Is it bitter or too strong? (Or, am I a wimp?)

I am currently drinking some black/green Puerh and I find it is the least bitter tea I have ever had. I actually favor either blacks or whites and these Puerhs over straight, normal greens because I almost always over brew or mess up my green brewing such that it is a really astringent thing.

Currently, I use about a third of a regular table teaspoon, or close to an actual teaspoon of Puerh and get about three good brews out of it. I use a cheap whistling tea kettle that gets the water close to, but not quite boiling. For the first cup I do about five to five and one half minutes of brewing. For the second cup I like at least five and one half. For the third I usually go for six minutes or more.

These puerhs are very smooth, but strong, and without any hint of astringency or bitterness. Actually, that is one thing I enjoy. I have messed up and way overbrewed them, and they still aren't too bitter for me to enjoy. I do that with a green, and it just...does not work.

I think I can tell the difference between bitter and astringent, but I'm often not sure if a new is bitter or just too strong. I usually cut down on the steep time. If it's still awful, then I conclude that it was too strong.

I've only tried 2 puerhs and didn't like either. They are too strong. This is a case where it is not bitterness.

good (does not mean expensive) blacks taste great at any temperature, including Yunnan blacks which i've done in every temperature from room temp to boiling.

Black teas are noted for spewing out tannins. They give the tea a strong taste and will stain anything it touches. Bitter is more tannins than desired. You didnt say what kind of leaf grade you were working with. The finer grades get bitter faster. Id X the 5 minute brews. The weights and times for a pot at 3 minutes feel about right. The Indians usually drink Assam as Chai. Assam is an ancient taste. I wouldnt classify Yunnan Gold as bitter. I classify it as an Aroma tea, the more the better. If it feels harsh in the throat and stomach it is bitter. Some like me call that desirable. See my previous posts on grotty greens. You may not like Black teas.

Jim

PS Now Im hallucinating back to the sixties drinking some Yunnan Black Gold. There was that one song by a black group about Time, where the song drifts off into a cacophony of sound after a rim shot ending present time. You start a cup in a state of time and end up in another.

On Mar 13, 1:26 pm, Square Peg snipped-for-privacy@Round.Hole wrote: ...que paso maestro...

good (does not mean expensive) blacks taste great at any temperature, including Yunnan blacks which i've done in every temperature from room temp to boiling.

Consider his source.

I still don't know the difference between "bitter" and "too strong".

I guess I could brew a pot at 10x strength (20g/cup) for 30 seconds. That would certainly be too strong and should not be bitter.

I provided links to the vendor. That's all I know. (Actually, that's more than I know.)

That's what I've concluded.

And how would that differ from how a pot that was too strong, but not bitter, feel?

I don't recall ever having anything feel harsh in my stomach.

Possibly. I cannot tolerate coffee or beer. My son loves dark beers, which I find unbearably bitter.

From observation (and without checking the physics) I think that water at higher elevations actually comes to a rolling boil quicker than at sea level. As Square Peg points out, water at the top of Everest boils at 175.1°F or 79.5°C - the heat input required for this being significantly less than raising the same mass of water to 212°F - thus, given the same kettle (and rate of heat input) the water will achieve a rolling boil more speedily. The ultimate extension of this is to try the experiment in at 30 miles or so high when water will boil at ambient temperture!

Incidentally the main reason you cannot get a decent cup of (black) tea on an airplane is that cabins are pressurized to 9,000 ft where the rolling boil occurs at around 197°F

Nigel at Teacraft

Bitter is puckering of the mouth, constriction of the throat, cramping of the stomach, each to some degree. The hairs on my neck usually stand up. Bitter isnt a learned taste, its automatic like unripe persimmon. Overcook any of the other greens like spinach, collard greens, turnip greens you'll get the picture. Strong my teeth ache, bitter my eyes hurt. Get some generic black tea bags, start adding to the dunks each time starting afresh . At some point you wont like the taste. That is bitter. If you never like the taste there you go.

Jim

Sorry, but you've described what I would call "astringent". "Bitter" is unsweetened chocolate, quinine, kudingcha.

/Lew

The advantage of the blacks in this regard is that you have only two parameters: amount of tea and time.

I don't know. I tend to use a lot of tea and brew for a short amount of time, but that's just me. The method you use also changes things... a small infuser will require different parameters than a brew basket or just tossing tea into a pot.

Some of them use CTC teas, which brew differently than orthodx teas. Most of them just make lousy tea. In Denver, I find it very hard to make good black teas, and in Tibet they pollute their tea with rancid yak butter, even.

I have never had decent tea on an airplane, even when I have brewed it myself.

And a teaspoon of typical tea would be a good start. I think your times are kind of long, personally.

Also be aware that some black teas out there are meant to be consumed with milk.

--scott

That's what I thought. In medicine, an astringent is a substance or preparation, such as alum, that draws together or constricts body tissues and is effective in stopping the flow of blood or other secretions.

Bitter, to me, is more acidic or biting.

Now, how is bitter different from "too strong"? In your chocolate example, does the sweetener make it less bitter or less strong?

For some substances, it's easy. Salt, for example, can be too strong, but I'd never call even pure salt bitter. Same with onion and garlic.

Green tea is also farily easy. I don't like most senchas if they are very strong at all, but even a weak sencha, if brewed too long, will become bitter, which is a different taste.

With black teas, I have more trouble telling the difference.

Uh, I'm not the one who brought up the term "strong". I rarely find teas, at least, too strong.

Less bitter.

/Lew

I described the symtoms. You can call it a rose for all I care. Yeah calling it astringent makes it taste better.

Jim