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.

10 tea brewing tips

Originally posted on the TChing site (in two parts in consecutive posts)

I don't cover that many back to basics themes but in this I'll explain ten ways to improve an approach to brewing tea.

1.  ditch the tea bags and drink better tea

Tea in tea bags is typically terrible; low quality, ground-up dust.  Sticking with an old favorite brand is fine but in the end that usually amounts to drinking bad tea.

Beyond tea bags loose teas vary a lot.  In general if a tea looks ground up (as CTC, crush-tear-curl automated processed teas are, or just broken orthodox versions can be) then the brewed tea won't be very good.  It's difficult to summarize what makes up "good tea," since that can mean a range of different things.  Paying more is no guarantee, and not all vendors can probably even tell the difference themselves.  The look of a website or physical shop tends to not mean much either.  You have to go through a learning curve to judge for yourself.

Wuyi Origin old bush Mi Lan Xiang Dan Cong

2.  don't use boiling point water for green tea

Simple enough.  Preferences could vary, and for different green teas different temperatures would work best (per individual preference), but dropping down to something like 75 C / 170 F for most green teas works much better, for most people.  Even lower for some Japanese green versions; it's best to experiment a bit and read around.

3.  don't trust bloggers or vendors for input

So much for the rest of this list, right?  More than half the people offering advice about tea online--vendors included--know very little about tea, and haven't experienced much for varying parameters, checking out different versions, even trying very high quality tea, looking into background research, etc.  Even what I say should be taken with a grain of salt, to some extent.  Most input really would be helpful, it all just needs to be screened.

orthodox Assam in a For Life infuser basket and lid device

4. about infuser devices

I tend to de-emphasize this factor but brewing devices are a critical aspect.  For Western style brewing (the teaspoon per cup approach) it seems to not matter as much; you could use a ceramic teapot, infuser basket, gravity device (similar to a drip coffee maker in design), or even a French press, and results wouldn't vary much.  Some people brew green teas in a glass to see them swirl, which also works out using specialized tea bottles / tumblers, and those also travel well.  Covering a tea while brewing probably makes a difference; volatile components that make up the flavors could evaporate off otherwise.



5.  try out Gongfu brewing, versus Western style

There are two main ways to brew tea; Western style uses roughly a teaspoon or 2 grams of tea per one cup of water, infused for around 4 minutes, often twice.  Gongfu style brewing uses a higher proportion of tea to water and a different type of device, most often either a gaiwan or clay pot instead of a ceramic teapot, tumbler, or gravity infuser.  Different teas work better using different proportions, timing, and water temperatures.  One school of thought advocates using boiling point water for everything, adjusting for strength using shorter infusions.

For many people clay pots make for an optimum solution for some tea types.  Any porous clay material allows for tea components to soak into the pot, and to re-release flavor back into later rounds of brewing, once a pot is appropriately "seasoned."  It takes a lot of research to even get started on clay pot styles, ideal clay types (Yixing, a region also used to describe a range of local clay comes up), how to best limit use to one tea type (how narrow to go for range), and which pot style and clay types match with which tea versions.

gaiwans work really well but clay pots are handy and provide a different aesthetic experience

6.  try varying infusion strength

People tend to have a preconception about what infusion strength is normal for different types of teas, often based on how that typical Western proportion and timing works out.  I wouldn't go much stronger than that (longer, or just infused stronger), but lighter in strength can be nice to experiment with.  Sheng pu'er works better brewed quite light compared to black teas, for example.  White teas work across a broad range, brewed strong to match the thickness and style of black teas, or brewed very light to be enjoyed as a more subtle version.

the same tea brewed at two different infusion strengths (a Da Hong Pao)

7.  consider the water

Different mineral content in water can make or break a tea brewing experience.  This tends to be where dedicated (obsessed) enthusiasts separate from casual tea drinkers, but really anyone could try out using a bottled water instead of tap water.  One might think distilled water or reverse osmosis processed water--stripped of everything, minerals included--might be ideal, but the minerals play a role in the infusion process, and affect the final outcome positively (or negatively, if the balance or type doesn't work well).  Researching the absolute best water for a specific type is nearly impossible but trying out minor variation at home is easy.

Per most input even using a Brita filter could make a positive difference.  One odd trick relates to placing bamboo wood charcoal into the water--not while you brew, in a pitcher of some sort before heating it--to either absorb the wrong types of minerals or trace elements or maybe to add some others.  I guess if it seems to work you really don't need to know how it works.

8.  consider the cup

It's only psychological, I think, since you could drink tea out of a coffee mug, a fancy British tea cup, or a stainless steel camp cup (my typical water glass, at home) and it shouldn't make that much difference.  But most tea enthusiasts claim it really does, and I sort of have to side with that, even though my range of use of teaware is non-existent compared to most.  For people with no budget limits what to try out for teaware is an easy call; choose it all, and see what works.  For everyone else taking small steps in different directions can work; try out a few interesting variations from a thrift store, or splurge and try a beautiful bowl shaped version that looks more like artwork than an everyday use cup.

some teaware does have a cool look (photo credit)

9.  try different teas

This isn't advice about brewing, it's about sourcing the tea and the type instead.  If you like Indian or Sri Lankan black teas (Assam, Darjeeling, or Ceylon) it's still worthwhile trying Chinese blacks, to see how those vary.  Different oolongs can be approachable, not necessarily hard to brew (maybe just tricky to optimize in some cases), and many are good across a broad quality level range.  As your palate and preferences change, and as you try different types and better quality teas, factors that were less important earlier on can influence results more.


10.  make it your own

Experiment, and break rules!  It works to vary infusion technique every time you make tea, or even infusion round to round.  Or go the other way, make a science of it, and try to zero in on carefully controlled optimums through small adjustments.  That second approach would seem to tie together with researching other people's informed opinions more but I guess that could work either way; someone might experiment from the ground up on their own, based on conventional approaches, or read up on lots of crazy ideas to try new things that are unconventional.


To me the nice thing about tea is the range it covers.  It can be an inexpensive food-related interest, with lots of variation possible even at low cost, involving low effort and knowledge input.  Or the subject can be bottomless, involving ever deeper layers of exploration.

Tea gear; on brewing devices

Originally posted as http://www.tching.com/2017/11/tea-gear-brewing-devices/

In a sense I’m not the right person to be writing about tea gear; I just stick to the basics related to what I own and use. 

I usually use a French press to make tea at work, and that or an infuser or gaiwan at home.  I own two clay pots I bought in Taiwan (almost certainly not yixing; they didn’t come with certificates).  As is typical I only use those with one type of tea each (Wuyi Yancha and sheng pu’er), with a lot of people narrowing use down to one level below that, a certain tea or a certain aged range.  I’ve not noticed they make a lot of difference in results, but I did brew a Rou Gui in the sheng pot once, and it did seem off, so they must be contributing something.

Teforia; it is / was cool looking (from a review mentioned here)

It was just in the news that one of the better regarded, most expensive brewing devices (systems?) by Teforia has been discontinued.  It seemed like spending $1000 on a way to brew tea isn’t in high demand (actually $1499 per this product review article, which more or less concludes “don’t buy it”).

Per my understanding at least one of their devices was based on a capsule system, and I really don’t have lots to say about those.  I tried a tea made in one at an expo once, and even if it had been better I still wouldn’t be interested.  The same is true of trying Thai tea—the orange spiced kind—prepared in an expresso maker.  A lot of teas turn out better brewed infused in water at temperatures under boiling point, and using 40 seconds of steam contact doesn’t seem ideal.

An online contact developed an automatically timed version of a basket type infuser, under the brand name Teaflo.  It’s the type where you push a button to allow the tea to drop into a mug, except in this case you don’t need to push a button.  An interesting variation of this design based on an hourglass shape was first developed in 2011, the Tea Time Tea Maker, but apparently it still hasn’t entered into commercial production.  Hand made brewing devices that combine function and artwork are another interesting sub-theme, but I’ll only mention an Instagram profile of one well-known example (Petr Novak's artwork / teaware), and then move on. 

Petr Novak teaware; more or less functional artworks (photo credit)

Cost as a concern mixes with function.  A $1000 solution seems like overkill but even an inexpensive infuser or French press is going to cost something.  The standard rate for that Teaflo device seems to be $48 per that link; not so bad.  The automated device that gets mentioned the most, the Breville tea maker, also covers the heating function (kettle part), and it “only” costs $230 at Walmart.

Breville One-touch (credit this product review article)

I usually spend around $10 on basic, inexpensive French press versions, or even less on basic gaiwans, but then I live in Bangkok, where some things can cost less.  I bought a gaiwan for around $8 in the Chinatown in NYC in January, and one well-known online vendor (YS) sells versions from that range up towards $20.  

My parents bought me a really nice “For Life” infuser basket device for Christmas.  It’s a bit of a gamble, them giving me that kind of thing, but it’s compellingly simple and effective, and cool looking, easy to like.  I just looked it up online; it goes for $26.50 on their website.  That seems a bit much, but then it is nice.  You could brew anything at all in it, probably even coffee.  That’s provided you want to make a whole cup of it at one go, and use something like a Western-style brewing proportion (a part that gets complicated). 

infuser at local cafe, like Teavana's (it might be this Mei Leaf version)

I checked what a push-button drop-style maker might cost--the type of design the Teaflo is based on--and Teavana’s normally had cost $22.95, now down to $16.07, unless they’ve cleared all their stock as part of going out of business.  Pushing that button yourself might seem no big deal, but that’s not really the point.  It’s about not needing to time it, or forgetting to do that, about the tea turning out better, or being able to jump in the shower instead of waiting.

a clay pot (not yixing, but along a similar line)

Right around this point it would make sense to start in on a narrative theme.  One possible version:  each to their own; it’s all good to make tea in any way that works for someone.  Or another:  soaking dried leaves in hot water for three minutes really doesn’t need to be gear intensive, and people might be looking for solutions to a problem that doesn’t exist.  A more subtle, developed version than those is possible.  People seem to naturally transition tea interest preferences, related to both tea types and brewing methodology, and a sophisticated mechanical solution that “brews the perfect cup of tea” is not regarded as a natural end point by most tea enthusiasts.  How dare I speak for everyone that likes a certain beverage?  Let me explain.

There is some leeway related to the qualifier “most” in that sweeping claim.  Based on people having so many preferences (yixing or other clay pots, gaiwans, infusers, tea bottles / tumblers, etc.) “most” tea enthusiasts don’t agree on any one best approach.  It’s probably not a radical claim that many people gravitate towards a Gongfu brewing approach further along the experience curve, based on using a higher proportion of tea to water and a higher count of short infusions.  Some tea types give better results made in such a way, and most others just turn out about the same.

It doesn’t stop there; I’ve ran across two other people with “the next best thing” ideas for brewing tea, and there must be countless existing devices and ideas out there.  This article lists more than a dozen, but that’s only scratching the surface.  I’m reminded of someone recently asking in a tea forum if a tea mat that includes a timing device seemed like a good idea.  Everyone there said no.  Of course brewing devices are a real thing, they’re practical, but per my own take—which is only one of many—someone should try out an inexpensive gaiwan before getting too far into other gear.  If that timing step really is an issue a $48 gear solution doesn’t sound so bad.  And it’s worth bearing in mind that in a pinch someone could mix dry leaves and water in a coffee mug, and then strain those into a second one.

lots of teaware at the Lin Mao Sen shop in Taipei