A famous quote from the School of Success once said, “Those who can control time can control life.” When used to brew rock tea, controlling the time to make the soup essentially controls the brewing process.
Ignoring the fluency level of tea brewing techniques, what factors do we need to consider to determine the speed of soup making?
Either watch people make tea, and for those who prefer lighter drinks, sit in a shorter cup, and for those who prefer stronger drinks, sit in a longer cup; Either it’s the ultimate theory of rock tea: watching tea and brewing tea.
Behind these four character mantra cannot be ignored is the star sea of rock tea variables. The “big shots” behind the scenes, such as mountain fields, making green tea, roasting, and storage, control the brewing techniques. Whether to brew in the morning or afternoon depends on the face of the tea brewed.
As for the brewing time, the first 30 seconds of brewing the tea will produce a fragrant aroma, but after another 30 seconds of brewing, it will no longer be fragrant. A tea master who can accurately locate the 30 seconds also needs to have a timer in their mind. If the time is not controlled properly, they are easily attacked by unpleasant flavors such as bitterness, astringency, numbness, sourness, and richness.
Is there any operational methodology for determining the brewing time of tea and soup? In Professor experience of brewing tea and observing people brewing tea, there are still some scientific or mystical experiences that can be shared. Please feel free to add in the comment section. How do you manage the brewing time?
Part 1 What determines the time for brewing tea According to the nature of tea.
The tea nature here does not refer to coldness or warmth, but rather to the personality of rock tea, which is rich in water, fragrant, and long-lasting. This value orientation can also be reflected in the strict evaluation standards of rock tea.
In general, the 1:22 tea to water ratio in the rock tea evaluation standard is equivalent to a 5g amount of tea needed for a 110ml lid bowl. This tea to water ratio is thicker than black tea and green tea, and it has been brewed the most times, a total of three times.
For the first time, 2 minutes, distinguish the purity of the aroma;
The second time, 3 minutes, identify the type of aroma, floral fragrance, and rock charm;
The third time, lasting for 5 minutes, with the second infusion as the main reference for taste.
Outside of rigorous evaluation, among the general public, I see that the timing of tea infusion is more casual in terms of tea quality, and there is no tea brewing master whose infusion time is the same.
Someone flows freely, with the kettle for pouring water on the right and the hand for pouring soup on the left. One puts it down and the other picks it up, with the main focus on avoiding scalding the tea leaves; Some people are wandering aimlessly, and after a series of beautiful performances, the tea soup begins to cool down before it comes out. The main theme is to ignore the life and death of the tea leaves
Out of basic respect for rock tea and the appetite of foodies, Teacher Y will share a few tried and true martial arts experiences:
01 A beginner’s error free soup making time
A novice who doesn’t have much experience in brewing tea, and meeting this tea for the first time, is eager to try but also anxious. How can one make the tea without making mistakes? So how to make it safe? As we all know, rock tea belongs to the “heavy mouthed” role in the tea circle. Novice novices who can’t manage their time well can easily regret it.
So this trick of fast in and fast out may not guarantee how outstanding your tea soup will be, but at least it won’t make people frown and shake their heads after drinking it.
If you want to have a better level of immersion, the teacher can provide you with nanny level data as a reference. Following this, you can also immerse yourself steadily.
The first steeping is the initial appearance of tea, so it should not be rushed, so the soaking time of the first steeping should be slightly delayed for about 15-25 seconds according to the nature of the tea.
After the first warm-up, there is no need to wait too long for the second one, which is about to come out as soon as you soak. The third one can be slightly increased by about 10 seconds compared to the first one, the fourth one lasts 40-50 seconds, and the fifth one lasts about 1 minute and 10 seconds
The most glorious moment of rock tea is in the first five or six courses, which is when people pay the most attention and concentrate on tasting, and it is also the stage where tea makers are most prone to making mistakes. As long as we seize the critical moment, we will have achieved great success.
02 Check the amount of tea added
The amount of tea added is an important factor in determining the soaking time, and the concentration of tea soup not only depends on its own foundation, but also on the accumulation of the amount.
The tea soup is too strong to help, and there is a sense of helplessness that ‘tea is a good tea, but I cannot afford to love it’; Drinking too light is not satisfying enough, and there is even a feeling of poor quality.
Nowadays, the packaging of rock tea is mostly replaced by brewing bags, making it difficult to achieve the freedom of taking as much as needed. The conventional 8.3g/steeping is also in line with the 1:13 tea water ratio of rock tea.
However, now 8.3g has retreated to the second tier, and the new 8.5g, 8.8g, 9g, and even 10g have all taken over the market. I don’t know if it’s for multiple selling points, or if the manufacturer wants their tea to be better brewed, more top-notch, and more durable? We can only respond based on the current weight and match the corresponding brewer with a 1:13 tea to water ratio.
For example, when brewing 10g of tea, attention should be paid to the soaking time, and the first few steeps should naturally shorten the sitting time to prevent the tea soup from becoming too strong. If there is only a bottom of the can left and it is poured out to weigh a few grams, and you want to use it as tea to brew, you undoubtedly need to extend the soaking time to make up for the lack of tea, and of course, the lid bowl needs to be replaced with a smaller one.
03 Check the thickness, size, and uniformity of the rope
There are many varieties of rock tea, with cinnamon leaves being smaller and narcissus leaves being larger. The volume of their tea will inevitably vary. Secondly, it depends on the tightness of the rolling and twisting, and secondly, it also depends on the uniformity, all of which affect the leaching rate of the tea soup.
If the rope is loose and the leaching rate is slow, you can sit in a cup appropriately during soaking; The strands are small and even mixed with some broken tea. In the first few infusions, it is important to accelerate the extraction process in a timely manner, otherwise it will be difficult to prevent, and two cups will get drunk.
04 Check the degree of roasting
The most talked about technique for rock tea, besides making green tea, is roasting.
Light roasted tea retains more fresh and refreshing substances, bringing a refreshing and clear flavor. At the same time, tea polyphenols and caffeine occasionally come to join the fun, so when brewing tea, you can start fast and then slow down, making the bitterness and astringency unable to catch up with you; The tea properties of Zuhuo tea are relatively mild, so there is no need to be so busy when making soup, as it can maintain balance and stability.
05 is heavy fragrance or seeking water
The cup of fragrant tea should be pulled short, which is related to the boiling point of the aroma. Generally, low boiling point aromatic substances are prone to evaporate and be smelled by us at low temperatures. Delaying the release of low boiling point substances can prolong the duration of their fragrance. Secondly, after sitting in a cup for a long time, the tea aroma carries a clear sense of being matured, which not only hinders the full experience of the tea aroma, but also affects the judgment of the aroma type.
Tea that requires water should be chewed with substance, and the thickness should be supported by the inner essence. Prolong the sitting time to allow the substances inside to continuously release and accumulate, in order to achieve a thick and full soup texture.
Why did you only start writing about the important topic of soaking time for rock tea now? Because the teacher doesn’t have a fixed answer either. If you really want to ask, it may be the saying of the oil seller: “No one else, but my hands are familiar
There seems to be no answer on how to brew and how long to brew, but conducting more tea brewing experiments can still provide evidence. Like Dan Yuan’s new Yan Bufan product this time, there are three varieties with different focuses, which are perfect for conducting a tea brewing experiment by comparing them.
Among them, the C-position Elephant Trunk Rock Cinnamon has a strong and strong taste with a good foundation. There is also a lingering cinnamon flavor after ten steeps. The first five or six steeps of this tea can be brewed in a fast in and out manner, and then sipped appropriately later.
Ma Zai Dong Lao Cong Shui Xian is a heavier waterway and is a stable and steady tea. It is suitable for a steady and steady brewing method.
Another high aroma variety, Huangguanyin, has both fragrance and water. You can decide what time to freeze it based on your own judgment of tea.