THE PERFECT MARRIAGE

Pictured Above: a 140 ml Gaiwan used most often for brewing Oolong, Black and Puerh teas.

 

Today, I decided to break out one of my favorite Yunnan green teas and give it a test run with some new parameters I learned while perusing the tea market yesterday.  Basically, what I’m interested in finding out is the following; holding all other variables constant (water temperature and infusion times) how will the quality of infusion be affected by using a common ratio of 1 gram tea : 30 milliliters in two different sized, shaped and type of brewing vessels. 

 

Here’s the parameters;

Tea: Dragon Cloud Needles
Origin: Simao, Yunnan Province
Harvest Season: Spring 2006
Leaf Form: Single Buds

 

Ceramic Gaiwan: 140ml
Quantity of tea:  4.6 grams
Temperature of Water: 185° F
Infusion 1 following 10 second cleaning: 1 minute
Infusion 2: 1 minute
Infusion 3: 1:30

 

Glass Teacup with removable glass strainer: 300ml
Quantity of tea:  10 grams
Temperature of Water: 185° F
Infusion 1 following 10 second cleaning: 1 minute
Infusion 2: 1 minute
Infusion 3: 1:30

 

What I’ve found is that although a tea may well be termed ‘good’, its innate qualities will remain unfound if the type of tea is paired with an inappropriate brewing vessel. 

 

After brewing out both teas in the two distinct brewing vessels the most marked difference I found was the manner in which the tea fused with the water in each vessel. One, ‘a perfect marriage’ of sorts and the other, something like that of an oil and water relationship.  I think there are two reasons why this may be; first, the heat insulating properties of glass vs. ceramic and secondly, the shape of the two brewing vessels. 

 

If we consider only the physical nature of the ceramic and glass with which each vessel was made we’ll find good reasoning why glass may not best suit the brewing of this tea.  First, note that the insulation properties of the glass cup are inferior to that of the ceramic gaiwan (heat within a ceramic gaiwan is far better insulated and as such the temperature remains constant throughout the entire one minute infusion).  Ironically, glass is often the material of choice when brewing green teas, but in the case of this Yunnan varietal it’s probably not the best.  This green tea traces its origin not to Yunnan’s local large leaf varietal tea trees but to a varietal cultivated in Taiwan.  The original cultivated tea bush was brought from Taiwan and replanted in Yunnan soil.  As such this tea on average is heartier than most and often requires higher brewing temperatures to successfully extract the full bodied features of the leaf.  Basically we need higher, sustained water temperature to bring out the best this tea has to offer.

 

Secondly, a few interesting problems arise when using a glass teacup of this size and shape.  Due to the fact that the tea leaves are isolated to the confines of a strainer within the larger vessel the tea’s contact with the water is limited to around only 50%.  Essentially, there’s a teabag effect of sorts; lots of water and little space for the tea leaves to unfurl and directly contact with the water.  When brewing any type of leaf we need to optimize the leaf/water ratio.  That means calculating how much leaf to use in regards to the amount of water and the size of the vessel.   Perhaps this green tea would have tasted better in the glass cup if we were to use less tea per milliliter of water.  But then again it still probably wouldn’t perform nearly as well as the gaiwan method. 

 

So, having considered these two variables what are the real differences in body, texture and palette from one brewing vessel to another? Perhaps one of the attributes that sets this green tea apart not only from other Yunnan greens, but as well other Chinese greens, is its impressive viscosity and flavor palette.  Nevertheless, the glass cup only rendered the tea flat and lacking in smooth texture and robust body.  The flavor palette was not nearly as sweet as that of the gaiwan and a bit more bitter than we’d like.  The gaiwan on the other hand presented a better fusion of water and tea.  The tea is fuller, richer and offers a certain viscosity unseen in the glass cup.  You could say that with the gaiwan the water and tea become one.  The robust, full bodied textures lie delicately and smoothly throughout the mouth.  And the lingering aftertaste is present for minutes after the last sip.  A perfect marriage for sure!