Related Tea Article

How to Brew Tea in a Scientific Way

The Chinese attach great importance to water for a good brew. Since ancient times, "The tea of Longjing(Dragon Well)" and the water of Hupao(Tiger Running Spring)," and "The Water from Midstream of the Yangtze River and the tea from the top of Mount Menshan" have been regarded as the best pairs for making tea. It's generally believed that "water is the mother of tea." And that it takes incorporation of the right leaves and the right water to fully bring out the potential flavor of tea.

Tea second rule is that tea wares are also of great importance to the quality of tea. Different teas should go with different types of tea wares. People generally tend to steep green tea in glasses, oolong tea in kungfu tea vessels, and red in purple clay pots. The utensil called gaiwan, literally "Lidded bowl" is what the northern Chinese prefer when it comes to the steeping scented tea.

One must firstly equipped with a understanding of the characteristics of all types of tea. The inherent character of tea will be able to be fully released if scientific methods are applied.

In general, in order to brew good tea, the three most important things one should bear in mind are the proportion of leaves to water, the water temperature and the period of steeping.

The proportion of leaves to water:

Generally speaking, water should be added to dried leaves of red tea or green tea in a proportion of about 1:50, namely, for 3 grams of dried leaves, about 150 grams of water of water should be added. Brewing oolong tea requires more leaves, with the proportion of dried leaves to water at about 1:25. Of course, the proportion is adjustable so that a strong or weaker liquid will be made according to the one's design.

The water temperature

High-grade green tea should be steeped in water at a temperature of about 80 degrees Celsius, which will guarantee a liquid with a bright green color and a lively refreshing flavor. Water at too high a temporary will spoil the tender leaves by making them over-down and turning them yellowish. Ordinary green tea, red tea and scented tea, are better steeped at a water temperature just below boiling. Oolong tea and Pu'er tea which have been relatively large and coarse leaves, should be steeped in a 100-degreen-Celsius boiling water.

General Speaking, tea is best served with not more than three infusions. This is because usually the first infusion releases 50 percent of the soluble compounds from inside of the leaves, and the second one release about 30 percent. Therefore, when it goes on to the third infusion, there is less than 20 percent of soluble substance left to be retrieved.

The period of steeping

After being steeped in boiling water, tea leaves first give out substances like caffeine, vitamins and amino acids. The content of these substances in the tea will reach the peak value in three minutes, and as a result bring forth the tea's best flavor around that time. Three minutes later, as the content of soluble like tea polyphenols increases in water, a somewhat astringent quality will be accumulated in the tea.