I am trying to brew this tea correctly, but it is really fighting back. My first steep (1 1/2 teaspoons, 190 degree water, 3 minutes) was awful. So so bitter, it totally overpowered any of the actual flavors of the tea. The second steep I dumped out half the leaves, lowered the water temp to 170, and steeped for only 2 minutes. And it tasted… like water. Well, the beginning of the sip was watery, then in the middle there’s some nice actual tea notes, then at the end… bitter! What the heck. It does say this is a “sharp” tea but it should NOT be bitter like that at only 170. Something here is going really wrong, so I am going to hold off on actually rating it until I get a gaiwan and can do some really short steeps.
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Try 175F at 1 minute 30 seconds. Granted I haven’t tried this tea but this is what I typically do my green teas at.
I am finding that this company’s teas are very finicky!
They really are—I tried 175 for 1 minute, rather tasteless and STILL a bitter aftertaste. Hopefully the other ones are a bit more compliant because I got the sampler pack with all 5.
Hi Alphakitty — Sorry you’re having trouble steeping this. I can say that I usually go for about 1:45 at 180F. But really, anywhere between 1:30 and 2 minutes yields a good cup — with 1 tsp of tea 8 oz of water. It comes down to taste, I suppose, but your cup shouldn’t be bitter if you’re steeping less than two minutes. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Martin @ Little Red Cup
loving this one, personally.
Try 175F at 1 minute 30 seconds. Granted I haven’t tried this tea but this is what I typically do my green teas at.
I am finding that this company’s teas are very finicky!
They really are—I tried 175 for 1 minute, rather tasteless and STILL a bitter aftertaste. Hopefully the other ones are a bit more compliant because I got the sampler pack with all 5.
Hi Alphakitty — Sorry you’re having trouble steeping this. I can say that I usually go for about 1:45 at 180F. But really, anywhere between 1:30 and 2 minutes yields a good cup — with 1 tsp of tea 8 oz of water. It comes down to taste, I suppose, but your cup shouldn’t be bitter if you’re steeping less than two minutes. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Cheers,
Martin @ Little Red Cup
loving this one, personally.