TeaForum.org

Is it better to steep loose leaf tea in the cup, adding hot (almost boiling) water, or in the glass pot while nuking it, starting with cold or "hot" tap water?

For in the cup, I nuke 1.5 cups water for 3 to 3.5 minutes, then pour that over the leaves in the infuser.
(I measure out the tea using a digital scale, so each cup is consistant.)

welcome to the forum

the main thing that stands out to me in your question is that starting with hot tap water may not be ideal. i usually avoid drinking water that comes out of a water heater because hot water dissolves more stuff from plumbing, and it's also been stewing in a hot tank. whether or not that is a potential health issue depends on your plumbing and water chem, but i think it usually can at least negatively impact flavor.

the rest of the question sounds like you're basically asking about infuser vs a glass pot. idk. depends on the tools and your technique

afishhunter wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 16, 2023 12:15 pm

Is it better to steep loose leaf tea in the cup, adding hot (almost boiling) water, or in the glass pot while nuking it, starting with cold or "hot" tap water?

For in the cup, I nuke 1.5 cups water for 3 to 3.5 minutes, then pour that over the leaves in the infuser.
(I measure out the tea using a digital scale, so each cup is consistant.)

I agree with @pedant regarding using hot tap water. I noticed a difference in tasted years ago between hot tap water and tap water heated in the microwave. This could be an individual matter.

What kind of tea are you preparing?

If your tea has a lot of fines then you may want to stick to pouring hot water over the tea in the infuser. If you are using tea without a lot of fines then you can prepare it “grandpa-style” by pouring the hot water directly over the leaves in a mug or tall cup.

Though I have microwaved water and leaves at the same time, I prefer not to do this because the prepared tea is easily over-extracted. In fact, when I have done this it was specifically to eke out more beverage from spent leaves. They wouldn’t extract conventionally so I forced the extraction in the microwave. It was also with workday tea that I didn’t care much about.

It’s good you’re using a digital scale. It’s a big help. I used one when I began drinking tea then used my eyes for many years, only to return to using a scale again.

I don’t know the wattage of your microwave but 3.5 minutes for 1.5 cups seems like it could get too hot. Be careful that the water doesn’t reach a super critical state and suddenly vaporize/explode on you. I tend to use roughed up Pyrex when microwaving water to avoid this phenomenon.

Cheers!

Baisao wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 16, 2023 8:55 pm

What kind of tea are you preparing?

I currently have two loose leaf, and no tea bags:
Tao of Tea brand "Gunpowder Pearl Green Tea
'
and Golden Sail Brand China Lichee Black Tea.

The water is just starting to bubble after 3.5 minutes, so around 180-190 degrees?
'
I am probably steeping both wrong. For both teas I use 4 grams/61.7 grains of tea.
I steep the green tea for no less than 4 or 5 minutes. The black tea at least 8 to 10 minutes.
I tried 2 and 3 grams for both, but the tea was too weak, even with the steep time doubled.
A second steep is also rather weak tasting.

I like a "strong" tea. (the best way I can describe "strong" tea is: "With straight tea (no dairy or creamer), when the cup is 1/16 to 1/8 inch (1,5 to 2.5mm) from empty, you cannot see the bottom of the cup."
(I like my coffee at least the same strength.)
I rarely add anything but maybe 2 or 3 ml of unsweetened lemon juice to my tea. Never any sweetner.
(Coffee I add creamer or instant Cappachino powder, but no sweetner. I "think" I am sweet enough. )

I think my tea cup is 11 ounce. I don't know how to upload a picture of it.
I hit the picture in the edit options up top, but only got a bracketed "img". No option of choosing a file.

That does sound pretty strong. My pour over coffee probably isn’t that strong, but it also has a lot of clarity. I’m also a no dairy, no sweetener person.

Since you’re just beginning, make tea how you enjoy it. There are better teas than the ones you mentioned but it’s a good start. The better teas will have fruit or floral aromatics without anything added to them, just like fine wines do. Those teas are typically but not always brewed lighter and with more care.

I’m not a beverage snob. I like diner coffee and Panamanian gesha. I like Merlot and blueberry wine. I like aged puerh tea and unsweetened iced tea.

If you like very dark, strong tea then you may want to explore a type of puerh tea called shou. It is a fermented tea with a dark red-brown color. Low quality ones can be fishy but better ones may have a leather or compost aroma that is pleasant. This is an inexpensive shou that has a clean taste and I’ve found to be good for digestion: https://www.thesteepingroom.com/product ... 277e&_ss=r


For me, this is probably a typical color for aged oolongs. It probably looks thin but it has a lot of pectin in it so it feels full bodied. That teacup is about 50-60ml so not very much tea per cup. The cups I use now are around 30-40ml. I’ll drink a liter of tea this way, re-steeping the tea every few minutes.