I just made a little measuring error, which resulted in a surprising result.
Operating on autopilot, I brewed a pot of Earl Grey at roughly double the strength that I intended. Not wanting to throw it out, I added hot water to the brewed tea to dilute it to roughly the intended strength. The result was very good.
I am wondering if there is any reason that this cannot be done on purpose. Clearly there are limits, but it seems like double-strength brewing with diluting by half should work.
If I get some time. I may try a side-by-side test: brew two pots with identical parameters except for amount of leaf. One would be brewed at the recommended strength. The other would be brewed with half the water; the other half added after the brewing.
I suspect that whatever effect there is might be more noticeable with the lighter greens and whites, than with the stronger blacks and puer-ehs.
If it works, it would solve one brewing problem I have. I love the IngenuiTEA, but only holds 850 ml of water. (My "32 oz" model might be able to brew almost 32 ounces if I fill it right to the brim, but this is not practical. 850 ml (29 oz) is the practical capacity.)
I have a 1,200 ml thermos which I use when I want enough tea for a day at my desk. Prior to receiving my IngenuiTEA last week, my procedure was to heat 1,500 ml of water in my Digital Tea Kettle, put the leaves in a 6-cup teapot, and add the 1,500 ml of water when hot. When the timer goes off, strain 300 ml into a cup and the remaining 1,200 ml into the thermos.
Today, I put the tea into the IngenuiTEA, which only holds 850 ml, but I weighed out enough leaf for 1,500 ml. I didn't realize my mistake until I put the IngenuiTEA over the thermos and saw that it was less than half full. I had already strained ~300 ml into a cup, leaving just ~550 ml in the thermos.
I then noticed that the tea in the cup was almost black. One taste showed that it was way too strong. I should have had a hint when the spoon stood straight up in the middle of the cup. ;-)
Not wanting to throw it out, I dumped half of the cup into the thermos and then filled both up with hot water. I figure I added about 500 ml to the thermos and 150 ml to the cup. That made the cup slightly weaker than the thermos.
The cup was delicious. The tea from the thermos was a little stronger, especially toward the end, which probably means I didn't stir it enough.
BTW: I highly recommend this Earl Grey. It's called "Earl Grey Finest" and is from from Tea Time: