Infusers and water levels

snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com12/19/04

Crymad,

Can I impose upon your good nature, and that of your wife, and ask the full meaning of the word "kyuusu"? I thought it was a word reserved for those side handle things -- so the geisha can serve us without intrusion -- but others it to be a thoroughly generic Japanese word for teapot. So, who's right here? The extension questions: What is the Japanese word for "teapot," and what is the Japanese word for side handled teapot?

Michael

snipped-for-privacy@online.ie snipped-for-privacy@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com12/19/

It is probably best to let the leaves swim and float as freely as possible, which is why I favor putting the leaves directly into the pot and using a strainer when the tea is decanted into another vessel. If you want to avoid the mess of leaves in the pot, use a nice deep infuser basket. Chatsforth teapots come with them.

Since the leaves expand, make sure there is at least enough water to maintain coverage, as it were. Get a pot that yields the amount of tea you want.

I use a thermometer, a gram scale accurate to a tenth of a gram, and teas that are worth the trouble. Your orginal post was kind of long, and you imbedded your question in the middle, so I skipped over it. Ultimately, those who advised you to simplify were speaking honestly. My advise, for what it's worth, is to put the leaves directly into the pot. I do think it yields a better result, and it allows you to enjoy the beauty of the leaves dancing in the waster, which, to me, counts for a lot.

Michael

Ultimately, I think it's mostly an aesthetic judgement, the most important kind. BTW, are you in Ireland? If so, I envy you. If not, where might you be?

Michael

snipped-for-privacy@online.ie snipped-for-privacy@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com12/19 /04 16: snipped-for-privacy@online.ie

Not a saute pan, though I guess in a pinch it would work. Yes, I brew tea in the pot the water is heated in. By "pot", I mean a small saucepan, 1 liter or less. Heat water in this, toss in leaves, then strain into some other vessel, be it a cup or a teapot. I don't use a kettle, because I often use a thermometer to measure water temperature, and a kettle doesn't allow easy access to the water with the probe. Even when I don't use a thermometer, estimating the temperature is easier in a pot, where the bubbles are visible. I don't always use a pot for brewing -- Japanese greens I brew in a small teapot. Even then, I heat the water in a pot, because accurate temperature measurement is crucial.

At someplace without a burner and metal pot, just use a microwave and a Pyrex liquid measuring cup. Check temperature if necessary, and stir in dry leaf. Strain into cup, and that's it.

--crymad

Must water be heated in a separate vessel and poured into the top part with the tea leaves?

I'm sure it has its charms, but when away from home, I'll stick with the Pyrex and strainer method I mentioned in another post.

--crymad

Mike Petro wrote:

Actually, "kyuusu" can have handles on the side or across the top. So it's just a generic word for teapot, albeit in a Japanese style, and usually smaller than typical western ones. Small teapots from China or Korea would be called "kyuusu" as well, though. Japanese would call an English teapot a "teapot", or, more phonetically, "tei-potto".

--crymad

I've started using Thunderbird for mail and news, and I diligently re-wrap all messages before sending them out so the lines don't extend way off into the distance. And yet, my previous message shows up on my end with one line from Michael's quote extended way off into the distance. Does it appear the same way to anyone else?

--crymad

crymad wrote:

Calculon:

Mike Petro:

Hamilcar:

As usual, I agree with Mike. In my sinentic opinion, there are two first-order considerations: local equilibration and convection. Assuming that the leaves are at temperature, extraction for a single-steep tea may still be influenced significantly by local concentration of the main solubles. (After two or three full steeps, I'm guessing that the infinite-dilution approximation applies.) So that "agony" stuff, beyond aesthetics, may be important for boundary-layer mixing. Much better, per Mike and Hamilcar's points, would be enough open space around the leaves to permit thermal convection. Personally, I swirl my pots a bit during steeping, and there is still often a strong conentration gradient in the pot when pouring. In a glass pot, the effect of density-driven convection from both heat and dissolved solids is quite apparent.

Derek:

A REAL snob only uses whole-leaf teas that don't even require a strainer. Though perhaps some of the smaller ones like Mao Feng still need a bit of technique to keep in the pot. Of course, if you're going to shell out for fancy tea, it's nice to show a leaf or two - like "accidentally" leaving the price tag on a Ferrari.

-DM

Nope. But then, I'm not using Thunderbird, I'm using Dialog.

However, I'm a complete Thunderbird junkie for my email, so I was very annoyed by this "feature" in replying. But there is a solution.

Have you tried the AutoReWrap extension?

Don't sent replies without it! ;)

Crymad,

That's actually me extending way off into the distance. It's where I live. The lines themselves though appear normal in every way.

Michael

snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com12/20/04

Sorry to think of this only after pulling in miles of this thread, but Mike's post brings up an issue I sometimes wonder about. Most teapots, especially those with a screen embedded in the spout, make it nearly impossible to clean the interior of the spout. Admittedly, the liquor doesn't contact the spout during the steep, but it sure does on the way out. Maybe a gaiwan's the only choice for a cleanliness freak?

/Lew

You could always change your definition of cleanliness. ;)

Hi Lew,

On this particular pot the screen covers the entire bottom. There is a small space in between this screen and the valve that opens. This space is very difficult to clean. I have found that a periodic soaking of a mild bleach slution takes care of any residur that builds up there. Mike

Yes, water must be boiled separately and poured into the top. I would not consider it an Ideal travel method. It is great for around the house. If you remove the lid it is easy to clean, and an occasional soak of mild bleach solution will take care of any stains around the valve. I like the stainless steel French coffee press mechanisms for travel.

Well, there are other options: gas-dynamic boundary layer, electrostatic or acoustic levitation, etc. Or work in orbit...

Seriously, for someone with ultrasensitive taste and smell abilities, working in glass with regular caustic cleaning is probably the answer. Where I live and at my low level of discrimination, random hours of inferior tap-water are the main threat. That, and random scents from the kitchen - amazing how a bowl of fruit or a toasted muffin can alter the senses.

-DM