When brewing tea, is according to the characteristics of different teas, processing methods and tea types. The amount of tea, the temperature of water and the time of brewing are referred to as the three elements of brewing tea. The amount of tea is the appropriate amount of tea in each cup or pot; the temperature of the tea is to brew tea with water at the appropriate temperature; the brewing time consists of two layers, one is the time required to brew the tea to the appropriate concentration Second, it means that tea leaves should be brewed several infusions and the time needed for each infusion.
1. The amount of tea
To brew a cup or a pot of tasty tea, you must first grasp the amount of tea. There is no uniform standard for each tea used, mainly based on the type of tea, the size of the tea set, and the drinking habits of the tea drinkers. In ethnic minority areas such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia, people are mainly meat-based, and local lack of vegetables, so tea has become a necessity in life. They generally like strong tea and add sugar, milk or salt to the tea, so the amount of tea used is more. People in the vast areas of North China and Northeast China like to drink scent flowers tea, usually with larger teapots, and less amount of tea. People in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River mainly drink green tea, usually with smaller porcelain mugs or glasses, the amount of tea used each time is not much. In Fujian and Guangdong, people like to drink gongfu tea, although the tea set is small, but the amount of tea is more.
In short, the key to the amount of tea used is to master the ratio of tea to water. The ratio of black, green tea and tea to water is roughly between 1:50 and 1:60, that is, about 3 grams of dry tea per cup, and 150 to 200 ml of water. For Puerh tea, put 5-10 grams of tea per cup. If a teapot is used, it should be properly controlled according to the capacity. The most amount used tea is oolong tea, which is almost one-half of the teapot or even more.
2. Water temperature
It is advisable to just boil and blister, and the tea is scented with such water. The mastery of tea water temperature depends mainly on the type of tea. The premium grade green tea with delicate leaves can not be brewed with boiling water of 100 °C, generally steeped about 80 °C. The tenderer and greener the tea, the lower the temperature of the brewing water. The tea soup brewed out must be green and bright, and the taste is fresh and refreshing. The vitamin C of the tea is also less damaged. For brewing scent tea and black tea, brew with 100 °C boiling water. If the water temperature is low, the permeability is poor, the effective ingredients in the tea are less leached, and the tea taste is weak. Steeping oolong tea, Puerh tea and tuo tea, using more amount of tea, and the tea is thicker and older, you must use 100 °C boiling water to brew. Sometimes, in order to maintain and raise the water temperature, warming up the tea set with boiling water before brewing, after brewing, drench the hot water outside the pot.
In general, the water temperature of the tea is positively correlated with the solubility of the effective substance in the tea in water. The higher the water temperature, the greater the solubility, the stronger the tea soup, the lower the water temperature, the smaller the solubility, and the lighter the tea soup.
It must be stated here that, as mentioned above, premium grade green tea is suitable for brewing with 80 °C of water, which usually means boiling the water and then cooling to the required temperature.
3. Brewing time and number of infusions
The time and number of infusion of tea brewing vary greatly, and are related to the type of tea, the temperature of tea, the amount of tea used, and the habit of tea drinker.
For example, steep a cup of ordinary black or green tea, apply about 3 grams of dry tea per cup, brew with about 200 ml of hot water, and cover it for 4-5 minutes, then drink. The shortcomings of this kind of brewing method are: if the water temperature is too high, it is easy to burn the tea leaves (mainly refers to green tea); if the water temperature is low, it is difficult to make tea taste;
Drink oolong tea with a small teapot. In the case of a large amount of tea (about half a pot), the first infusion is poured out in 1 minute, the second is 1 minute and 15 seconds, the third is 1 minute and 40 seconds, and the fourth is 2 minutes and 15 seconds. That is to say, gradually increase the brewing time from the second infusion, so that the concentration of the tea before and after is relatively uniform.
The temperature of the tea and the amount of tea applied also affect the length of the brewing time. The water temperature is high, with more amount tea, the brewing time should be shorter; the water temperature is low, the tea amount is less, and the brewing time should be longer. Any variety of tea should not be steeped for too long or too many infusion, it is best to drink immediately, otherwise the beneficial ingredients are oxidized, not only reduce the nutritional value, but also brew out harmful substances. Tea should not be too strong, and strong tea can damage the stomach.