On brewing approaches and devices in relation to tea types

 

5 years ago; of course the basic brewing setup isn't the focus

I've covered this before, but probably never in one short summary, only as bits of opinions in different posts.  A Reddit discussion brought it up, about someone "finally" buying a "real" Gongfu brewing set.  Good for them; that's a nice theme, and a very functional solution to brewing a lot of types of high quality tea.

It brings up a range of different related ideas.  Which tea types is a Gongfu approach best for?  What kinds of equipment cover Gongfu brewing best; what counts as basics, and what extras would also be useful?  How do aesthetic issues and spending inter-relate?  When does Western brewing work out even better, and what other approaches are an option?  

I can offer opinions about all that, but of course they won't match everyone else's.  Over and over I tend to express how the minimum set of items for Gongfu brewing is essentially as functional as a larger, more elaborate, or more decorative set; I suppose that will be a focus here then.  Aesthetics are worthy of value too, more than I place on that range of concerns.  "Feel" matters.  

Let's get into it, starting with a short comment in relation to that starting point, about someone spending $50 to $100 on a tea set (the brewing equipment and a tea tray; all of it together):

For people here who would like to experiment with Gongfu brewing but for whom the $50 range is a considerable expense I'd recommend just getting a plain, white, porcelain, 100 ml gaiwan; that's enough. Then drinking from a coffee mug can seem odd, but using even a small tea cup will do.

Gongfu brewing makes more of a difference only with certain teas, and some are actually better brewed Western style. For that shu pu'er it wouldn't make that much difference, but it is a way to dial in infusion strength, and to try a tea different ways over multiple rounds. Gongfu brewing makes the most difference with sheng pu'er and twisted style oolongs, I think, with Wuyi Yancha and Dan Cong versions. Broken leaf black tea and a lot of green tea is fine, maybe even better, brewed Western style. The highest quality range of green tea is probably better brewed Gongfu style, not even dropping temperature range as much as is typical.

cool looking teaware in a Moscow Moychay shop

Already parts of that seem a little questionable for being overly simplified, but that's how it goes covering that much range in that short a set of ideas.  For brewing the most interesting, pleasant, and high quality shu (/shou) pu'er I would only ever use a Gongfu approach, but then that's just me.  Shu works out well brewed Western style too, or grandpa style, or using thermos brewing, all of which I've covered in this blog.  

Why not pause to add some short definitions to make this clearer to all, which an intermediate experience tea enthusiast can skip past:

Gong Fu brewing:  using a higher proportion and a large number of short infusions (rounds), for example 5 to 8 grams of dry tea in a 100 ml device, brewed over a dozen times.  Varying timing is used depending on tea type, but shorter steeps (often 10 seconds to 20 seconds).

Western brewing:  the teaspoon per cup in a ceramic pot method, using something like 3 or 4 grams in a 250 - 300 ml device when a basket infuser or French press is used instead.  You can vary proportion and timing, and factors like water temperature, and use multiple infusions, and it generally works out best to brew the leaves 2 or 3 times, not just one.

grandpa style:  keeping the leaves in contact with the water while you drink, not separating them, in a glass or some form of tea bottle.  This is the most traditional and common brewing style used in China, per my understanding, and as related by many other people.  In China and Japan hot water is available all over, so that you can re-add it to a tea bottle to brew leaves again.  

For extra methodology you can add that water before the leaves are strained dry (the tea is finished), and it will moderate brewing temperature and how hot the tea you drink is.  And you can add a small pinch of fresh leaves to add intensity, and to keep the flavor profile including some of the aspects that brew out fastest.  This is all perfect for a road trip, for brewing tea in a car.

on a road trip way back when

thermos brewing:  now we're onto an exception; you can brew some kinds of tea for an hour or longer in a thermos, using a lower proportion to adjust for the long infusion time.  Shu pu'er works the best, and something quite mild like an aged or light white tea might be ok.  This is probably more about functionality matching demands than it being a preferred optimum in terms of outcome.

cold brewing:  I only ever use this to get the last out of leaves that are half-spent, but you can use it as its own approach, starting from dry tea leaves.  If you put 4 to 8 grams worth of half-spent leaves in a tea bottle, with lukewarm water, in a refrigerator overnight, the resulting tea can be quite pleasant.  It's hard to say which types work best, or worst, since it would vary by preference; experimentation helps with that.

Let's get back to some other basics.

Which tea type is best for Gongfu brewing:  I've already offered my main opinion, best for sheng pu'er, Wuyi Yancha and Dan Cong oolongs, and worst for broken leaf black or green teas, or flavored teas.  From there a range of finer variations come into play, especially personal preference related to feel, by which I mean an impression of the process beyond just a list of brewed tea flavor aspects, and also not about mouthfeel.  

Most white teas would be just fine brewed Western style, but many people might prefer the very slight differences related to Gongfu brewing.  One difference is obvious:  with Western brewing you might experience three rounds, and considerable transition between them, but with Gongfu brewing the tea character unfolds over the course of a dozen or more.  Some teas transition a lot, some don't. 

This could be regarded as a bit confusing in relation to Japanese green teas, because the range of different standard approaches may not completely match Western brewing or Gongfu brewing.  I've experimented with brewing Japanese green teas in different ways, but I'm more or less the opposite of an expert at that range, so it's as well to consider that out of scope of discussion here.  

In general more whole-leaf and higher quality versions brew better Gongfu style, and at lower medium quality level, across a lot of types, it doesn't matter as much.  Some mediocre rolled oolong might be better brewed Western style, using cooler water; it can help cover up flaws that would be more exposed and noticeable using a Gongfu approach.  That raises another question:

Does optimum brewing temperature vary by tea type, as shown in tables in tea groups?:  yes and no.  This makes more sense in relation to Western style brewing, to me, when this is used to offset aspects like astringency.  You can get to a comparable but different end result in a different way shortening times when Gongfu brewing, while still using boiling point water, and lots of people prefer to do this instead.  Even with green teas, in many cases (with cases here related to individual preferences).  

Then to some extent the prominence or lack of the flaws that you are trying to compensate for makes a difference; all better and more whole leaf versions may hold up better at higher temperatures.  That may not relate to full boiling point across all types, for Western style brewing, but this generality is something to watch out for when experimenting to determine your own preferences.

What kinds of equipment cover Gongfu brewing best; what counts as basics, and what extras would also be useful?  to me the basic set for Gongfu brewing is what I've described; a plain, white, porcelain 100 ml gaiwan, and at least one simple cup.  Then you need a hot water source, and that's about it.  Plenty of people prefer to use a strainer and some form of sharing pitcher; there's nothing wrong with adding those, which do add functionality.  Tea trays can make sense, adding a way to pour a rinse over tea equipment, or a catch-basin for discarding the first rinse of the tea leaves (most often used for aged sheng pu'er, shu puer, hei cha, and sometimes rolled oolongs).

Clay pots are popular, yixing and such.  People on that page put a lot of focus, learning, effort, and expense into sorting out what versions are high in quality, which clay types are most suitable for what, how seasoning issues work out, and just into collecting teapots for aesthetic purposes, to enjoy seeing and owning them.  Good for them; why not?

As a related alternative any small pot that's not a permeable clay can work well for Gongfu brewing.  The set shown in the Reddit post was glazed ceramic, essentially a variation of a clay pot.  A close friend used a small glass teapot; those are nice, just more challenging to clean.  

Things seem a little more odd to some people when it moves on to gravity-basket devices marketed as Gongfu brewing solutions, like the form used in a drip coffee maker, but smaller.  Really it's all mostly about proportion and timing, but cleaning could become an issue for any kind of durable, for-purpose plastic.  

People bring up heat retention, but often those same people are using devices that absorb a lot of heat, brewing at lower temperatures than others using thinner material versions of teaware.  What good is heat retention when you are losing the heat to warm the device right away?  Then hot water rinses can compensate for this factor.

It seems as well to cut this short of discussing tea trays and tea pets, or extra items like tongs.  For more ceremonial brewing approaches all sorts of gear could be relevant.

How do aesthetic issues and spending inter-relate?  with the clay pots this gets especially complicated; of course quality, function, and cost are all going to interrelate.  And with decorative, aesthetic handmade forms of teaware.  That range isn't only about function, also about feel, in the sense of an impression.  I'll set aside the tea tray theme here too; I don't know much about those.

So in the end one might reasonably strike a balance between a one-sided "you get what you pay for" approach and staying open to consider that quality can vary, and cost with it, but also that paying more may not get you more.

I tend to continue to point out in beginner groups that function doesn't have to tie to cost, that you can use very functional teaware that costs very little.  I've taken this picture of what I was using to brew tea recently:

That white porcelain gaiwan I've bought many versions of in Chinatown for $3, but they tend to cost around $10 in outlets like Amazon.  The cups I bought for about $1 each in a local Bangkok Japanese ceramics outlet shop, but who knows what similar items one could find on Amazon, or for how much.

Let's mix discussion of cups and brewing approach here; typically I'll use two identical cups to brew tea, to pour from one to the other, to reduce the temperature.  The extra cup is usually for soaking dried goji berries before I eat some daily.  That tea transfer stage can replace filtering; the fragments and dust in that cup it would be easy to leave behind pouring the tea from one cup to the other.  The steel cup is for cool water, and the thermos is for hot water for brewing.  It's more typical to use a kettle, and I do own two, one in each country I live in (in Bangkok and Honolulu), but we have a filter system with a hot water outlet on it in Bangkok so I just use that instead.

The purpose of sharing these ideas is clear, isn't it?  In that Reddit sub probably most of the members are under 25, many in their teens, living at home with their parents, or in college, with modest free budget for spending on tea.  I want to let them know that if they shop carefully they can experience Gongfu brewing for under $20.  Or $30; whatever it works out to, but not so much.

handmade cups at a tea and coffee expo; these weren't so expensive

basic teaware a visiting friend traveled with.  that little girl was so sweet.

two more versions from the last visit to that outlet shop

a larger set in a shop, still kind of basic and very functional

the cup on the lower right was the short-lived one; RIP

What else?:  as I consider what I've written an underlying assumption emerges that there is an optimum for every tea type, that results would be best using one approach, and that some brewing devices might tend to therefore be inferior.  I don't really see it all that way.

Feel enters into play.  If someone loves seeing teas brew in a tea bottle or glass teapot then minor variations in brewed aspects could be secondary to that effect.  A main concern with a lot of the teacups is how one relates to the aesthetic concerns, including feel, in the sense of how a cup feels in your hand.

It would be normal to go through an exploration cycle, to prefer one approach or device, then something else later, and for it all to change again.  It's not necessarily that one would be approaching some final optimum, and they were in error at the earlier stage; it could be that these seem most suitable for preferences and approach at that time.

One could even set up some sort of hypothetical normal experience curve, that people tend to follow, although it might sweep in more error than it adds value for being informative.  It's normal to start with very primitive approaches, straining loose tea from a coffee mug (after getting into loose tea), moving on to some basic Western devices, then later onto Gongfu brewing.  Then simplicity can be valued even more later on, versus striving for absolutely optimum results, and people tend to re-explore grandpa style brewing or use of tea bottles.  Of course it all varies in any given case.

I had used a French press at home and at work for the longest time; it works

pour-over tea brewing.  this is from Jan. 2020; I had no idea the world was about to change.

Basic gongfu brewing parameters advice

 

Two recent threads / questions on Reddit (r/tea) brought up the subject of gongfu brewing basic parameters.  Both work as a good intro to the basic starting points, and how minor differences in preference make it a quite complicated subject beyond that.  My own take is not presented as an objective best practice, or maybe even as a particularly good starting point, instead as just as one more opinion to consider.  The comments probably don't read like that, although I do mention that "it's all subjective" every time this comes up.

I wrote out a summary of how I brew tea gongfu style in one answer, which is such a basic approach that for some it wouldn't really count as formal or ceremonial enough to fit the form:

my own brewing approach:  I tend to use a high proportion, maybe 8 grams per 100 ml (I don't weigh it), water just off boiling point (for all types but green tea, but I drink the least green tea, and would brew most green tea versions Western style).  then I base every round timing on the results of the last. for some intense teas it's under 10 seconds, for others it's more like 20. I don't use a staggered time interval as is often shown (15 seconds, +5 seconds per infusion). teas don't seem to lose intensity that fast, or consistently enough that using a lower number works (+3 seconds instead).

The first post asked some pretty basic questions that outlined a standard approach (related to a gaiwan, but that doesn't matter so much, since a different device using the same proportion would be similar):

I'm new to brewing tea in the eastern style, and I struggle a lot with brewing good tea. I think it would be waaay easier with answers to these questions.

1. How do I keep the water the same temperature, in a thermal flask or something?

2. How much leaf do I add to gaiwan? I think mine is 120ml, is it scalable with proportions for a cup on the tea package? If so what are the proportions?

3. How long do I brew in the gaiwan, assuming that for a cup (250ml) I have to wait 1 minute?  Is that also scalable?

4. Do I keep the lid on, while the tea is brewing?

5. How many times do I brew the leaves, assuming that on the package it says that I brew it 3 times for a cup?

6. How much water do I add to the gaiwan?

I answered with my own thoughts on those points, as follows:

1. maintaining water temperature:  some people just use an electric kettle to heat water, or it can work well to use a thermos, so that you can take the tea session outside, or wherever else. it's normal for some people to always use water at or just off boiling temperature for most teas brewed gongfu style, or if you prefer the variable temperature approach a kettle designed to heat to a number of levels would help.

2. amount of dry leaf / proportion:  you will really need to experiment to see which parameters you like, related to proportion of tea to water and other factors, and those might not be consistent even within a broad tea type (eg. rolled oolong; it's possible that you could prefer completely different parameters for lighter or more oxidized and roasted versions). since online advice is going to span a broad range surveying that to find a median norm seems unreliable; it would depend on who happened to answer, which would vary in different places you might ask online. for 100 ml gaiwan a normal range might span 4 grams to 8 grams, and some people could go even heavier.

3. infusion time:  the other parameters define brewing time, since adjusting proportion will change the timing required to get to a certain infusion strength. brewing temperature shifts things just a little too, but that's more about altering the proportion of compounds extracted than serving as an input to the timing. preference for infusion strength varies this a lot, and that's completely subjective, probably varying some by tea version, not just type. 

4. brewing with the gaiwan lid on:  yes, you keep the lid on while the tea brews. it's common for people to recommend keeping the lid off or at least offset when not brewing, to avoid steaming the leaves, but I'm not sure if that really changes much.

5. number of infusions:  brew more rounds until the tea is no longer pleasant to drink; this part is subjective too. in cases where it's still pleasant into later rounds you might use long infusion times, out towards a minute, or potentially even longer, and go up to 15 infusions, or more. of course this depends on infusion time used, and how durable the leaves are (eg. even partly broken leaves brew out faster), and how pleasant late round results happen to be. 

if you do happen to be using cooler than boiling point or just off boiling point water you might experiment with bumping temperature to stretch number of rounds at the end of the cycle. a heavier range of flavors can extract at the end of a cycle, and feel can change, so that may or may not be as pleasant, it would depend on the tea.

6. amount of water used:  fill the water it to where it meets the lid, so that it's full, after the lid is replaced. if it's slightly too full water will collect just above the lid, and until you get the hang of how to hold the gaiwan that will make it harder to not burn yourself with the water or related to the top sides of the gaiwan being hot. it doesn't take much practice before it's easy to fill it to the same level every time.

I just ran across a good video practice demonstration of this theme created by William of Farmerleaf.  It's not mostly about parameters, in relation to discussing proportion, temperature, brewing time, and such, but it does include recommendations about all that.  It applies more directly to sheng pu'er than other types, since he is brewing that, his comments there relate to that type, and he mostly drinks that.

William mentioned that he thinks green tea isn't suitable for gongfu brewing, and in general that seems to work.  It is possible to just use cooler water and still use the other parameters, and I probably would for good Longjing, but in general I brew green tea Western style.  I would add broken leaf black tea to that list, for not being suitable for gongfu brewing, and also flavored teas, and teas blended with herbs / tisanes.  To me shu pu'er turns out similar prepared both ways, maybe only slightly better gongfu brewed, so it would depend on the version I was using and my mood at the time which approach I would use for that type.

On the same subject, another question post asked Where to find gongfu brewing parameters?

For a year or so I've been brewing almost all my teas in a 100ml gaiwan. I love it, but I'm still confused about good starting point with brewing parameters (tea to water ratio, water temperature, steeping times)... 

I wonder: Are there some places you can find gongfu brewing parameters for different kinds of teas?

I know big idea around gongfu is experimenting and finding parameters that suit you personally. But having some starting point, especially when trying a new tea, is helpful nonetheless. Also you can always learn a lot seeing how other people do the same things you do.

Mei Leaf's guidance table was mentioned, and Yunnan Sourcing offering input per type they sell (just not in table form, I don't think), and a Steeped App developer mentioned it's part of their app function.  I'm just posted about discussing that app version with one of the founders. 

I mostly discussed the Mei Leaf table there, as comments on that post.  Their table is actually pretty good, as starting points go, probably the best reference for that I've seen, at least in that form.  That's not saying much, because I don't remember ever seeing a brewing table broken out by gongfu and western parameters, so it's also the only one related to detailed gongfu parameter advice, and therefore also the worst, but to be fair it's pretty good.  Varying temperature using a gongfu approach isn't necessarily standard, but it's hard to get a feel for preference by vote / uptake, by how many people prefer which approaches.  This is that table:

Right away one might wonder what information from this works really well, and what isn't as good.

On the positive side, using a 100 ml gaiwan is a good starting point, or using a small glass pot would be identical in practice, really.  Someone could scale that up or down based on minimal experimentation, and 100 ml is relatively standard.  I think some 100 ml gaiwans end up holding only 90 ml of volume in the brewing area part but again that can get sorted out in a testing against preference phase.

a friend's (Sasha's) gongfu brewing set-up, using small glass pots

The categories in that table seem generally ok, since it would be hard to keep breaking them down further.  For example hei cha was left out, and how broken leaf material is makes a difference, how oxidized an oolong version is, white and sheng pu'er are really diverse categories, etc., but still it's fine like this, the basics are there.  Skipping yellow would've made sense, for all the more often that comes up, but it adds a feel of completeness (making it odd that they didn't add hei cha, to lean into that).  

I don't care for the base time + added time per round approach; to me that doesn't work.  In comments there in that discussion about what doesn't work as well that was the main critique:

timing, the +5 or 10 theme: this is the biggest error on the chart, it seems to me. there is no way infusion strength fades as fast as many of those timing cycles. adding 5 seconds for small leaf black tea per round and 5 seconds for rolled oolongs is a good example; the black tea would actually lose brewed strength much faster than the rolled oolong, and I think in this case it's that the black tea instruction is closer to right, and the oolong advice is not as good, but I just don't use that general approach.  it works to adjust each round timing based on how the last turned out. 

proportions: a bit arbitrary, since it's not as if the lower range they specify seems to map to that working better for those teas, or why using 4 grams per 100 ml for most makes more sense than 6 for every tea type.  I prefer using 8 grams per 100 ml gaiwan, maybe even a little more (I don't weigh it), because that makes it easy to judge related short infusion times without timing them, most somewhere between 5 and 15 seconds, most not over 20 even for later rounds.  you could try to learn to internally time 30 to 45 second infusion times but you might end up using some sort of timer instead, which, to me, would be a far less organic and enjoyable brewing process.

white, brew at 85 C: white is a broad range; to say that you would brew aged and young (new) shou mei, buds only versions (silver needle / silver tips), white Darjeeling, or white Nepal tea at the same temperature might not be ideal. you could, but later after experimentation that might change.  I've shifted to the practice of using just one temperature for all tea types, pretty close to full boiling point, but that's as much because it's simple and easy as related to optimizing results.  Maybe some of the white tea I drink would be better brewed at 85 C, with extracted compounds and aspect balance shifted a little.

green: I might brew Longjing gongfu style, but for most green tea types it's as well or better to use a Western approach. that's not a criticism of this chart, more a concern that the charts tend to drop out a lot of relevant context. I wouldn't brew broken leaf black tea gongfu style either, but this doesn't reference that, it only makes a distinction between large and small leaves.

oolong at 99 C: I think that's fine for a gongfu approach, but there's a reason why a lot of people back off that temperature for western style brewing oolongs. since personal preference is the final guide neither starting point is right or wrong. the quality of the oolong makes a difference, and these charts can only go so far in mapping out inputs.  one commonly expressed idea is that for better quality oolong using boiling point temperature water works best, and then for working around flaws the lower temperatures, that many parameter tables recommend, might work better, especially related to using a Western approach.  

related to them mentioning 99 C versus boiling point a little heat will escape related to cooling of a kettle, and transfer between devices, so it's as well to not overthink that.  pre-heating vessels would keep temperature higher, so that's not just a formality in the gongfu brewing approach.

oolong, infusion count per category: it's strange they are referencing 1 1/2 more grams per rolled oolong, versus twisted style, and saying that they'll both brew 9 infusions. timing is slightly longer for rolled versions, which do take longer initially to get started, and might brew a little slower later, but adding 5 seconds per the rolled version wouldn't even back out that proportion difference for durability. number of rounds relates to different factors, so that might be seen as minor, since it's a rougher than average estimate even within this starting point theme.

raw pu'er (sheng): actually not that bad, but the +3 timing change per infusion isn't right (per my opinion), it's better to brew based on how the last round worked out. many people prefer full boiling point and others 95 C, as shown, but that goes in their favor, since the point here is advising a starting point. "raw pu'er" is a very broad range of things, since aging changes a lot, and character varies quite a bit beyond that. I use timing differences to offset outcome differences, based of results of the last round, which makes it simple, but this approach of treating every version range as the same wouldn't work well.

shu, brewing for 20 infusions: generally not, and stretching timing by 10 seconds per round isn't how intensity difference progresses. it would work better to use more consistent timing for the first few rounds then stagger timing more after that, bumping it even more once it loses intensity past a certain point. temperature is ok, full boiling point, and the proportion and starting point at 10 seconds is ok.

So all in all those parameters are fine, for a starting point, just oversimplified or a bit off in those few ways, as I see it.  Others would see it all differently; gongfu approach is a subjectively guided process, steered towards matching individual preference.

There really isn't that much difference between what Don of Mei Leaf recommended, how I brew tea, and what William of Farmerleaf suggested.  Or related to placing more emphasis on finer points we are all preparing teas completely differently.

In terms of gear and steps I don't use a gong dao bei / cha hai, a fairness pitcher, as an interim step between brewing the tea and pouring it into a serving cup.  Of course that relates to using a larger teacup, one that matches the size of liquid volume the gaiwan holds, beyond the space the leaves take up.  William isn't using any sort of strainer for that step, which is a common practice (to use one), because he is using more whole leaf tea, is familiar with how to hold the lid to reduce material pouring out, and can just dump out a spare leaf fragment with the last of the liquid from the pitcher if it comes up.  

Functionally using some sort of sharing pitcher would absorb some of the heat, which is a good thing when it comes to trying to drink an already prepared tea at close to boiling point, after the concern of maintaining a brewing temperature at the earlier step has dropped out.  If I'm brewing tea gongfu style (or a variant of that) in a rush with a breakfast before work I'll use a similar step of pouring the tea from one cup to another, to remove enough heat to enable drinking it faster.  I'm not into smelling empty cups too often but when a particular tea leaves a heavy honey scent behind in an empty cup that can be nice. 

To me those details and mechanics don't matter so much.  Someone can keep smelling leaves and empty cups at different stages, as he recommends, or you can skip all that.  As with parameter specifics all that can be varied according to personal preference.

extra basic; just a gaiwan, cup, and thermos, for brewing outside

one of my introductions to tea interest was a Huawei on-site brewing demonstration, this

one of my favorite tea friends, Huyen, is into the more aesthetic and elaborate form

then she can  also scale that back when having tea in different locations

Arya Ruby and Giddapahar Second Flush Darjeelings

 

After talking to Rajiv Lochan in one of many social tea themed meetups this year he sent some different teas to try, some from Doke that they make, and others from other producers.  In addition to being a producer they offer other teas through a Tea Swan outlet.  I've been trying a good number of exceptional Gopaldhara teas for awhile but not so much of other Darjeeling, so this should be interesting.

I mentioned in that meetup summary post that Rajiv was one of the people that played a role in getting me into tea blogging.  By chance contact through a mutual tea friend we had talked a little online, many years ago, prior to the 8 years I've been writing this blog, and he sent me some tea samples back then.  There was no clear reason to, it was just an act of generosity and helpfulness on his part.  It's not as direct as the lure of potential free samples led me into more formal writing about tea, to blogging, but that helped bring up the potential for that support.  I wrote to practice writing and reviewing teas, and to share ideas, which I expected to tie to some form of discussion.

A bit on Darjeeling sources and styles prior to this write-up:  the novel part of Gopaldhara's processing has been to focus on creating whole-leaf tea.  These aren't exactly that; I can tell prior to opening the packages.  For a Chinese tea drinker that whole-leaf presentation would seem objectively better, but to an extent it will also just be a different style.  Once you open up the packages they look good though; the leaves are beautiful, and not so broken, whole enough that I don't expect related astringency to be a big problem.  

I picked these randomly from a set; I don't know if these match up well for trying together, or if they represent the best of that group.  If I remember right Arya is a well-regarded and therefore in-demand producer name, but that grounds a lot in a fairly unreliable memory.

The teas won't be as well suited for Gongfu brewing, so it wouldn't be right to try them that way, to not optimize outcome.  I'm not unfamiliar with Western brewing but since I use it for a broad range of styles that wouldn't Gongfu brew as well I suppose I might have parameters for conventional black teas a little less dialed in.  I could weigh it; the kids and I just did a science experiment using my wife's fairly sensitive cooking scale, but I don't weigh tea.  I started out "eyeballing" proportions over 10 years ago when I first got into loose leaf brewing and never altered from that.  It's uncanny how I can tell exactly how full a gaiwan will be with wetted leaves based on a broad range of types, that take up vastly different space in dry form.  It's like that trick in knowing exactly which tupperware will hold a dish of leftovers, every time; it's a mystery.

It'll be fine, I've got this.  I've tried a sensational amount of tea since that first set of samples, lots of it black teas, including a lot of Darjeeling and other Indian blacks.  Astringency will probably seem a little higher than I'm used to but that's not necessarily a universally bad thing, since in the right proportion it can give a balance to tea experience.  

There are no listings for either tea on their Tea Swan outlet but let's check how close those get.

Tea Swan Arya listing for "Delight": $10.49 for 50 grams  (there is no "Ruby" page just now, only "Delight")

They've probably sold out of Ruby, or sold it directly through a wholesale level.  This is most likely a different tea listing, a more medium quality level version, so it won't be helpful, and there isn't much on there about the producer background and such.  

The first Google search listing for Arya Ruby is from the Thunderbolt outlet, selling that for $32 for 50 grams, before it sold out.  Really?  Seems aggressive, but then supply and demand do determine pricing.  Vahdam had been selling 100 grams through Amazon for $19.99, so one third that pricing.  Without that "Ruby" type branding you'd never know if you are comparing apples to apples but with that designation on both they should be the same (the exact same apple from the same producer, not just broader grouping).

One thing to keep in mind from these outlet vendors is that you can bundle a few types and it won't matter if you pay a little more for any one if you can buy specific tea versions that you really want at the same time, or offset that difference in value with another.  The Doke versions are well worth trying out (Bihar region teas the Lochans make), and sampling teas from other regions at the same time would be interesting, especially if Nepalese tea could be part of that.  Nothing against Assam, since those can be great, and I have been surprised by how good versions from Sikkim and Manipur have been.

Tea Swan listing for Giddapahar AV2 Clonal Wonder Black Tea ($14.74 for 50 grams)

This definitely isn't the same tea; only first flush versions are listed right now, no second flush.  Darjeeling makers tend to sell different lots under different brands, or mix them, so without a clear brand match it's hard to identify that, even a tea would seem similar.

I suspect there would be a price difference between these two versions I'm reviewing but at significantly different prices I'd drink this tea if it cost less, for sure.  The review notes explain that part.

It's interesting considering the Tea Swan brewing advice (part of it):

If you have got the primary flush Darjeeling tea, warm water to 80-85C. For the second flush or harvest time flush, warm water to 85-95-C.

Add one teaspoon for each container into the teapot.

If you're making an 8 oz container, at that point include around 3gm of tea. Pour hot water into the teapot. Steep it for 3 minutes.

Seems like good advice, especially the temperature part.  One would hope that people know to re-brew a tea brewed at 3 grams per cup for 3 minutes, which is probably quite close to how I made these.  You can even stretch a third infusion out of 3 grams of tea preparing multiple cups but two rounds would extract the most positive character from the leaves.

Review:

Arya Ruby:  it's nice; there's nothing throwing off reviewing this as a positive, complex, balanced second flush Darjeeling version.  I've brewed it using parameters that will produce two different and pleasant infusions, a little heavier on proportion than for the old "teaspoon a cup" standard, but that's just how I make tea Western style.  Onto the flavor list part.

What I take to be muscatel does stand out as primary (an aspect range which I always thought I was clear on recognizing, but who knows).  Wikipedia suggests that muscatel is "a type of wine made from muscat grapes," which of course I've never tried, the wine or those grapes.  As I interpret it that aspect range is in between heavy and warm orange citrus tone, a bit grapey, with some character along the lines of  rich red wine or brandy.  Describing this tea is really mostly about describing a variation of that.  It's clean, positive in nature, with feel / astringency nicely balanced, not overly sharp or heavy at all.  If anything it's softer and smoother than I expected, but still full in structure.  I wouldn't say that it has a dry edge but compared to even softer Chinese style black teas it might come across as such.

The citrus is nice; it really makes it.  That pairs really well with the warmer and deeper mineral tones in this.  Even though I've got a lot to drink compared to the tiny Gongfu cups I'm still having trouble discerning a lot of other flavor list.  Muscatel really stands out, which isn't bad, since it's so positive, and since that is a complex set of flavors, really.  I suppose the warm range I'm describing might come across like aromatic wood, like cedar, or the other richer and deeper fruit flavor someone might interpret as in the range of dried tamarind.  Comparing and contrasting with the Giddapahar might help.

Giddapahar:  different!  But still overlapping some.  I like it, but it has more astringency edge, and it's moved off the "straight muscatel" effect into a warmer range, towards spice, or even a bit earthy.  Part of what I said about muscatel applies here too, but that's only one part of a range, more or less primary, but it stands out less, and it's evenly balanced with the rest.  The Arya Ruby had a wood-tone component that seemed like cedar but this comparable range is a lot stronger and heavier.  Of course I'm not guaranteeing that the proportion is identical, and that's exactly the kind of shift in effect that even a relatively minor difference in proportion or timing could cause.  Or even water temperature; I'm using water not far off boiling for these, but someone being careful to pre-warm devices and use right at boiling temperature water would see more astringency edge extract.

There's a catchy part to this, along with heavier flavors being interesting, but not necessarily really positive or negative.  It strikes me as being towards a spice tone.  The part that's slightly wine-like in nature in the Ruby is even stronger in this, for sure.  It makes for a mix of inputs that are positive and then some negative, in relation to the Ruby version, and the balance just lands in a different place.  On the negative side that astringency form isn't quite as smooth, and that dark wood / earthiness isn't really positive.  On the positive side the extra lean towards spice and the wine-like range is interesting and pleasant.  

For me liking lighter, sweeter, fruitier Chinese black teas (which I really appreciate heavy fruit flavors, mineral base, and overall complexity in, to be clear) they Arya is a natural fit, but if the idea is to have a tea with food that changes things a little.  The Chinese tea drinking theme is quite often not about that at all, maybe with a light snack used to offset just drinking a lot of liquid, and repeating tea-range experience too extensively for too long.  Personally I'm very open to using tea as an everyday beverage; it would seem odd to me for people to let that entirely drop out.  What are they having with breakfast, coffee?  From that more ceremonial Chinese tea drinking perspective saying that a tea would be good with food could be an indirect slight, like saying one of these would be great with milk and sugar added, just not that extreme.

There's one more related factor, while I'm on this tangent:  I eat just prior to drinking tea, or something light with tea, because I don't want to put my stomach through the experience of drinking a lot of tea without food.  I've never had any problems with my stomach, at all, and my digestive system works pretty much as well as it did when I was 18, but I'd like to keep it that way.  I don't blast my stomach with a liter and a half of tea with no food (usually; if I eat a little just prior to that I will, so reviewing often works out like that).  And I don't overdo it with caffeine, so that I never have to worry about long term effects from that.  With breakfast I drink tea, and also often with lunch, but I tend to not finish brewing cycles from breakfast and brew a bit more from then, since I've been working from home.

Second infusion:

Arya left; a bit more consistent dark color

Arya Ruby:  not bad, not so different, maybe with just a little more heavier flavor range (again which is also an expected outcome from brewing stronger, that experienced tasters can learn to factor back out, for using a standard strong-brewed approach for evaluation).  Heavy mineral steps up, more comparable in level with the muscatel range.  Bright flavor range doesn't drop out, related to citrus, but it's in a more even balance.  It's interesting how this is exactly what you would hope that a cheap Darjeeling tea bag would taste like, a standard type-typical optimum, but they never do.  

They got oxidation level just right in this, it seems; the warm tones work well, the citrus / muscatel really hits, and the overall balance is great.  It should be relatively fully oxidized, for second flush style, and it is.  I think a lot of generic Darjeeling tea bags end up being all sorts of different leaf colors because they're mixing lots of all sorts of things (to get an optimum, to be most generous, or making the most of offsetting lots of different flaws, on a more practical read).

Astringency might have picked up a little but probably not as much as the flavor description made it sound.  The balance is good; the tea is very approachable, not harsh in the slightest.  At the right level astringency can just complement the flavors, and work as a style input rather than a flaw, and this is around there.

Giddapahar:  this balances a little better, maybe a little lighter versus the other being a little heavier.  I don't think that has to do with proportion or process in any way, just how the two versions naturally transition.  After thinking it through a little more I think the "catchy" part, that I couldn't really place, might relate to a subtle and well-integrated root spice input (like sassafrass or root beer, not so much like ginseng, and definitely not ginger).  A woody tone is probably as negative as positive, but kind of neutral, really some of both.  It gives the rest good balance but offsets the clean effect just a little.  

Astringency is comparable to in the Ayra version for this round; it's not harsh at all, just enough structure and dryness to fill out the experience.  

Conclusions:

To be clear there are no flaws in both teas, as I interpret them; they're well made, and surely made from good material, with a universally positive experienced aspect outcome.  They're quite good, even better than I expected.  I like Darjeeling, so my expectations were positive, but the quality for both of these is really good.

Some potential "negative" one might interpret relates to style, expecting or liking something else more.  Good quality Assam or Ceylon is also like that; you wouldn't dislike those for including any flaws, but might not like them as much as other types for preferring other character.  Ten years ago high quality Assam probably wasn't very common at all, while that wouldn't have been so unusual for Ceylon or Darjeeling, but lots of good orthodox examples turn up now, and small-batch, specialty producer versions that can be really exceptional.

So just how good are they?  That's harder to say.  I'm not really a specialist when it comes to higher end, standard character Darjeeling, although I've tried a good bit over the years.  I really can't place these in relation to the best versions produced by other Darjeeling estates, or sold by specialty outlets like Vahdam, Tea Box, or Golden Tips.  At a guess these are pretty far up the scale, pretty good even as pretty good Darjeeling goes.  It would be interesting to see if a pricing difference implied a potential quality difference between these two, but demand factors in too, so the reputation of a producer might change pricing, along with how the tea actually is.

I've been drinking more Gopaldhara than all other Darjeeling combined for a few years and I can say more about how they compare to their tea.  The style is different.  These seem more like good versions of what I've come to expect from second flush versions in the past, while Gopaldhara is pushing onto doing entirely whole-leaf versions, not even broken, and experimenting with different processing steps and styles.  To me, and this is just my take, not necessarily what anyone else thinks, their teas end up being much lighter in tone and fruitier, and closer to good Chinese black teas in style.  Astringency drops out to the extent that instead of considering whether it balances or not it's a minor input.  Fruitiness bumps up, and flavor intensity, with range of flavor aspects shifting.  Per my personal preference I like their teas a lot but I think that partly ties to preference specific to me, as a tea enthusiast more into Chinese teas.  These two versions probably match prior typical Darjeeling type better, which for some might make them better.

I think for drinking these teas, or what I've tried from Gopaldhara, with food that evens things up a lot too.  That extra bit of astringency edge doesn't just add balance to other sweetness and flavor range, it could help counter a food input.  

I'm reminded of how back during my wine drinking days that was a main thing everyone kept on about during pairing discussion, about how for certain types of foods, a lot of them, both reds and whites needed a degree of astringency edge to hold their own, to balance.  Then some other foods might not require that; it would depend.  A wine maker friend pointed out that in some cases shared aspects makes for a great pairing and in other cases it's the contrast that helps.  I remember one other wine specialist friend talking to a restaurant owner about how he drank vodka and grapefruit with food because it had plenty of acid range to match up with anything.  He was only partly joking (he was drinking vodka and grapefruit juice just then), and for both I think that theme made a lot more sense than it did to me.  How could you even taste food drinking that with it?  To clarify these guys were kind of snobs, but also just "on their own page;" where we were was like that.

sporty looking wine enthusiasts, and that general scene (photo credit)

So on the whole I think these were really nice.  "How nice?" might relate to style preference more than any attempt at objective quality assessment.  I probably liked the Arya just a little more, but I think some of that preference issue mapped over to this judgment too, more than judging quality.  The novelty in the Giddapahar version was equally interesting and positive, I thought, but I just love fruit, moderate astringency, and a lighter balance in black teas, and the Ruby version tipped towards that a bit more.  The Ruby might have given up a little for complexity, but both had plenty going on, and both really lacked any significant flaws.  

Really I would have to try both a few times to dial in my favorite brewing approach and see how a lasting impression versus a first impression worked out.  There's a good chance that a heavier range and more complexity in the Giddapahar might seem better for repeated drinking, with Arya more positive in an initial taste, perhaps comparable to how the old "Pepsi challenge" made Pepsi seem superior for sipping a bit of both, but too sweet for many for drinking a lot of it.

It will be interesting trying more versions of Darjeeling from Rajiv, and then some more from Gopaldhara, to compare with these.  I think that both these versions set the bar pretty high.   

a birthday celebration at a local restaurant, a family tradition

everyone takes a better picture than me, even aside from the strange movie-villain long hair look

just days prior; their birthdays are close, and we don't get observation on the actual date right

Gongfu versus Western Style Brewing

first published as contributed to TChing

The basic definitions of these two brewing approaches are probably familiar, with the point here to consider why the outcome is so different.  In theory using higher proportion and shorter infusion times should be identical to using a far lower dry tea to liquid proportion and much longer timing, if you combine the Gongfu set of infusions together (“stack” them).  In practice maybe the separation does make the main difference, the experience of transition.  But the results seem quite different, so there could be more to it.  I’ll take two guesses here about possible additional factors.

Joshua Linvers initiated this subject, posting about experimenting with variations of Western brewing approach for Da Hong Pao (a Wuyi Yancha type).  He found that some seemingly equivalent but slightly varied proportion and time combinations gave relatively poor results, versus other trials standing out as much better, although there would be some relative optimum.  In message discussion he suggested that agitation could be a significant additional factor in Gongfu brewing.

Let’s run through a standard description of both for comparison, based on my own preference more than a standard definition.  Western brewing is most often described as using about 2 grams of dry tea per 250 ml, infused at varying temperatures per tea type, often for two rounds at about 4 and then 5 minutes. For here I’ll shift that to considering use of 3 grams per that 250 ml (8.4 ounces), infused for 2 1/2 and then 3 ½ minutes.  I might back off that time even further for some stronger flavored versions, like broken black tea, or use a third round for more durable versions.  Best brewing temperature depends on type, with variations in infusion time used more than temperature for Gongfu brewing to offset intensity and potential negative aspects (eg. astringency).

For Gongfu brewing I tend to use about 5 grams of tea per 100 ml gaiwan (device), infused for something like 10 seconds for the first few rounds, bumped up after 3 or 4 rounds to account for intensity dropping, then even longer later in the cycle.  It’s typical to use full boiling point temperature, or just off that, maybe only cooler for green tea.  But then it’s more standard to Western brew green tea, in general.  I tend to go through 10 infusions or more even with a quick breakfast, out around 15 rounds for more durable or better tea, or for when I use a slightly higher proportion.

comparison tasting; can be informative, but it throws off shifting timing per preference

At a glance the first Western approach brews half a liter of tea using 3 grams of tea (although in practice that varies).  The second approach output might round down to 90 ml, considering space for wet leaves, with 10 rounds brewing 900 ml out of 5 grams of tea, with a typical slightly longer cycle extending past 1 liter.  

Timing for Western brewing was 6 minutes, in this example, but it’s harder to estimate the Gongfu total, since I vary each time based on last round results.  Guessing out one typical cycle might be (in seconds) 10, 10, 10, 13, 13, 15, 15, 17, 17, 20, adding to 140 seconds, which could easily round up to 3 minutes depending on tea version.  It’s worth noting that the Gongfu tea brewed (soaked / infused) for half as long, in total, in these parameter examples. Again variations complicate this; I might Gongfu a more intense tea starting out at 6-8 second rounds, and sometimes use longer later round timing.

It’s not so different, for total brewed tea production per dry leaf amount, within the range of normal variations for specific cases.  Looked at another way the infusion strength should be comparable.

In practice, to me, different teas provide much different results depending on which approach is used.  Sheng pu’er, twisted style oolongs (Wuyi Yancha and Dan Cong), and better whole-leaf black teas (like Dian Hong, or even whole-leaf Darjeeling) give better results brewed Gongfu style.  As I see it white tea, green, or shu pu’er often work out about the same, with broken leaf black tea as good or better brewed Western style.  I brew shu pu’er Gongfu style, almost exclusively, so I guess that implies I see it as preferrable, but Western style results are pretty good too. 

Why the differences in outcome related to approach?  I can only guess.  Maybe trying more infusions, seeing that ongoing variation / transition, is more positive in many cases.  It’s possible that I really am brewing teas lighter Gongfu style, in general, and that matches my impression (which would at least partly explain the total infusion time difference).  Two other factors might explain outcome differences, and also why the tea brews for half as long but is still roughly as “brewed out.”

All the pouring in and out adds agitation to the brewing process.  Swirling a Western infusion during brewing might be more comparable.  Also the leaves seem to not completely stop brewing between rounds, when they’re not actually in contact with water, beyond the leaves still being wet.  If you “flash brew” a round, only pouring the water in and right back out, over the 5 seconds or so that takes for two pours, the infusion strength is still significant.  Both factors would enable Gongfu brewing to use far less water contact time for similar extraction, with slightly different results.

a simple set-up for Gongfu brewing

This review goes no further than proposing these secondary causes for variation in results, versus drawing clearer conclusions.  Only experimentation with brewing approaches and parameters using different types would determine the best match to personal preference, which is the main goal.