My first gaiwan experience. Help?
Had some problems! I decided to dedicate my clay gaiwan to Alishan Oolong tea. I started with 6 grams of tea for a 150ml gaiwan. I did a 5 second rinse of the leaves and did several infusions starting at 20 seconds and increasing to one minute. I learned later that I should be pouring through a strainer because there was tea particles in my cup. Not a big deal but oh well. One big problem is heat oh my…. The gaiwan is pretty big being 150ml and I couldn’t seem to hold it properly without burning myself. I had to put a rubber glove on to get the job done lol…. The tea was great though, tasted wonderful and I like how I can taste each different infusion before decanting them. After I was done I rinsed my gaiwan out with warm tap water. Is this a bad thing? Should I have used bottled water to rinse it out instead? i wonder because if clay takes in flavor would it take in the chlorine flavor of tap? I doubt it but still, thoughts? Does it sound like I did a fine job or not? Any critiques would be welcome.
Finally are gaiwans mainly used for oolongs and purehs?
Unless your tap water is overpoweringly bad, it should be fine for rinsing your gear. As for the heat: there are a couple different ways you can hold your gaiwan while pouring. Some of these are better than others for holding really large gaiwans, and when you’re not used to the heat or are using near-boiling water. I don’t know how you hold yours, but here are a few general ways you can play around with:
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Fingers on the side. The lip still gets quite warm though, but good control.
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Thumb on top, fingers on the underside of the saucer. The one I go for if the gaiwan’s particularly hot (or large). Less control though.
I forget strainers all the time and end up with leaf in my cup; not as big a problem with very in-tact, large-leafed oolongs, much more common with shou puers.
Gaiwans can be useful for pretty much any tea. I know some would argue puers should be in yixing pots over gaiwans. A lot of it will come down to personal preference. Sometimes I like to sit down with a black tea in a gaiwan, but often I’d rather have it strong and in a mug, where I can sip at it without thinking.
While I use both the above methods of holding the gaiwan, I more often hold it two-handed rather than one-handed. The 2nd method, holding it with the saucer, is probably best for beginners as it completely eliminates contact with the hot parts.
I use fine strainers every time I brew puerh. For most other tea types I find it usually optional. Since the loose leafs generally do not make it into the cup anyway and even if they do they will settle at the bottom easily. If the tea has finer particles in addition to large loose leafs, I prefer using a strainer.
Washing the clay gaiwan in tap water is fine, but since you are worried of the water, it may be better to wipe the gaiwan dry with a dedicated tea cloth immediately after washing rather than letting it dry in open air.
I’m a fan of easy gaiwans for just this reason. Just look for “easy gaiwan”. Basically they are gaiwans with wholes in the lip so a strainer isn’t as important and they have elongated sides so you don’t burn your fingers as much.
This reddit thread has multiple places to get them:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tea/comments/3zyg7p/easy_gaiwan/
Also all this talk about “easy gaiwan” now has Phil Collin’s “Easy Lover” stuck in my head. Anyone? Oh just me.. okay.
try not to fill the gaiwan as high with water, it will leave the edges slightly cooler and easier to handle. only fill the water level to where the lid touches the inner wall, or slightly below it, this may help.
secondly, if you’re using the method where your index finger is on the lid, and middle finger/thumb grip the bowl, try scooting back a bit on the gaiwan a little. your fingers may be too far forward.
lastly, maybe a 150mL gaiwan is too big for your hand, or too heavy for you to grip when full, making you squeeze harder intensifying the heat. maybe a smaller gaiwan would be easier to handle, or one with a narrower rim.
It sounds like that went ok. What does it mean “I can taste each infusion before decanting them?” It sounds like you are using some form of “stacking,” combining infusions to drink together, but that’s not clear.
Once you get the trick of holding the gaiwan heat isn’t really so much an issue. A bit of leaf or particles in the tea isn’t a problem either, unless you think it is, then straining it isn’t a problem.
It’s normal for people to recommend all sorts of different brewing time cycles for different types of teas. That’s fine, it’s just that they vary a lot, since personal preference will shift how strong you want your tea to be, and that’s likely to vary by tea type. Different time-tables would map back to specific proportions, and to a lesser extent the temperature of the water used is also a relevant factor, just a less significant one.
You might also experiment with just varying times; try longer and shorter infusions without using any specific cycle. I like to see how a tea reacts to that, to brewing at different strengths, so I never really use one of those timed cycles. It’s a matter or preference, as many things are. It’s reasonable for people to feel like they really are working towards optimum results, and reasonable for others to feel that winging it is better for them. Even though I’m an engineer, so I might reasonably try to be as precise as possible, I feel like putting more process between myself and making tea is a bad thing, so I keep it as loose and informal as possible. Natural variance from skipping steps like measuring times is an organic part of the experience.
So I guess my advice is to make it your own, to take advice on board and use what works for you. There’s a natural tendency for preferences to shift over time with exposure, and it’s fine that makes for a moving target, and that what is best for others may or may not be right for you. Some of the advice you cast aside earlier could make sense later so it’s as well to stay open to that evolution.
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