Gongfu with white tea?

Withered tea
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Kale
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Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:06 pm

So, I'm about to receive really high quality white tea (I think Baimudan).
I rarely drink white tea and I do drink I usually go grandpa style. Was told that gongfu will bring out the flavors here. But I have never tried it with white tea and don't have enough tea to expriment!!!
Do you go gonfu with your white tea? how do you do that? in terms of leaf/water ratio and brewing time
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OldWaysTea
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Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:22 pm

I would recommend experimenting with your daily tea. :) I only occasionally drink white tea. When I do, I always make it in a gaiwan. I usually use about 6g of leaf in a 120ml gaiwan.
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Kale
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Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:37 pm

OldWaysTea wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:22 pm
I would recommend experimenting with your daily tea. :) I only occasionally drink white tea. When I do, I always make it in a gaiwan. I usually use about 6g of leaf in a 120ml gaiwan.
Thanks! What about brewing time??
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OldWaysTea
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Wed Jan 24, 2018 8:17 pm

Kale wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:37 pm
Thanks! What about brewing time??
Time? The right amount. I start with about 7 seconds for most teas I drink and go from there. I think white teas I tend to brew a bit longer, but I haven't had any in a few months and can't really remember right now.
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Bok
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Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:03 pm

OldWaysTea wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 8:17 pm
Kale wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:37 pm
Thanks! What about brewing time??
Time? The right amount. I
:mrgreen: Excellent answer.

It depends on so many things, like your brewing skills, how you pour the water, the kind of vessel etc.
If you use a gaiwan, you can also check the colour.

If underbrewed, whites are usually the blandest, most boring tea ever. In doubt, rather longer than shorter!
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Kale
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Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:40 pm

Bok wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:03 pm
OldWaysTea wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 8:17 pm
Kale wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:37 pm
Thanks! What about brewing time??
Time? The right amount. I
:mrgreen: Excellent answer.

It depends on so many things, like your brewing skills, how you pour the water, the kind of vessel etc.
If you use a gaiwan, you can also check the colour.

If underbrewed, whites are usually the blandest, most boring tea ever. In doubt, rather longer than shorter!
Of course, I know that it depends on many factors...I'm just trying to get the general guidelines...
Months after I started experimenting and trying shou puerh, an advice from a friend about brewing time and leaf quantity was totally life-changing....Same goes for Danhongpao, for a long time I just thought is undrinkable for me (must say that was trying the sea dyke's stuff) till a friend advised me to use less leaf and much shorter brewing time... since then I like to ask folks how they brew their tea..
Of course some people give your kind of answer: "Well, I just put leaf till it seems right and brew it till I sense its ready..." :D
But thanks though!
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Bok
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Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:46 pm

I think for white tea gong fu is not strictly necessary those teas are often spent after 2-3 infusions. I have had good results with bowl style.
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OldWaysTea
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Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:54 am

Kale wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:40 pm
Of course, I know that it depends on many factors...I'm just trying to get the general guidelines...
Months after I started experimenting and trying shou puerh, an advice from a friend about brewing time and leaf quantity was totally life-changing....Same goes for Danhongpao, for a long time I just thought is undrinkable for me (must say that was trying the sea dyke's stuff) till a friend advised me to use less leaf and much shorter brewing time... since then I like to ask folks how they brew their tea..
Of course some people give your kind of answer: "Well, I just put leaf till it seems right and brew it till I sense its ready..." :D
But thanks though!
By no means do I wish to put you down for an honest question. I answered how I did in an attempt to give you both my opinion and some potentially helpful advice. I don't actually measure it, and trust the sense that I've developed. I think you make a good point that our individual experimentation does not always yield the best results. It can be difficult if you don't have someone experienced to point out when the tea is weaker or stronger than what would best present itself.
Bok wrote:
Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:46 pm
I think for white tea gong fu is not strictly necessary those teas are often spent after 2-3 infusions. I have had good results with bowl style.
Interesting. I've not tried that myself.
thetealetter
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Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:09 pm

I don't gongfu white usually myself but I did recently have an aged baimudan gongfu style out of a yixing that was absolutely delightful. Goes to show there's no one way to skin a cat, or brew tea. ;)
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d.manuk
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Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:08 pm

For silver needle I like to do 3-6g of leaf per 110ml, steep for 4 min, 185F.
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Baisao
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Sat Feb 24, 2018 6:38 pm

I’ve been making an 8-9 y/o Bai Mu Dan gfc-style with excellent results. It’s not terribly uncommon to do it this way with a white tea, but it isn’t common either if you catch my drift.

Like others, I usually don't measure as I am brewing. I don’t even think about brewing, same as I don’t think about walking or breathing because things get awkward when you do. And yet, we all have to begin somewhere.

I recently taught some classes which also meant that I had to measure what I did and how I did it.

If you want to get the best from your Bai Mu Dan let it age for at least six years in a well ventilated place. The flavors will become more rich as it ages.

I use 5-6g of leaf for 100ml @ 185°. Hotter if older. I don’t rinse. I think my first steep is around 45 seconds (genuine guess), with 2nd and 3rd steepings around 20-30 seconds. If compressed, I like to take a plug of leaf and mix it with a little scratch (75/25).

HTH
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Lion
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Wed Feb 28, 2018 9:39 pm

A good place to start when Gongfu brewing a bai mudan (or similar white tea that has lots of leaves rather than mostly buds like silver needle):

Water temp: 185F/80C
Tea leaves: 3g/100ml (when I say 100ml I mean a gaiwan that holds 100 ml of water without leaves in it, so it may not be exactly 100ml water with the leaves in there), scale this up or down to your needs if your gaiwan/pot is a different size. If you don't have tools to precisely measure, I'd say fill the gaiwan about 1/3 full with the leaves.
Brew times: First infusion for about 20 seconds, then on the second infusion go much shorter, maybe 5-7 seconds, and gradually increase the time with each infusion as needed, maybe just by about 3-5 seconds per infusion for the next couple, then 10, 15, and so on as needed. You'll get the hang of it.

Note: I do not rinse white teas. I drink the first infusion. So if you do a rinse infusion that you aren't drinking, skip my initial 20-second recommendation and cut straight to the 5-7 second one.

This will produce a light and very nuanced drink (as white tea tends to be). Its flavor will be even more pronounced if you give it a little time to cool off and don't drink it quite as hot. Some people brew white tea a lot stronger than I do, but I don't like the bitter flavors it brings out. I think the recommendation I gave here is a decent middle ground when it comes to strength.

Hope that helps. You can tweak it to your own needs, but this is where I start whenever I have these types of white teas and I always enjoy the result.
TeaZero
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Thu Apr 05, 2018 12:47 pm

thetealetter wrote:
Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:09 pm
I don't gongfu white usually myself but I did recently have an aged baimudan gongfu style out of a yixing that was absolutely delightful. Goes to show there's no one way to skin a cat, or brew tea. ;)
I believe with aged white, you should brew it gongfu style, while with fresh white teas, temperatures around 185 as suggested above is suitable.
Kelly
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Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:29 pm

Hi Kale,

Did you find what worked for you in the end? I recently started with my first 'good' white teas and absolutely love them. I got a sample of Bai Mudan 2018 from Hojo's. Loved it, bought 150g and in turn received another sample of wild picked, high mountain white which I plan to order as well.

I've not tried Gongfu yet. I use 3oz of 185F water in a 4 oz Gaiwan. I have no scale, but I cover the bottom of the Gaiwan with a little mountain of leaves, perhaps 1/5 of the capacity. I leave it a good 5 minutes for rich, full flavor. I'll get two more steeps at similar length from the leaves before they get too tired. In my experience across a variety of teas, steep time under similar conditions can vary wildly by type and quality. A lower cost, summer picked green Jasmine might steep for 1 minute - longer would make the liquor astringent, where this particular 1st flush, whole leaf Bai Mudan only accumulates more flavor with long steeping.
DobroTea
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Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:01 am

I make baimudan with an inexpensive gaiwan setup I picked up for less than $20.00. It works really well.
For me it's better than using a big teapot because it makes small amounts. This allows me to be sure that my fifth cup is as warm as my first.

-Patrick
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