Newbie Needs Help

[DymondCutter]

You guys got me. I am about to place an order with Steve at www.jas-etea.com I am trying to cut back on coffe and drink more tea. Little did I know this whole world of tea existed . I am brand spanking new too. I have been reading all the posts and trying to get some knowledge. I know I will start with 6 or 7 samples. I want to try some green, oolong, and pu-erh (ripe and raw). I need some recommendations from you guys though. I have a french press but should I get a gaiwan too? I saw something about a pitcher too. Is that really necessary if you are gonna pour it right into your cup? I need some direction here fellas. I read Carlin's post "The Beginner's Buying Guide" and a big thank you to him for all the info and links! Please steer me into tea nirvana

Thanks in advance!

 

[Carlin]

You guys got me. I am about to place an order with Steve at www.jas-etea.com I am trying to cut back on coffe and drink more tea. Little did I know this whole world of tea existed . I am brand spanking new too. I have been reading all the posts and trying to get some knowledge. I know I will start with 6 or 7 samples. I want to try some green, oolong, and pu-erh (ripe and raw). I need some recommendations from you guys though. I have a french press but should I get a gaiwan too? I saw something about a pitcher too. Is that really necessary if you are gonna pour it right into your cup? I need some direction here fellas. I read Carlin's post "The Beginner's Buying Guide" and a big thank you to him for all the info and links! Please steer me into tea nirvana

Thanks in advance!

First off welcome

You could get by with a french press, but brewing puerh's, like the members do here, is probably different then you may be used to brewing tea. We tend to use a high ration of tea leaves (in grams) to water with short infusion times. For example, I'm drinking menghai 7542 <901> right now with 7grams of tea leaves in a 100ml brewing vessel. I'm using infusions of 5s,10s,20, etc etc etc.

I guess one could say a french press is a giant gaiwan with a built in strainer . There are methods to brewing puerh "american style" using a french press, and I'm sure someone can elaborate a bit more on it.

As for the pitcher, I don't use the pitcher myself, then again, I pour straight from my 100ml gaiwan through a strainer into a 200ml cup all for myself. If I were to be having a tea party err session with someone else, I would use the 40 ml cups and would pour the tea from the gaiwan into the pitcher. The pitcher is used not only as a pouring device but as a distribution device. The soup on the top of the gaiwan is a bit weaker then the soup on the bottom. When you pour into the "fairness" pitcher, it kinda equalizes everything out.

Hope this helps and clarifies a bit.

 

[DymondCutter]

First off welcome

You could get by with a french press, but brewing puerh's, like the members do here, is probably different then you may be used to brewing tea. We tend to use a high ration of tea leaves (in grams) to water with short infusion times. For example, I'm drinking menghai 7542 <901> right now with 7grams of tea leaves in a 100ml brewing vessel. I'm using infusions of 5s,10s,20, etc etc etc.

I guess one could say a french press is a giant gaiwan with a built in strainer . There are methods to brewing puerh "american style" using a french press, and I'm sure someone can elaborate a bit more on it.

As for the pitcher, I don't use the pitcher myself, then again, I pour straight from my 100ml gaiwan through a strainer into a 200ml cup all for myself. If I were to be having a tea party err session with someone else, I would use the 40 ml cups and would pour the tea from the gaiwan into the pitcher. The pitcher is used not only as a pouring device but as a distribution device. The soup on the top of the gaiwan is a bit weaker then the soup on the bottom. When you pour into the "fairness" pitcher, it kinda equalizes everything out.

Hope this helps and clarifies a bit.

Thanks, Carlin. It is much more clear to me now. Could you recommend some samples?

 

[Erik]

I have a french press but should I get a gaiwan too? I saw something about a pitcher too. Is that really necessary if you are gonna pour it right into your cup? I need some direction here fellas.

When seeping for myself, I don't use a gaiwan, I use a porcelain tea pot (12oz or 360ml) and I pour straight into a coffee mug (14oz/400ml)

When I make tea with friends:
For two people I use 8oz/240ml cups.
For more I use a set of 4oz/120 cups.

For a fairness vessel I use a Numi glass teapot. (14oz/400ml)

That's about it

Welcome to the World of Tea!

 

[fsatsil]

Im a newbie as well and I recieved my first order of samples from JasEtea about 2 weeks ago and the tea was great. I mostly tried Oolongs because its my favorite. I really liked the 2009 Rou Gui, 2009 Fall Imperial Anxi Mao Xie, and the Spring 2008 Phoenix Dan Cong so you could start with those if you want to try three different Chinese Oolongs. Id also add the Big Red Robe, i forgot to order that one but from what ive heard it is excellent. Hope this helps.

 

[Trawlerman]

Can I pitch in here? I love my traditional tea's but have never tried the Pu-erh styles.

What would be the suggestions as to what is needed to be able to brew this stuff effectively? What do I need to buy in terms of Gaiwans and all the other paraphernalia that is associated with this?

 

[arghblech]

I prefer the 100mL gaiwans for tea for one. That's the sweet spot, IMHO. I have them as large as 140mL but that ends up using too much leaf for my tastes.

I think that puerh calls for:

an icepick or oyster knife for breaking up cakes
a gaiwan or small yixing teapot
a strainer
a fair cup
cup(s) - tea for one means a 90mL cup or two smaller cups
a pen
a notebook
I also like having a small scale around for measuring.

 

[ambrose]

listen to the word of the argh !

I would add

waste bowl or gong gu table for waste water (old bowl is good enough)

wash cloths as tea towels