am
So today I had an oolong of I think good quality
(https://westchinatea.com/30g-big-dark-l ... gL3DvD_BwE)

If I pour my tea pot to the brim it holds about 2 fillings of the cup I use.
So I had been doing that first steep, pouring half of the pot into my cup, sipping it, then pouring the remaining tea from the pot into my cup (which had been steeping longer)

I had not noticed much of a difference in the pu’er or the black tea I had tried.
But this one!
The second cup was bitter and bad!

The first pour was nice. I enjoyed it very much. But this was my first experience with what some here have mentioned with respect to over-steeping and bringing out the bitterness

I after that I just filled the teapot half way (one cup size) and it worked well.

Thanks again for the tip.
This is one of the reasons GFC-style brewing is preferred by many for oolongs. It’s a lot of leaf for a small volume of tea, initially brewed with short-ish steeping times.

Working with your existing teapot, try filling it halfway and steeping the first one as you have. Then for the second steep, use a much shorter time. And for the third steep, use a time just under the time of the first.

I don’t use a timer but the scale is approximately like this for each steep where 100% is equal to the first steeping time:
1 @ 100%
2 @ 30%
3 @ 75 %
4 @ 100%
5 @ 120%

Notice how short that second steeping is. This is because the tea has “woken up” on the first steep and will dump a lot of flavor in a very short time on the second steep.

If you have a gram scale, and I recommend you get one, the general proportions for oolongs are 6g/100ml @ 193°-212°. Many people use more or less leaf but this will get you in the ballpark.

Having metrics like grams, milliliters, temperature, and times will help us to troubleshoot your process. I use a pocket gram scale still. Get one that measures to a fraction of a gram rather than whole grams so it doesn’t round up/down on you. A single gram more or less can make a big difference.

As for the quality of the tea, I’ve had many teas from WCT over the years and they have all been enjoyable. These were generally selected for my palate by the owner, however. I can’t speak to this specific tea. If you’re curious, here are some film photos I took of the owner back when he was getting started.

Sohan Outside
Sohan Outside
42262FAC-1473-423C-825D-369EC5D51FB6.jpeg (291.62 KiB) Viewed 1207 times
Sohan inside
Sohan inside
57B6F82D-C1A4-47A8-BCA6-E35FC2DF07B2.jpeg (287.41 KiB) Viewed 1207 times
ChihuahuaTea
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:53 pm
Location: United States

Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:58 am

Wow. That’s a lot of info. Thanks.

I have watched most of WTC’a YouTube videos and have found them very entertaining and educational.

I do have a small digital scale and my kettle has temperature control so I should be able to play around with this a bit.
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