video : You're Doing It All Wrong
How to Steep Tea with David Wong
By Meredith Arthur and Eric Slatkin
David Wong, director of tea culture and education at Tillerman Tea, has seen all of the wrong ways that people brew tea. He’s here to show you the right way. There are three “hows” of steeping: how hot the water should be, how much tea to use, and how long to steep.
Decent video, but too distracted by his "flair"... Maybe it's time for a "Top 10 Tea Gadgets" or "Top 10 Loose-Leaf Teas" article. Or how about a Tea Obsessives video series? :)
There IS a Tea Obsessives video series!
It's interesting. Check'er out.
Hmmm....according to Wong, even tea obsessive James Norwood Pratt is "doing it all wrong" when it comes to steeping tea. Of course, according to obsessive at-large Alton Brown, no one should be using infusers, either.
Flair?
I don't buy the part about plunging the French Press pushing the flavor out of the water. I don't see how the mesh screen on the press could be anywhere near fine enough to filter any flavor compounds.
@davis_sq_pro: I'm not sure it has to do with filtering out the flavor so much as the pressure releases the compounds that cause bitterness. I mean, when you use tea bags, you're not supposed to squeeze them out for similar reasons.
I went to a class given by the guys that run qualitygreentea.com at a Ms. Greens health food store. The French press agitation is how your get the flavor infused in to the water. I do it all the time now. Also, the over 180F rule has nothing to do with air. It just destroys all the polyphenols of the tea leaf. Also, green tea at low temperatures takes over 1-2 minutes to taste right. They showed me a trick using a thermos that makes tea that's unbelievable. I still buy tea from them and am gonna ask them to write a blurb on Chow. This guy is all wrong!
Antrogers, might you share your thermos method? I am an avid black and green tea drinker.
I like my tea strong, and actually prefer a CTC blend through a French press. Makes good strong tea.
To each his own.
I enjoyed this video a LOT.
But I'd like to know how you know when to stop your water just before boiling -- I suppose I have to watch for a column of steam?!
We just bought an electic jug/kettle that seems to boil the water for a really long time before it shuts off... It's not always convenient to be standing next to it in order to shut it off manually and early...
I'd like to second that request -- Antrogers, would you please share your thermos method?
Antrogers, You should come over to the CHOW studios and we should shoot a video of you sharing your thermos method! Let me know if you're going to be in San Francisco any time soon.
Meredith of CHOW
While this guy is correct in some regards, this isn't very informative. No, you're not supposed to use boiling water, but the temperature to which you should heat the water also depends on the tea you're making. Black tea requires a much hotter water temperature than white tea, which I believe is the most delicate of teas.
I remember reading something awhile ago about Chinese methods of judging the temperature of water for making tea. It referred to the size of bubbles rising from the bottom of the kettle - "shrimp eyes", "crab eyes", "fish eyes" in ascending order of heat, for white/green/black teas. That's worked pretty well for me.