DOUBLE PITCHER BREWING - Is it better than Gong Fu for Green Tea?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ต.ค. 2024
- If you visit a China teahouse you will often see Green and Yellow Tea being brewed in open vessel glass. Sometimes, the Double Pitcher brewing method is used and I have heard many people say that it is better than Gaiwan brewing. Let's put this to the taste test and see which is the winner.
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Grandpa Style Brewing: • Brewing Hou Kui Green ...
*CORRECTION IN VIDEO
42:50 I say that this is 'THE' standard way for brewing Green Tea in China but what I meant was that this is 'A' standard way of brewing Green Tea in China. They will also use Grandpa and Gong Fu.
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CORRECTION
Watching this video back I note that a couple of times I state that this Double Pitcher method is THE' standard way for brewing Green Tea in China but what I really meant was that this is 'A' standard way of brewing Green Tea in China. They will also use Grandpa and Gong Fu and other methods.
Hi what are the other methods, I am really interested in
@@gieselasmarter3770 The other methods are gong fu and grandpa style brewing. There are videos from Don dedicated to these other methods.
This method seems strange to me. If you like the deeper more astringent flavor of this type of brewing couldn't you just do normal gong fu but tweak the time and temperature? Sometimes I do this myself. I don't really enjoy the sweeter and floral dominated green teas, so when I have tried them I generally turn up the temperature a bit or be more lax with the steeping time. I will say in the end it creates a flavor profile that clashes. In my mind, even though I prefer the astringent flavors there's something about it that feels and tastes "wrong", as though I'm treating it in a way it wasn't meant to be treated.
Also, the point about the lower oxidation has got me thinking. If the price of lower oxidation is an over-steeped flavor profile (isn't that a product of oxidation anyways??), I can't see the point of worrying about that. Especially since gong fu has been enjoyed for 100s of years, you'd think the fundamental process of it would be perfected by now on some basic level I think it is technically the most adaptable and widely expressive method for tea.
For a while now I've been laying out my steeped tea on a plate to cool off in between brews. In food service we know the fastest way to cool something down to room temp is to lay it on a tray and let the steam transfer heat away. But this video has got me thinking perhaps that isn't necessarily ideal depending on the tea. I'm considering the happy medium between spreading out the tea to cool quickly and letting the leaves sit in the water is to leave them in a Gaiwan with the lid off. Gong fu wins again in my mind.
I use my own double pitcher brewing method for this kind of teas and in my opinion the results are quite good as a Gong Fu style brewing. Just a couple of differences from your procedure in the video. I put a sort of lid over the pitcher during the brewing time and i pour the whole infusion. The reasons are quite obvious. Flavors do not dissipate, the most tastiest part of infusion does not remain in the pitcher and does not get ruined by over steeping. And i can smell the wet leaves. Time, water ratio, temperature are the same as yours.
I've never seen anyone or tea shop using the Double Pitcher method in Taiwan, but many elder teachers/professors in school like the Grandpa method. They like Grandpa method just for convenience and usually with very cheap tea. On the other hand, in some restaurants serve tea brewed in large closed tea pots for each table, and waiters will add hot water when they're empty (customer usually flip the lid on the pots to show it's empty). This is kind of like the Double Pitcher method but with the lid always closed.
I agree. Grandpa style is definitely much more common in china. I’ve never heard of them pitcher brewing it
I'm so glad I don't have to learn a new brewing method. Gongfucha forever! 🤣
Spoiler! 😎😄
@@prcr 🤣
Really liked this demonstration, because I've run into similar problems when trying to do this with the Flute Brewer. Especially with Bi Luo Chun (any Bi Luo Chun), wich gets really astringent, when I leave it sitting in the water (at lower than 70C!). - I was going to suggest the Flute Brewer as a better option, but then you did this yourself. 😄 Up to now, I've found that most green teas do better in the gaiwan, but if you don't have that much time for a session, the Flute Brewer with leaf:water ration halfed and not much more than 1 minute steeping time to start is fine. And I pour all out between infusions and double the recommended time additions for the next infusion. - Anyway, the only tea, with which I've consistently preferred Grandpa Style over gaiwan brewing so far, is Yellow Tea. It seems to be too delicate for my taste buds so far. But I might try to up the leaf:water ratio with yellow teas next.
Maybe it's because you selected these teas using the gong fu brewing. Maybe people think the double pitcher method is better when they brew the teas that they selected in a double pitcher tasting.
Alternative title: Roasting Double Pitcher Brewing for 45 minutes :D
I almost always prefer gongfu style, but I will occasionally use grandpa style if the tea I'm drinking has larger leaves or has very low harshness.
I agree with your assessment that the oxidation idea is a bit suspect. The extra brewing time of those remaining leaves must have at least as big an impact on flavor as the oxidation. My theory on why this method is common in shops is simply the time. You get through the experience in fewer infusions and less time so the store can move more tables. It's just more practical from a service perspective. That's my thought anyway.
Seems you could get the pitcher brewing asthetic by using a clear glass gaiwan. I do most greens "low and slow": 75-80 degrees for a minute or so with a slightly higher (5-6 gr./100ml) leaf-to-water ratio. For me the low temp avoids bitterness and the extra leaves brings up the sweetness and vegetal notes. Heaven. 🙂
100% on this.
Favorite way to brew delicate greens. Gongfu is great, but I think its strengths lie in the darker end of the tea-type spectrum. "Low and Slow" is the way to go for lighter teas!
I started by following their gongfu guide and they had greens at 15s, which I found to be WAY too short. So far 30-45s for first infusion has been pretty good
Just tried double pitcher the first time ever with a yellow tea (Huang Ya), that I have felt it is lackig when brewed gong fu. I found it is super brisk, light and elegant. Double pitcher brings out FULL SPECTRUM sweetness and fruitiness (peach), warmth and promotes a beautiful hui gan. Definitely amazed with this method for this kind of tea. I have used a regular porcelain teapot 🫖 with the lid open and left in the water just as you did.. Haven't tried it with green tea but definitely will do! What are your thoughts about Double pitcher and yellow tea?
Bi luo chun actually got me into true tea a few years ago when I was having stomach issues. I had no idea what tea I had and thanks to your green tea videos, I was able to identify it and now I'm sitting on roughly 10 kilos of good teas. Thanks for the healthy (mentally, physically and socially) addiction! #meileafaddictsanonymous
Tea is amazing for sure.
Saying that you would be amazed that at some point tea was thought of as poison.
I'm not kidding. The dose makes the poison, with literally anything.
Search for the title "tea is poison" I believe it's a post by marshaln, a hong Kong tea blogger on the subject among all the rest of his posts.
I was wondering about oxalic acid in tea which is found also in spinach and other foods which is the main component in kidney stones.
My conclusion that gong fu brewing just isn't much of a risk compared to the amounts you can get from foods and other sources and it needs to be looked at as part of total dietary intake.
For example there was a case in Ireland of a woman literally drinking tea from 150 grams of leaf a day! Where there is fluorine in the AND the water, so after many years she got skeletal fluorosis. Her habit was clearly excessive so in those amounts you could say it was poison.
Tea is fascinating for sure
For green teas I normally use standard western style parameters, 5-6 minutes in a closed brewing device then decant all the liquid. I can get full flavor profile with more mellow mouthfeel from this approach. If I want to taste high bright aroma I will go for the primitive "Leaves in the bowl" method.
I have a glass gaiwan for my green teas. It's not very practical for high temperature brews but it's perfect for greens. Beautiful presentation and great taste.
I'd like to add, that sometimes I leave the tea leaves in the water for the very last infusions, so as to get the most out of them, but even then the resulting brews are quite watery. - An exception is, when I brew sheng at half gong fu ratio in the flute brewer, I usually leave the leaves in water after the 3rd steep, but I only do that when I have very little time (always a winner for that) or when I get a sheng that doesn't present high aromatics but shines more through sweetness and creaminess. Still, in those cases I have to go down very low in temperature and drink quickly or I'll get too much astringency. And meanwhile, I mostly just up the leaf:water ratio for gaiwan brewing or use a yixing pot.
Ever since you introduced me to gongfu I rarely do western unless on holiday or unless I’m a guest. Very interested in grandpa brewing but your right it’s less likely to be accurate unless you drain leaves completely which wouldn’t be grandpa brewing. I usually keep western brewing for more non traditional teas for example a tea called Vicky sponge cake which is Sri Lankan black tea with freeze dried raspberries and raspberry leaf or if it’s something like rooibos that would just mess up the gongfu decanter strainer.
I think I’ll explore grandpa brewing against gongfu again I’ll try to watch this video so I can make it as fair as possible.
Now that I think about it, this double pitcher method seems reminiscent of the Japanese method of brewing tea. So to find out why it doesn't work so well, it may help to make comparisons. Japanese Chado tends to use less leaf, more water, cooler water, longer brewing time but _much finer leaves_. Perhaps the double pitcher method actually works best with very fine leaf like anji bai cha. It would be an interesting experiment to try this with sencha or gyokuro (but without retaining some tea on each infusion) to see if this indeed correct.
I've been brewing chinese green teas gong fu style and then I've heard they are better brewed in grandpa style or in glass, left in water between infusions.
I tried few green teas that way and... I did not like it, I still think that gong fu is better.
I don’t think it is necessarily better in a glass. Grandpa style is the most common way by far that the average Chinese brew their green tea, but I think it’s simply because it is more convenient, and most of them drink tea throughout the day as they work. I do prefer it that way, but both are good, and it is a matter of taste preference and brewing parameters. The only thing that matters is that you brew it in the best way according to your own taste. But it is worth experimenting now and again. Sometimes you need to mess with the parameters for a while, especially with a method that is new to you, in order to find the best way
@@1mataleo1 I agree. I like grandpa style mostly for the convenience, especially when I want to drink in the garden and/or while I work. It's really perfect for that. Have to be rather quick for the first couple of steeps though, or it'll get very bitter.
@@beth.7 One thing I tried that helps control the astringency of the first couple steeps in grandpa style is to use water that is about 10-20F degrees below the recommended brewing tempurature for that same tea brewed gong fu style. When the tea begins to give less after a few steeps, I gradually increase the water tempurature closer to boiling.
@@shutupack5389 Hey, thanks! Tried this now and it's really much better. 😊
i witnessed this today with a green sheng. leaving the leaves in air over the hours and multiple infusions, the aroma on the leaves went from roasted & grassy to dank and sweet. i imagine, if i had left the leaves in water, maybe the dankness won't have appeared
When I go right into 1-minute-plus steeps at the end of a session with sheng, most of them will taste like sweet whey. Especially when they are a year or two already. Is that the taste you refer to as dank? I always pour the whole water out when I use a gaiwan, so I guess letting the leaves sit in water wouldn’t help that much.
@@beth.7 not the taste. the smell. the taste is great, but the smell of day old wet leaves left out in the air?? Maybe if they were left in water, the smell won't be so "dank"
@@leeennise.a3338 Oh, I see. Hmmm ... actually never found that leaves that had been left overnight smelled bad. I usually spread them quite wide on a plate and they nearly dry out. Do you do that? - I stored leaves overnight in cold water in a yixing pot once (couple of weeks ago) because I had to leave the session rather precipitously and wouldn't have had time to clean the pot properly. Next day the leaves didn't yield much taste and the water had virtually no taste either. But they looked very fresh. I guess the lack of taste came from the fact, that the session was nearing its end anyway. But thanks for the comment; this definitely merits further experiments.
I agree with you Don that double pitcher’s texture is dryer. I personally also prefer gongfu style. Especially bi luo chun defintely must be gongfu. Double pitcher ruins the taste and makes bi luo chun much more astringent.
Flute Brewer should do the trick.
If you want to cool down faster i would try to skip pre-heating and leave the lid of.
I know a topic you haven't covered so far. Though I'm not sure if there really is much too it or not.
Anyway. On selecting the tea for the occasion. Or something like that anyway.
Because, well, you can listen different kinds of music depending on what songs suit your current mood, OR, depending on what songs would get you in a mood you'd like to have. And so there are two different situations there, and two different groups of songs, each suiting a situation.
So perhaps you've got some wisdom on the matter. Such as what types/teas to actually have for different situations - because you've learned they suit them better than others. From having gotten drunk to trying to get to sleep, to learning gong fu brewing, to learning tea tasting notes, and for while working, & perhaps there are some which are culturally/traditionally for weddings or birthdays or guests - but depending on how close your relationship or something.
This result was to be expected. The thinner body for the longer brew time is probably on account of the sharper note of the higher catechin concentration. Smoother teas, even at lower concentrations, tend to wash gently over the tongue, while teas with sharper, bitter notes tend to cut through it more, giving the impression of thinness and the sensation of dryness.
I like to go 73.333 degree Celsius (164 Fahrenheit) for most green teas and then watch the smell and taste developed with each infusion in gong fu style
I think teahouses in China use the double pitcher method for serving green teas because most people will be drinking green teas grandpa style and they'll want to know how the leaves perform in those kinds of extended brewing conditions
Double pitcher brewing is way too long more like Western Brew. I would brew it for 30s max
I do teapot to pitcher.
What you're doing wrong (in my opinion) is that you're comparing gong-fu infusion no. 1 with double pitcher infusion no. 1. You should do 4 gong-fu brews, put them all together and compare that with double pitcher no. 1.
I disagree because then its putting gong fu tea at a disadvantage, the whole point why its better is because you can tase the difference between infusions and its not just all mixed together in a random mess
not saying other styles like grampa are bad, but I think gong fu will always get you the best results
@@randomperson2187 try it yourself, I already have. Putting 4 gong-fu infusions together tastes much better then one long double pitcher brew. Gong-fu is superior even in this way.
I love tasting tea notes, but I'm sorry, I just can't take you seriously when you go into the notes with over the top enthusiasm.
Video is way too long
not at all... long vidoes is the point of this channel . its relaxing, you can have a session watch mei leaf and for once forget about time
Have to disagree. I really relish these longer videos, where a topic can be shown and discussed in depth. @Michael Anthony Also like to sit down and drink along.
There are many other TH-cam tea channels with shorter, 3 to 10 minute videos. Don't watch this one if you think the videos are too long.
2x speed
Idk how this pitcher is different from teapot 🫖