Sheng brewing advice?
I’ve just got my first sheng order through the post – need some advice on how to brew it to avoid any bitterness?
Or is it something I will get used to in time?
Totally wasn’t expecting the flavours hidden inside the leaf. My mouth is dancing & confused at the same time Haha.
Am currently doing 4g 100ml gongfu 95c 5/5/5/7/10
I personally go with a little more leaf but the same basic brewing parameters of 5/5/7/10. I usually use boiling water though. Sometimes I drop the water to 200 degrees. It’s mostly a matter of experimenting until you find the ratio that works best for you. Experiment with different leaf amounts and see what you get.
Yeah I have started again, on second steep trying with 90, so yeah about 200f, and 3g leaf, not as complex but more palatable. Hopefully the taste will develop into something more complex, idk
You should open any new tea up and let it ‘awake’ for about a week before brewing. Most is packed vacuum tight or in a box for a few weeks during shipping. This can make them flat. Give them a week before brewing.
Another trick is when you rinse the tea let it sit for 15 minutes or so to allow the water to seep in. A tea will sometimes absorb its own weight again in water after a rinse.
Are you suggesting a 15 minute rinse, or a rinse then letting the leaves sit for 15 mins before actively brewing? I confused myself and wanted to be sure.
I’m pretty sure he means a short rinse and then a 15 minute rest. A rest after pouring out the water from the rinse that is. A 15 minute rinse would probably rob all the flavor from the tea.
That’s what I’m assuming as well since a 15 minute rinse would be…well. All the flavour, as you say.
Rinses are always immediate (a flash steep of a few seconds at most). The puerh is tightly packed and as mrmopar correctly points, it is a good idea to wait for a little while after you rinse the tea to let it breath, open up, and awaken.
A short rinse and then let the tea absorb what is left after pouring out the rinse. Brew after the rest period.
+1 for mrmopar’s suggestion of giving the tea a week or so to ‘awake’. If it has been in transit for a long time (more than a week or two) I may let it acclimate for as much as a month.
That’s interesting thanks.
I also did 10 minute sit first, then second time it was much less, 3 mins or so.I always use boiling water so that I can get a full mouth feel of the tea. It helps me evaluate the tea. But I adjust the amount of tea leaves and the steeping time according to the tea. with 4g/100ml, I’ll probably steep for no longer than 20 secs for the first infusion after a quick rinse. And I don’t really have a parameter for brewing. The taste of one infusion decides the steep time for the successive infusion.
I also prefer to use boiling water. I use 7gm for 100ml and similar initial steep times. Since you are using lesser leaf, you can infuse for longer in the initial steeps or use more leaf. It is a bit of an acquired taste and you may want to practice different variations both to get used to it & decide how you like it best.
I use a similar regimen as Psyck for an unknown sheng. 7 grams of leaf to 100ml water (scaled up or down to whatever vessel I am using) and water just off the boil. 5 second rinse, 10 to 15 minute pause, then short steeps to start (5 seconds).
I then let the leaves guide me as to steep time and temperature. If it’s too bitter or overbearing I may drop to 200F for the next steep and see how that goes. If the flavor is thinning out too much I’ll make the next steep a little longer than the previous pattern.
I also keep notes on every session until I find one that works for that tea, then I stop taking notes and use the best parameters I’ve found from then on. Sometimes I settle on a different leaf ratio than 7g/100ml. And I had one silver bud sheng that worked really well for me down at 180F. Most seem to fall between 200F and boiling.
I like 1 gram to 15ml, so that would be 6.6 grams for your gaiwan.
Though a question is what tea are you using? If it’s younger, 185F to 200F will help. If it starts getting too weak later on, feel free to up the temperature. I’ve tried even 175F to reduce “cooked leaf bitter” taste.
White2tea has a good blog post on water temperature too http://www.white2tea.com/2015/01/15/best-water-temperature-brew-puerh-tea/
Sometimes, that sheng will just be bitter and there’s no way around it. It could be for the people who like it bitter or it was made to drink years down the road. That said, you might want to look into trying some others made to drink now.
It’s white2tea ‘if you’ve read this…’ and ‘repave’
I’ll try using more leaf and adjusting. For some reason I thought if I over steeped it would ruin the rest.. :still learning:
2late I liked 200F, 190s would be alright too.
If you are using a pot or an easy gaiwan that pours slowly that may be another issue, accidentally doing longer infusions than intended. I had a sheng yixing pot I had to re season to something else as it poured slowly and butchered shengs.
OO — I have the same issue with the pot I dedicated to sheng, which is why I do most of those in the gaiwan.
Most web sites don’t show the strainer holes inside of the pot or the inside diameter of the spout. So far I’ve bought on looks and just accepted whatever pour rate I got.
Questions: How do you know when you buy a pot online if it will have an reasonable pour rate? Do you contact the vendor first and ask, or do you just chance it like I do?
Not sure whether my gaiwan is fast or not but I’ll practice my skills. Im sure ican make it fast pour
rasseru — I apologize for muddying the waters here. Gaiwans generally can pour plenty fast. I was asking Oolong Owl about yixing pots. My sheng yixing takes 12-15 seconds to drain, which can present an issue when flash-steeping.
ah i see. I did think ‘dont you just open the lid a bit’ then thought it might be something to do with the curve of the sides or something o.O lol
this is when i should be buying a yixing, right? i wonder how much the pot has changed the flavour in the reviews? meaning i get ‘sheng lite’ or something?
My yixing strainer clogs easily. Every 2 or three sessions I have to spend 10 minutes with an un-bent paper clip to clear out the holes. It’s a disappointment and I don’t use it very often.
No immediate hurry to purchase an yixing. A gaiwan is ideal for tasting and judging new teas. Spend a lot of time sampling and understanding the teas and also researching teaware before you purchase an yixing. You don’t get a ‘sheng lite’ or something from a gaiwan, you get the full unadulterated flavour of it.
The standard round gaiwan shouldn’t give you oversteep, but a gaiwan like easy/travel with holes and spout tend to pour a little slower – making do by pouring sooner helps. My yixing could not be saved, it poured sooooo slowly. It was a material and shape recommended for sheng from Yunnan Sourcing, but it just didn’t work out. Nice pot but it’s a great shou pot now.
Some vendors have the yixing pot’s pour times on their website. Off the top of my head, ChaWang shop does. But yeah, other than that, hopefully a seller can tell you more about the pot if you contact them. I’m in need of a young sheng pot and I’ve decided to buy it in person as I’ll be seeing a reliable yixing seller in a few months.
OO — Thanks for the tip about ChaWang listing pour times. The only other site I’ve found that does this is Jing Tea Shop. I have not yet found any reliable yixing sellers here in Florida.
rasseru — I second Psyck’s comment about not being in a hurry to purchase a yixing. I sample all new teas in a gaiwan (not just puerh) to get a true picture of their flavor.
Im more interested in sampling different teas at this present moment, the pots ive liked are quite expensive!
Dr Jim — I run tap water in the reverse direction through the spout of my yixings right after a session to minimize clogging of the holes. That helps a lot and I only have to pick out a hole or two on occasion. Most times it clears them completely.
I’ve tried that and it helps some but not usually enough. I also let the pot dry out and then blow down the spout. That also helps, but I just find it more effort than it’s worth.
I don’t know how valid measured pour times would be. Presumably they are measured with no tea in the pot, and I find that my pour times are dominated by leaves up against the screen, and as mentioned above, plugged holes in my yixing strainer.
You are correct in that measured pour times do not translate to actual usage. But they do give an idea of how fast or slow the pot will be. With just water my fastest yixing drains in 5 seconds, my slowest takes around 20. Those times do lengthen with leaves in the pot. And broken or chopped leaf teas, such as gong ting puerh, tend to clog the spout. Larger leaf oolongs, gushu, etc, do pretty well.
do you people start timing as the water is filling the vessel, or after its full??
I pour very quickly to agitate the leaves. My 100ml gaiwan gets filled in about one second. I usually start counting as I stop the pour.
I start timing steeps after filling the vessel and closing the lid. I do not track the time to fill the vessel or the time to pour from the vessel, as those are the constants (of course, I note how long those processes take the first time I use a vessel so that I can adjust the brewing times accordingly).
so i assume your spout is a wide one.. mine is a gooseneck style and although it is controlled, it takes its damn time to pour.. so maybe i should include the pouring process in the count.. hmm.
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