Hi,
I know that black tea can't be, generally, steeped for more than one time, since it releases most of its precious substances during the first steeping. Green tea, though, can be steeped two or three times.
Since green tea is not oxidized at all and red (puerh) is, as far as I know, oxidized twice (comparing to black tea), does it make sense at all to steep the same red tea for the second time?
The word in Chinese (hei) for the class of teas that includes Puerh translates as "black" or "dark". The Chinese word for what westerners call "black" (teas like Keemun, most Assams and Ceylons, etc.) is "hong", which translates literally as "red".
I think you're referring to so-called cooked Puerhs, not the "raw" ones that are hardly oxidized at all before they start aging.
It makes complete sense to steep Puerhs multiple times. Just try it!
/Lew
Jarek,
My experience is that the larger the leaf, the better the subsequent steeps, regardless of the oxidation level, and this applies to all teas, not just puerh. The only real caveat with black teas is that the first steep must be fairly short (2-3 minutes), otherwise the second steep will look nice but have little aroma or flavor. I think this has something to do with the fact that many black teas undergo mechanical stress (rolling and/or crushing) to make the oxidation more uniform, and this speeds the rate of infusion. But I have gotten two very good infusions from some whole-leaf Darjeelings. I also tend to increase the second steep time by about a minute and decrease the amount of water by about a third.
Regards, Dean
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