Tea Club

The easiest tea to get started brewing is probably rolled oolongs. The second easiest is probably twisted leaf oolongs. So I’ll start with giving brew recipes for these two tea types.

Rolled

The Taiwan oolongs I sent are rolled into small balls, which is typical. A wash is especially important for this style of tea, because it gets the leaf to very literally open up. The amount of tea you put in will look very small at first because it’s compacted. By the second brew it will nearly fill the whole gaiwan or pot.

Rinse for 5-10 seconds, the let the leaf steam for a minute. The first brew should be 30 seconds, the second 40, the third 50, and the fourth 60. These are the brews that have the most typical, nutty-sweet taste associated with high-mountain Taiwan oolongs.

Starting with the fifth brew, things go a little longer: 75 seconds, 90 seconds. If the tea still has a nice taste to you (especially likely for the aged tea), you can keep going: 2 min, 3 min, 4 min.

If you stopped sooner, you can take the used leaves, put them in a litre of room temperature water, and have cold-brew tea tomorrow.

Whole leaf

The Wu Yi oolongs brew a bit quicker, but are still fairly easy.

Rinse for 2-5 seconds, and save the rinse water. This has the flavor of the roast, which in the case of the carefully roasted teas I sent, is interesting. Especially for the aged one. I’d recommend setting it aside, and drinking it at the end of the session.

The first few brews go quicker: 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 seconds. For the next suite, start adding 10 seconds per brew: 50, 60, 70, 80, 90. For the young tea, you might stop here. For the older one, certainly keep going: 105 seconds, 2 min, 2:30, 3:00, 4:00. Keep going or stop when you think the tea is finished.

Adjustments

If you find the taste overwhelming or too bitter at any point, repeat the time for the next brew. For example, if you find the third brew of the Wu Yi too much, instead of doing 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, … you should instead try 20, 25, 30, 30, 35, 40, 50, etc.

If you find the brew too weak, first make sure your water is hot enough. Then skip a number: 20, 25, 30, 50, 60, 70, etc. If you find yourself skipping numbers a lot, you’ve got stronger taste in tea than I do, and we might want to adjust your recipes!