Steeping Guide Continued
Brewing using the “Gong Fu Cha" technique requires a small teapot of some kind, most often a Gaiwan (guy-wan) or Yixing (ee-shing) teapot.
Gaiwan literally translated means “lidded cup” or “lidded bowl” and is typically a ceramic or porcelain cup with a saucer and a lid. Yixing teapot is an unglazed teapot made of red or purple clay that is intended to absorb flavour over time, so each yixing vessel is usually dedicated to only one type of tea.
Typically, the goal of brewing using this method is to taste each layer of the tea through multiple steepings. You do this by adding substantially more leaves to your gaiwan than you would with other brewing styles and steeping the tea leaves for a much shorter period of time starting around 5-10 seconds for the first steeping. This will allow you to get quite a few more steepings out of your leaves, sometimes as many as 15-20.
The Process ::
First you would warm the teapot and warm your cups with boiling water. Then discard this water. Second you would rinse the leaves. This involves pouring hot water covering the leaves to the top of the pot and pouring off immediately. Third is the first brew. This will be the shortest steep time and each steep afterward will be longer. Fourth is additional brews. Each brew will have its own unique flavour profile.
Western ::
Typically, about a teaspoon (~2g) of tea leaves are used per 8oz of hot water. The tea is steeped one time for anywhere from 2-5 minutes.
Boiling ::
Some teas after multiple steeps can be boiled for days afterwards. Just when you think you can’t get any more out of your tea, you can boil it for 30 - 60 minutes on the stove with fresh water. You can also boil again for slightly longer the next day.
Cold brew ::
Research claims that this is down to chemical kinetics. Tea leaves contain flavour compounds that are heat sensitive. When hot water is poured over the leaves, energy from the heat makes water molecules move a lot faster allowing flavour extraction to be quick. When cold water is applied, the water molecules are moving at a much slower pace and extracting a smaller number of compounds over the same period of time. That’s why a longer period is needed for flavour extraction. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that compounds such as polyphenols which gives tea its astringency and bitterness from caffeine, is only extracted in fragments in a coldbrew. For this reason, cold brew iced teas can offer a smoother and more aromatic finish because it is not masked by the dry and bitterness of the tea compounds. You’ll want to use a little more tea than a normal western style hot brewing method into a jar. Pour cold water over the tea leaves and place in the fridge for 10-12 hours.
