Which infusion of steeping loose leaf tea is the best taste?
By Emma Chang | 13 July 2018 | 0 Comments
For the tea infusion taste, there is a Chinese saying goes like this “ the 1st infusion is water, the 2nd is tea, the 3rd and 4th are the essence, the 5th and 6th are not bad, the 7th has the fragrance, the 8th , 9th and 10th infusion still have the aftertaste”
In fact, this is true. When loose leaf tea is brewed at the first infusion, it's the processing of washing and waking up the tea leaves, and the flavor would not come out, when the 3rd and the 4th infusion, the tea leave are stretched out, the flavor of tea would come out,which are the best essence of a tea soup,after that the flavor will decline, but the tea still taste good.
Green tea
Green tea is non-fermented, such as Jade needle, Gunpowder, Snow Dragon, Maofeng and etc. This type of tea leaf is soft and tender, thus it’s not suitable to brew with boiling water,infusing for 2-3mins with 3 grams of green tea and 180ml of 80°C - 85°C water is the best.
Green tea is good for brewing and drinking straight away, higher temperature and longer infusing time will damage tea polyphenols and other nutrition, the tea aroma would also vanish. In gongfucha, green tea’s essence is the 2nd and 3rd , after 5 infusion, the flavor of the tea would become light.
Balck tea
Black tea is totally fermented, it’s best for brewing with boiling water, infusing for 3mins with 3 grams of black tea and 180ml of water is the best. In gongfucha, the 3rd and 4th infusion are the essence, taste the best.
White tea
White tea is slightly fermented, it’s best for brewing with boiling water, infusing for 3mins with 2 grams of white tea and 180ml of water is the best. In gongfucha, the 3rd and 4th infusion are the essence, taste the best.
Yellow tea
Yellow tea is light- fermented. The tea leaf is soft, tender, and uniform, same with green tea, yellow tea doesn’t taste good with boiling water, infusing for 2-3mins with 2 grams yellow tea and 180ml of 90°C water is the best. In gongfucha, the 3rd infusion is the essence of yellow tea which taste the best.
Puer tea
There are two types of puer, raw puer and ripe puer.
Ripe puer is fermented tea, it’s best for brewing with boiling water,infusing for 3mins with 2 grams of white tea and 180ml of water is the best. In gongfucha, the 3rd to 6th infusion are the essence, taste the best.
Raw pure is non-fermented tea, it’s best for brewing with boiling water, infusing for 3mins with 2 grams of white tea and 180ml of water is the best . In gongfucha, the 3rd to 5th infusion are the essence, taste the best.
Drinking tea is enjoyable, just because each infusion has the different taste.