Gunpowder green

I find the second infusion much better than the first, but I've also acquired a taste for the first where I used to pour it down the sink. I've also found it's typically good for at least three good infusions. And I usually steep it for 1.5 to 2 minutes in 170-175F water.

I've found a store in Portland where I can buy a kilo of "Temple of Heaven" for nine bucks. I bought a 125g package for $1.60 just to make sure it was good -- it is.

stePH

-- I'll brew another pot of ambiguity.

I will have to try gunpowder at 1 min, I've never steeped it that little, and never really enjoyed it much either. However, I want to disagree with an earlier comment, and say that IMHO, most assams can be steeped at least twice, even though the second steep is not nearly as good, but is passable in some circumstances.

you hit the nail on the head

This is all pretty true, but don't forget temperature issues. Steeping gunpowder tea in boiling water will result in the most bitter and astringent mess you ever put in your mouth, even with a short steep. But careful control of temperature and steep time can make a very pleasant cup from some of the cheapest green.

--scott

It's a strong green to me, even brewed briefly. I think it's the best tea for brewing N. African style - with sugar, mint, and maybe orange- blossom water. It stands up to that. But it wouldn't be my usual Chinese green.

Best,

Rick.

ah2323 wrote:

All the info so far I would agree with, and Rick you are exactly right. Moroccan Mint tea is generally based around gunpowder. I drink a lot of greens and gunpowder is among the lowest on my list, there are just so many better teas in the same price to go with gunpowder for any reason.

I have even had some fairly expensive top-end gunpowder prepared for me and I'd still pass it by any day of the week. Just not my cup of tea I guess (cue rimshot and groans)

- Dominic

It occurred to me, but there is so much contradictory information about water temperature... At my local food co-op, there is an "informational" poster above the bulk tea section telling customers how to brew their tea. It claims really high (boiling) temperatures are best for both taste and health benefits of all teas. I *know* that's not the case in re to taste; can't speak in regard to health, but even there I've heard that too-high temps used on green tea kill the little anti-cancerettes. At my workplace, the kitchenettes have special faucets that dispense 190 degree water. I don't know if it's filtered in any way, and I know purists insist that you have to heat the water from a cold temp, but this water produces the best tea I've ever tasted outside of really nice Chinese/Japanese restaurants.

But back to gunpowder green: yeah, water temperature is important, but not as important as the other stuff. I usually wait 30 secs.-1 min. after the water boils, and that is usually sufficient. Also, it's not a good idea to pour the water directly on the tea.

Scott Dorsey wrote:

I boil water and vary everything else. Know your altitude because you use it to your advantage. For me water boils at 202F. I use a tall cylindrical glass pot and hit the wall of the pot with the water which rolls down creating a tumbling effect too initially infuse the leaves. The higher the water on the pot the gentler the tumbling, lower more vigorous. Glass radiates heat so greens and oolongs don't overcook that easily. Sometimes you have an undercooked black but a little longer in the pot takes care of that. I think nutrients and tea taste goes together. I try to maximized the taste in the first pot. Tea taste is independent from cost. Everybody has a method to their madness and discovering your own makes life more sane. America has the attitude where everything has to be perfect the first time, aka the excon Martha Stewart schtick. I think you learn more about yourself from doing and doing and doing over the years,decades,lifetime something as simple as making tea. I like teas that reveal themselves more from persistance than favorable first impession. I'm working on my first aged Formosa oolong where that is the case. And now I can't wait for another order of shu to arrive. I drifted a little here but I just went through another week of remodeling. My 17x14 American Standard undermount bathroom sink didn't fit the precut opening in the

22 x 37 3cm India Shivakaski vanity granite slab I got on the cheap. I found a 17x14 Kohler that does fit. The AS uses outside rim to rim measurements and the Kohler interior rim to rim. Nothing like standard measurements.

Jim

PS For those who think the Chinese play games with tea most slabs are only 2cm with attached 3cm bullnose. The extra cm is wood base. The most beautiful slabs from any where in the world, South Dakota. Friday night is a good time to hit the big box stores to have things taken out of boxes so you can make measurements.

ah2323 wrote:

Hot water dispensers are generally for potable water, to make instant coffee, cocoa, tea or whatever, and I'm sure the ones at your workplace are no different.

The one at my workplace puts out anywhere between 165F and 185F depending on various factors beyond my knowledge. But for English Breakfast I just finish the cup in the microwave for 30 seconds, and for delicate greens I let the water stand a few minutes until the temperature goes down ... I've got a thermometer to let me know when it's in the right range. Sometimes, I also dispense a little cold water into the cup before topping it off with hot, to help bring the temp down quicker.

stePH

-- I'll brew another pot of ambiguity.

The problem is that different teas have different optimal temperatures. For a black tea, and for tisanes, boiling water is almost certainly the best choice. For green and white teas, boiling is almost certainly going to be way too hot. But what is correct for one green tea may be too hot or too cold for another. 190' actually seems a little high for gunpowder to me.

Try waiting a little longer and see.

--scott

stePH, your 2nd brewed gunpowder is about 80-85% decaffeinated.

(scroll down to 'Our Simple Guidelines for How to Decaffeinate Tea')

And the taste of caffeine is described as "very bitter".

So caffeine may be the constituent in gunpowder that you find to be distasteful. I'll bet that you would enjoy cold brewed (once brewed) gunpowder done in the fridge. It has very low caffeine content.

In fact, since January I've been slamming down a cup of cold brewed green tea immediately before bedtime, yet I'm so sensitive to caffeine (gives me the jitters) that I had to give up the coffee at the office 15 years ago.

If you are pouring 190F water into a robust ceramic mug, then the resulting temperature of 10 oz will be about 165-170F when you place your tea in that water immediately afterward. If you are instead using a delicate ceramic cup, then your steeping will initiate at a temperature of perhaps 10F hotter than with a mug. Either way, you are steeping at or below the lowest temperature limits that Asians insist is optimal, so your personal preference is for *very* low astringency.

The darker teas are capable of producing greater astringency than the greens and the white varieties. And higher brewing temperatures also produce greater astringency in all varieties. So boiling water goes with Ooling and black teas in order to produce the maximum astringency that lovers of those varieties tend to prefer.

Someone who doesn't like astringency (who woudn't normally choose an Oolong or black) would find a dark variety of tea *less* distasteful if it were brewed at reduced temperature than if it were brewed using boiling water.

IOW, the "proper" or "recommended" brewing temperature for a particular variety of tea is for people who prefer that particular variety. However, for those of us who like to experiment with teas that are definitely not preferable to our tastes then it is silly to follow the rules of brewing correctness.

stePH - what is the name of the store in Portland? I'm going to be there shortly.

I dispense into a 12oz paper cup and carry it back to my desk. Then I take its temperature, which is usually still too hot for anything but oolong unless (as mentioned before) I dispense a little cold water into the cup first. Then I pour the contents of the cup into my "IngenuiTEA" which has the loose leaf already in it.

stePH

-- I'll brew another pot of ambiguity.

I love Temple of Heaven SPecial grade. 500g for under $10 at the local asian market. Slightly sweet to me. BEst steeped a tad below boiling, and for maybe 3 minutes tops. Can stand up to 3 infusions in my experience.

Sorry that I couldn't reply sooner. Been as busy as a bee this week. The most astringent tea that I ever had was Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea. That style is commonly known as the most astringent available. "Breakfast tea" was a designation given to a hearty, robust, full-bodied tea to be drunk in the morning. The tradition of adding milk to tea began with breakfast blends in order to smooth out their relatively high astringencies. That is the only purpose for milk. Irish breakfast tea is so rough that it is typically served with lots of sugar in addition to the milk, in order to smooth it out. Traditionally, the English gentry put the sugar and the mlk in the cup

*before* the tea!

BTW, the use of milk applies similarly to coffee, due to the astringency of its chlorogenic acid (a tannin). Arabica beans, having lower chlorogenic acid concentration, make smoother coffee that is less astringent than is made by cheap robusta beans.

Sure astringent teas take milk and sugar well. But I wouldn't say that's the only reason. I like some (black) teas better with milk, whether they are astringent or not.

Sugar really enhances or changes the taste of some teas. Turkish tea isn't astringent at all and is typically served with sugar.

Stefan