Looking for a method for brewing a single cup of tea

[ouch]

When you say "boiling it out" do yo mean putting the entire pot into a larger pot and boiling it? If so, for how long?

I put the pot in a medium sized sauce pan, around 2 quarts, cover it completly with water, and bring it to a boil over medium heat. I shut the heat and leave it until it's cool enough to handle, rinse it out, and dry it. I don't know if there are better methods, but I'm pretty sure this cleans it pretty good and kills off anything that shouldn't be there.

 

[sehrgut]

When making tea with loose leaf tea you should always use a teapot, even if it's only for one cup, whatever's left you throw away. The reason being that the water must be at boiling point when it hits the leaves, that's why these metal ball efforts are always inferior to teapot tea as it knocks the boiling point straight off and does not allow the tea to infuse properly.

There is no tea that you want boiling water to TOUCH. Boiling water extracts tannins very rapidly, leading to a very rough, bitter cup. Black teas should be made with off-boil water, but the metal of an infuser isn't going to absorb enough heat to drop the temperature below the 205-210F optimum range.

 

[Hobbesoxon]

Gamila Tea Stick....

What a fascinating device! Someone's clearly been thinking laterally.

I don't like the idea of infusing in an open cup, though - the water cools far too rapidly to allow proper infusion.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

 

[Proinsias]

There is no tea that you want boiling water to TOUCH. Boiling water extracts tannins very rapidly, leading to a very rough, bitter cup. Black teas should be made with off-boil water, but the metal of an infuser isn't going to absorb enough heat to drop the temperature below the 205-210F optimum range.

Ripe pu-erh and aged sheng likes boiling water as do some of my black teas, I've had fair success with water a few seconds off the boil on good quality long jing. Tea is very low in tannis as far as I'm aware.

As for the open cup and temperature thingy - greens and whites aren't to fussy if you're not.

 

[TimmyBoston]

Gamila Tea Stick....

This is what I was going to recommend. It's a great tool.

 

[blade08]

Thanks a lot for all tips and ideas. I went out this afternoon and bought myself a Gaiwan in a chinese store in the Rotterdam 'China Town' district for only €2,00 I will try that method and then pour the tea in another cup after it has steeped. If that don't work I might take the 'tea stick' route like some of you have suggested. I believe Bodum also makes something similar.

 

[sehrgut]

Ripe pu-erh and aged sheng likes boiling water as do some of my black teas, I've had fair success with water a few seconds off the boil on good quality long jing.

YMMV, I suppose . . . *shrugs*

Tea is very low in tannis as far as I'm aware.

Tea is actually a very strong source of tannins. In fact, a shortcut for irongall ink making is to use decocted black tea in place of nutgall. They're not denaturing tannins AFAIK, though, so I don't think they'll tan leather.

 

[Peppery John]

There is no tea that you want boiling water to TOUCH. Boiling water extracts tannins very rapidly, leading to a very rough, bitter cup. Black teas should be made with off-boil water, but the metal of an infuser isn't going to absorb enough heat to drop the temperature below the 205-210F optimum range.

Lots of teas do require boiling water.
It's no wonder that you can't get a decent cuppa cha in The US or Canada

 

[Proinsias]

Tea is actually a very strong source of tannins. In fact, a shortcut for irongall ink making is to use decocted black tea in place of nutgall. They're not denaturing tannins AFAIK, though, so I don't think they'll tan leather.

Tea cantains a fair chunk of polyphenolys but contains only trace amounts of tannins, a subgroup of polyphenolys. Polyphenols help create the astrigency but they do not need to be tannic polyphenols.

More here:

http://chadao.blogspot.com/2006/11/notes-on-biochemistry-of-tea.html

 

[David in Boston]

This might upset some purist but to brew one or two cups of tea I use a "coffee press". Works great with lose tea.

I will note, only use the press for tea only. Don't use it for both coffee and tea.

Cheap, simple and brews a great cup(s) of tea.

Love English Breakfast!

David

 

[sehrgut]

Tea cantains a fair chunk of polyphenolys but contains only trace amounts of tannins, a subgroup of polyphenolys.

That depends on how the chemical taxonomy is done. Chemical "families" are entirely manmade and arbitrary. What the chart you cited listed as gallate esters and gallocatechins are usually classed in the larger group of "tannins", though not in the more select group of "tannic acids", which is what that chart labeled as "tannins", and which tea indeed only has trace amounts of. So, depending on who's counting with who's semantics, tea is either a rich or a poor source of "tannins".

 

[Stauff]

All this talk of Yixing and Gaiwan teapots makes me wonder about Tetsubins. I know these are japanese and made of cast iron. A store nearby sells what seem to be some good quality ones. Any comment by our tea guru's before I buy one?

 

[Hobbesoxon]

They're kettles, for heating water - you'd want to ensure you have a decent heating method before going for one. Charcoal burners, that kind of thing. Not low-maintenance!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

 

[Scotto]

Under no circumstances buy their tea, which is insanely overpriced, but this nylon basket works really well for a single cup of green or oolong. I use one at work sometimes. It fills the whole mug, so there is plenty of room for leaf expansion.

These things are often available at Barnes and Noble bookstores and supermarkets that carry RoT stuff.

 

[expatCanuck]

Under no circumstances buy [RoT's] tea, which is insanely overpriced ...

+1
Agreed. Tho' I'll confess to having bulk purchased their Sunset Red.
16¢ a cup isn't too bad ...

 

[Proinsias]

That depends on how the chemical taxonomy is done. Chemical "families" are entirely manmade and arbitrary. What the chart you cited listed as gallate esters and gallocatechins are usually classed in the larger group of "tannins", though not in the more select group of "tannic acids", which is what that chart labeled as "tannins", and which tea indeed only has trace amounts of. So, depending on who's counting with who's semantics, tea is either a rich or a poor source of "tannins".

Cheers for that, apologies for not doing my homework before stating 'truths' gleaned from the internet.

 

[sehrgut]

No prob . . . IMHO, whether or not they're "tannins", most of them are undesirable to escape into the final cup in much quantity. Its as much to dilute them over several cups as anything else that serial brewing became the norm in the Far East.

 

[micah1_8]

You know, it must be a trait with us wet-shavers. Some of the tea guys around here are as obsessed as the coffee guys. Call me crazy, but I'm happy if the tag on my store-brand orange pekot doesn't accidentally fall in the cup.

 

[Roman414]

I use a mug-sized infuser I got from www.specialteas.com for five or six bucks. I use water at a rolling boil for my black teas, not-quite boiling for the greens. My favorite tea (at the moment) is a nice, mossy Assam, and the second infusion is just as good as the first.

 

[sehrgut]

I tried so hard not to become a tea snob, because I'm a coffee snob, and wanted to have a hot beverage I could enjoy anywhere! My little sister gave me an assortment of nice looseleaf teas one Christmas, though, and my eyes, as they say, were opened.