Infusers and gaiwans

[roboboticus]

I got an infuser and I'm loving it. I had a couple ball-style ones in the past and found them tedious and short-lived, but this one's a small metal basket that rests on the cup's rim. Simple, easy, tasty!

However, I stumbled across talk of gaiwans here on the forum and they look pretty nice too. And simple and cheap to boot.

Would a gaiwan produce better/different tea than an infuser? I heard once that brewing with the leaves clumped together, as in a tea-bag or infuser, isn't as good as letting the leaves float freely. True?

As it is, I'm pretty happy with my new infuser, but I'm still curious.

 

[JEEP]

The more room the leaves have got, the more they can unfold. The more unfolded the leaves are, the more they are exposured to water. More exposure to water means a richer tasting and more aromatic tea.

I brew 100% og my yellow and white teas, 90% of my oolong and about 20% of my puerh in a gaiwan. The oolong and puerh I do not brew in a gaiwan are brewed in Yi Xing pots. Green tea I usually brew in a kyusu/tokoname and black tea in a small traditional porcelain or glazed clay pot.
All the above mentioned means of brewing tea has two things in common:
1. They are small, brewing one or two cups at a time - freshly brewed tea just tastes better
2. They allow the leaves to float freely in the water, thus allowing them to unfold completely

Brewing in a gaiwan is also a lot faster than a larger pot, because a gaiwan allows you to "step" the tea.

So, my answer to your question is; yes, you should get a gaiwan asap.


Regards.

Jakob

 

[roboboticus]

Thanks, Jakob. Since I mostly brew green tea, I took a look online at some kyusu/tokoname teapots, which look and sound very nice, but are out of my price range at the moment. I'll tide myself over with a gaiwan!

Thanks

 

[Kevan]

I have a gaiwan cup but have never used the infuser with it because the holes seem to be too big; I don't want tea leaves floating around in my cup. Is this the way it's supposed to be with them?

Most of the time I use a Finum brewbasket infuser....it's great. It's got an incredibly fine mesh so the leaves expand but don't float all over the place. Easy to clean too.

Edit: Oops, looks like I misjudged what a gaiwan was. In fact, what I have is a mug with an infuser and a top.

 

[JEEP]

Thanks, Jakob. Since I mostly brew green tea, I took a look online at some kyusu/tokoname teapots, which look and sound very nice, but are out of my price range at the moment. I'll tide myself over with a gaiwan!

Thanks

A kyusu/tokoname does not have to be expensive. I have, among others, a simple glazed green one that I have paid D.Kr. 70 (approx. USD 11.25) for. The trick is to search your local asian stores, they usually have a lot more than one expects - and the prices are normally very reasonable.


Regards.

Jakob

 

[SiBurning]

I don't know about that floating freely part. My 150ml gaiwan gets awfully full with 7g of puerh, 5g of black or oolong, or even 3g of green tea. To paraphrase Roy Scheider, I'm gonna need a bigger gaiwan.

 

[JEEP]

Indeed, but even so the tea expands much more freely in a 150 ml gaiwan than in an large infuser.

I did a test once with a fair quality TGY; using a gaiwan, a small pre-heated pot with the leaves floating freely and a medium sized pre-heated pot with the leaves in a fairly large metal infuser. I adjusted the brewing times to match the amount of water in the diffrent vessels.
I was quite suprised to discover how big the diffrence between the tea from the gaiwan and the tea from the pot with the infuser was. The gaiwan just got so much more taste and aroma out of the leaves, especially the more subtle notes, which were missing alltogether in the infuser. The small pot with the leaves floating freely did almost as good as the gaiwan, but took longer time doing it.

I have a bunch of diffrent infusers, ranging from about the size of a walnut to a tennis ball. I have round, eggshaped, cylindric and even an oval one. Some closed and some open topped. But I only very reraly use them anymore.


Regards.

Jakob

 

[thanks]

Indeed, but even so the tea expands much more freely in a 150 ml gaiwan than in an large infuser.

I did a test once with a fair quality TGY; using a gaiwan, a small pre-heated pot with the leaves floating freely and a medium sized pre-heated pot with the leaves in a fairly large metal infuser. I adjusted the brewing times to match the amount of water in the diffrent vessels.
I was quite suprised to discover how big the diffrence between the tea from the gaiwan and the tea from the pot with the infuser was. The gaiwan just got so much more taste and aroma out of the leaves, especially the more subtle notes, which were missing alltogether in the infuser. The small pot with the leaves floating freely did almost as good as the gaiwan, but took longer time doing it.

I have a bunch of diffrent infusers, ranging from about the size of a walnut to a tennis ball. I have round, eggshaped, cylindric and even an oval one. Some closed and some open topped. But I only very reraly use them anymore.


Regards.

Jakob

I've not done any experiments with infusers vs. gaiwans as I've never really liked infusers, but I will say that I honestly find gaiwans easier.

 

[JEEP]

Agreed, as soon as one masters the "gaiwan grip" it is the fastest and easiest way to make tea.

I am glad I discovered Yi Xing pots before I discovered gaiwans, had it been the other way around, I do not think I would ever have looked beyond the gaiwan.


Regards.

Jakob

 

[roboboticus]

I'm trying to decide between the $7, 100 ml gaiwan at Jas-e tea and this glass 200 ml one for about the same price. I like the idea of being able to see the tea as it brews. Then there's the size issue. I mostly just brew for myself, and I'm use to an 8oz cup. It seems like I'd have to brew twice with either one the of the above gaiwans.

Hmm....

 

[ambrose]

I'm trying to decide between the $7, 100 ml gaiwan at Jas-e tea and this glass 200 ml one for about the same price. I like the idea of being able to see the tea as it brews. Then there's the size issue. I mostly just brew for myself, and I'm use to an 8oz cup. It seems like I'd have to brew twice with either one the of the above gaiwans.

Hmm....

100ml is perfect for gong fu cha, I also like the bold tea brew against the white porcelain

 

[netsurfr]

Actually, I like both types of gaiwan for different reasons. As ambrose points out, it is often very nice to see the contrast of the tea against a clear white background of a white porcelain gaiwan. However, for some of the TGYs, green, whit and other formed teas, it is wonderful to watch them unfurl in a glass gaiwan. The glass does seem a bit hotter to handle by comparison. In general, my favorite is the white porcelain gaiwan. The fact that it makes a bit less tea is actually an advantage since you get to taste the flavor profile of the tea at different stages during the infusion process. However, if you want to brew larger quantities of tea because you are in a work mode, I also use a larger Kamjove glass teapot that I carry both at work and at home.

 

[roboboticus]

Pulling the trigger on the white porcelain...
Thanks for the input, all

 

[Born2bwire]

Pulling the trigger on the white porcelain...
Thanks for the input, all

Yeah, better to choose the right volume of gaiwan over the looks first. 100 ml is perfect for single personal use because you will get many infusions out of a decent tea when brewed in the Gongfu style. I have 100 ml Yixing pots and a single pot will be enough for a single afternoon. That's usually 1.5 L of water used (not all of it is drunk, some is used to warm the pot, clean the tea, wash the pot during infusion).

As for an infuser, a proper pot or gaiwan ensures that any place that water can go, the tea can go. An infuser is always going to have a slightly smaller volume of space than water for the teas to unfurl. I just see it mainly as a convenience item but honestly using a gaiwan or pot only requires a minimum of added effort to keep the tea dust out (pour through a filter) and to clean.

One other thing that is nice about white porcelein for the gaiwan and the cup is that it will help contrast the color of the teas. Even between shades of white the color of the same tea can look slightly different.