Loose leaf tea servings

It depends on the type of tea and the size of the leaf. I always try to judge by how many tea bags a particular weight would translate to. For example, 125 grams or 4.4 oz would be about 40 British style tea bags, or 50 American-style tea bags. So, I would say 4 oz would be about 40 servings.

Instructions often say to use one teaspoon per cup of water, but again, the size of the leaf can cause this measurement to vary. Upton's has a nice scale that lets you weigh the dry leaves, which is a better indicator of how much you should use. I have not bought one yet but have been thinking about it:

Ths type and size of leaf would not affect whether there was one ounce or four ounces, the weight would be the weight. I thought she was asking for a weight amount converted to servings. The types and size of leaf would affect the amount of space the serving size took up, that I agree on.

I find I have other problems in addition to the usual "one teaspoon a cup" or even "4 grams a cup" since I have some quite different sized mugs in the house and I brew by the mug right now. I should probably sit down with my scale and do some experimenting. I bought a Moomin mug the other day, it's smaller than I expected but it has a funny shape, narrower at the base and flaring out slightly at the top. I have no idea yet how much liquid it holds...

Melinda

Here I am giving my own opinion which may or may not help you out. This is just my thought. I love darjeelings and I often do not agree to the advice of one tea spoon for the cup and one extra for the pot. I have read these in so many websites and on tea package tags.

Tea as I have found to be very complicating and as told by one of the tea garden manager - "Neither you nor I can proclaim as tea gurus or tea masters - You are a master for your own taste" and I find this to be very true. So its very important what kind of tea you are trying to brew, the amount used for Darjeelings differ greatly according to different tea flushes. This is also the case with chinese teas. I always have to experiment the quantities of tea to be brewed and once I get the match to my taste, I do the approximation in my next brewing session. When brewing black teas, its a different case and when brewing whites, I normally put extra amount and steep for a longer time about

6-8 minutes.

Hope I am not off your topic.

Hi Dieter, that was a good suggestion, but one thing I agree with all of your opinions including the cups and pots. I particularly go for the thin chinas because the thinner the pot the better the quality of the clay. Just one thing I need to ask you, I have been drinking Darjeelings for a long time and have done a lot of expriments, I could see that your quantity opinion was less for the first flush and 2 gram more for the second flush. Shouldn't it be the other way round. Please accept it as a friendly opinion. Its because, usually first flush teas are very mild giving very light liqor color but abundance in aroma. So if you put less tea, then I have noticed that it turns out to be like hot water. While second flush are more prominent and full bodied and a little more addition of these can make the tea bitter and the color can also have a contrast.

Well I agree that tea is one's own taste and as I have mentioned somewhere else in this group that "no one can proclaim to be a tea master, you are a master of your own taste".

STJones schrieb:

Yes and no. In my opinion, it differs. Of course, the ff has much less colour than other flushs, but that hasn't neccesarily something to do with the strengh of the aroma or intensity of flavour. If you have a very delicate ff form a high qualitiy estate and then a very early invoice (like this one for example: ), in my opinion the fruitiness and the taste is so intense, that an overdose would harm the flavour. For my taste, it is like a (slightly bitter) cup of tea with a hint of fruitiness instead of a mild tea with a broad cascade of fruity complexities during each sip. The same if too hot water temperature was used. Of course, this isn't a typical

*strong* tea in a sense of second flush or assam (so not full bodied in this kind of way). It is more like a as *intense* descibed aroma of a high-class oolong or even gree tea.

On the other hand, there are lots and lots of ff darjeeling out there (I would say the majority of the market), which haven't got such complexities (like the ff of the German teekampagne, which is a *real* cheap ff darjeeling but mostly the standard quality and taste you can expect from mid-priced dajeeling teas in tea shops). Here you definetely need more tea to get any aroma and flavour out of it. My problem with it is, that for me it gets too edgy and a dash too bitter for my taste, so I don't drink these kind of darjeeling ff (took me quite a while to notice that differences in darjeeling teas). To get a quite mild and slightly fruity tea which isn't that edgy or bitter (and even though payable for an every day use) I prefer darjeeling inbetweens.

Yeah, I had some bitter second flushs. It also depends on the tea and it's quality. There are sf with dark colour which taste like dishwater (doensn't matter how much tea you use), there are lots of sf out there which taste like normal tea with a hint of darjeeling-like flavour and are *quite* bitter (also quite independent from the amount of tea), and there are sf out there which are incredebly soft, mild and sweet and delicate, but in my experience, even with the really delicate ones you have to use a bit more tea than with the delicate ffs to get to the right point of maximum flavour.

That's the whole point of it. And as you said, also the china is important and also maybe not only the water you use but also the climate (esp. relative humidity).

Dieter

It also depends a lot on the tea.

The general rule for British-style black teas is that you use one teaspoon per teacup, plus one more for the pot.

This falls down completely with some finely-cut CTC teas, and falls about completely on the other end with feathery teas like the Oriental Beauty. But it's a good first start.

--scott

Linda, while I certainly don't disagree with anyone here, the best I can say is to try for yourself. Tea is a very personal thing and I can disagree with a Japanese tea master just as much as the person in the next cubicle and in all of those situations, no one is "right."

The one teaspoon per cup is just a jumping off point. Use it as the most basic of guidelines. It is basically just so someone isn't trying to brew only two leaves per cup or 1lb. per cup. One teaspoon (regardless of leaf size) is a good starting reference and adjust from there. Another good rule of thumb is to look at a box of teabags of a similar tea: say a 1.2oz. box of Sencha green teabags contains 20 teabags... then 1.2oz. of green tea should yield about 20 cups.

I can stretch 1oz. of tea out to be easily 20 or more cups. It is all personal taste, funds, and trial and error. No hard and fast rules.

- Dominic Drinking: Shirakiku Brand Sencha teabags(hence the above reference ;)

Thanks everyone! Great perspectives! When I brew, I like to heap the leaves on, so my cups are always rather hearty : )

Linda

Dieter, that was my reasoning and you have explained beautifully - yes, we are the judge according to our taste buds

Let's not forget the fun of messing around with those leaves. Whenever I get a new sample I get pretty picky using a digi-scale and thermometer (and my trusty titanium spoon ), taking a ton of notes and I truly enjoy the whole affair. But being a really messy individual

90% of the tea I drink (~4 liters daily) is more of a casual affair. I just boil some water. depending on the tea allow it to cool for a while, pour it over a pinch of leaves and after "some time" strain the brew into my dragon cup. Usually this results in a pretty enjoyable brew. Now it's back to the hotel for some studies and more cups of that lovely Marg.Hope Autumn, aah ...

BTW: at 9.20 this morning it started to RAIN ! After more than 3 dry months in the hills of Darjeeling the rain is back. People went out on the streets joyfully singing and shouting "Paani paryo !" (water falls=it rains). Ever seen that happening anywhere in the "west" ? I just can't get enough of this place and its people.

Karsten / Darjeeling

Ah! there you are Karsten, I had mailed you with a personal enquiry. Had been to Darjeeling and it was an invigorating journey. One thing I noticed Karsten is that people in Darjeeling drink a lot of tea with milk - about 90% of them. I had visited one chai shop while I was shopping for some tibetan goodies (for my wife, 'Thankas') with my guide and he had taken me to a Tibetan shop where I was served with Tibetan tea - it was a different salty tea accompained with butter. I forgot the shop's name - it was a long time ago. But that taste, I will never forget. Oh along with the tea I was also served two round thick Tibetan breads which had patches of burnt marks on it. Always wanted to visit the place again. I will if things go as planned.

Are you a local? Well nice to know that we have a member from Darjeeling. By the way, I love Darjeeling teas.

Maybe even more than those 90%, I'm just back from the chaiwallah and had some cups of that stuff. Some of the first words I learned some years ago - Hindi: bi na cini / Nepali: cini nahaleko / NO sugar fer christ' s sake.

The sad thing (IMO) is that most of the people who work in the gardens and the locals never had a chance to drink the better grades not to mention the "jewels". Even here in DJ they're WAY to expensive. Most of those guys and gals earn around 1000/1500 IRP/month, around 22-33 US $ (sic !). 100g of an average - say Castleton 2nd retail for 400-450 IRP, so a mere 100g of a tea they possibly plucked with their own hands cost them almost a third or even half of their monthly income. Very sad indeed. A couple weeks ago I invited a local to some high-grade Darjeeling into my room. I won't forget that session too soon. Just imagine that you spent some years in those gardens and never get a chance to sample what the fuss is all about. Did he like it ? You bet ! Yo chyaa, kasto chha ? Ahh, dheeeerai mitho chha ! (How about that tea ? Veeery delicious !)

Nope, just a lost traveller who spent some years in the Himalayas (Nepal, India, Tibet).

I sent you a reply, but dunno if it made it, we got terrible connections up here. PS: I'll try to check out your friends phone number and addy. Just check your mail.

Greetings from the "queen of hills" , Karsten / Darjeeling

STJ> Ah! there you are Karsten, I had mailed you with a personal enquiry.

Karsten, its rather sad to know of such a story. I still have a friend there in Darjeeling who sends me teas. He's got some manager friends and he gets it for me. Nice guy. Anyways, I had enquired about my lost friend, but he too doesn't have a clue. He told me that she might have gone some place else to work. Maybe this is true.

Anyway, thanks for the message, but haven't got it.

Yes, I am aware of the pricing of Darjeeling teas. Sometimes, I ponder upon my expensive venture into the world of tea, but I don't regret it. Its a wonderful experience.

Stanley