@babelcarp After each steep I empty the pitcher of tea and remove the plunger (so it doesn't continue to cook/steam). Really it would be better if the plunger pulled the tea up and out of the liquid instead of pushing it down. @tea
Mrs Flannestad requested some green tea, so got out the plunger pot to make a larger batch. Trying to remember what timing/ratio I used to use with this thing. 7g in 500ml 190F/90C for 2 mins seemed pretty good. Then second steep for 3 mins.(White2Tea's Emerald Buds green Tea.)
@backpackandsnorkel Longjing is a very fine green indeed, yes, but I'm more partial to the category of 云雾 (cloud and mist) teas from the high mountain areas: 庐山(Lushan), 峨眉山 (Emeishan) and other such places. I find them a little less finicky and prissy as teas go; more forgiving of deviation from the "perfect" technique.
If someone else is making the tea and has practice with it, Longjing all the way! But for my own uses, Longjing only when I have the time to focus and concentrate.
Song Luo Cha green tea is an historically significant tea from Anhui Province. This example is from the MyTea Pal Club. Light flavor, slight (not unpleasant) bitterness if you oversteep, zippy energy.
For International Tea Day, my Green Tea Chemistry print. This linocut illustrates green tea and its chemistry. There's a tea pot, two cups of tea and a tea plant (Camellia sinensis) on a tray, and in the steam, you can see some of the organic chemicals found in green tea. Up to 27% of the composition of green tea can be a member of the flavonoids called catechins like the molecule illustrated on the right. 🧵1/n
#tea#greenTea#chemistry#linocut#sciart#printmaking#InternationalTeaDay
@goblin@tea Well, it was an early steep, it doesn't have much color, and the color of the bowl makes what color it has hard to see. Maybe with green teas, I should take a picture of a middle steep where the color is a bit more apparent.
2024 Meng Ding Mao Feng green tea from MyTeaPal club. This is the Sichuan Mao Feng, the other was from Guizhou. This one is an earlier pick than the other and it shows in the cleaner, sweeter flavors/scents of the tea. They're both great green teas, but if I picked one to drink more of, I'd probably pick the Mei Tan Mao Feng from Guizhou.
When I complemented the proprietor of MyTeaPal on their 2024 Mei Tan Mao Feng they said, "For the two Mao Feng teas, the picking grade is lower than the other two teas, but having more leaves makes the flavor more rich. I can see why that's the case for a puerh drinker like you." Which, I dunno, is that a bit of a slam? Heh, well, it is true, I like richer flavored green teas...