Looking for advice on best way to keep temperature of water when preparing tea.

What I tried so far

Electric kettle without infuser

Issue: Because I want to measure amount of water I go from Kettle to measuring cup which brings down temperature (measured 6 to 12 degrees drop) from just pouring the water in the measuring cup

Microwave

Issue: Have figured out duration + amount of water to get temperatures I want, but temperature drops the second I put the tea bag and can’t use loose leaves with this method

Kettle with tea infuser

Issue was more of a specific kettle than the method. The Kettle I first tried was somewhat wide so would have to put about 4 cups of water (32oz of water) for the water to go high enough on the container to get to the level of tea leaves. I think this will likely be the best method, just have to find a better kettle for smaller amounts since it is the only method that can keep the temperature closer to recommended temperature during the steep time. I figure one could probably also use a pot, but probably would be more of a challenge to keep temperature around a fixed level.

Brewing time question: All the temperature recommendations for different teas is that recommended time at start of steep or recommended temperature for the duration?

Reading a few articles online mostly confirmed that an electric Kettle with infuser is probably the best way to go. Any good articles with practical advice, or books, you would recommend? Lots of the articles online are somewhat generic and pretty much most have similar info.

  • Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    4·
    1 month ago

    Most instructions you find online are built on a very specific style where you use a fixed mass of leaves and water and infuse for a specific amount of time. Turns out, it doesn’t have to be that way, and the Chinese style is radically different. I’m using an adapted version of the Chinese style, and here’s how that works.

    1. Weigh 4 grams of tea leaves. You can use more or less. It’s a matter of preference.
    2. Put the leaves into a tiny tea pot. Mine holds about 150 ml. You can also use a mug and a metal basket.
    3. Fill the teapot with hot water. The temperature and steep time depend on a bunch of variables. More on those later.
    4. Let it steep.
    5. Pour the tea into a mug. If you have tiny Chinese tea cups, you can use those as well.
    6. Enjoy

    Wait, but that’s just one mug of tea? What if you want more? Turns out, the same tea leaves can give you so much more. Fill the tea pot with more water, and you’ll have more tea.

    During the first cup, the steeping time is a bit longer. Maybe something like 30 s or so. It takes a while for the dry leaves to get wet and start extracting.

    The second cup extracts super quickly. Just pour in water and pour out tea. No need to wait a single second. If the tea comes out too strong, you should probably use slightly cooler water. Knowing this takes a bit of experimenting. Some teas, such as puerh, extract very quickly. If you use more than 5 g of tea leaves, it’s going to be even faster.

    Third cup should be about the same. It really depends on the type of tea you have. Experiment and find out.

    At some point, you’ll begin to notice that the next cup of tea isn’t quite as strong as the previous one. That’s when you can crank up the heat. Use boiling water if you want. You may also need to increase the extraction time. Once again, it takes some experimenting. Once you know your tea well enough, you can just wing it.