Should You Be Rinsing Your Teas?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 17 кві 2016
- You have probably heard that you should rinse some teas before brewing but do you really know why? Don explains the theories behind tea rinsing and experiments a little.
CONCLUSIONS!
We recommend always rinsing:
- Aged tea
- Oolong tea
- PuErh Tea
- Any whole leaf tea with a lot of dust or fannings
You can rinse all other teas but we recommend NOT rinsing quick extracting green teas like Gyokuro and Sencha.
Don...never, EVER stop making these videos, brother. You bring LIFE to the tea world.
+Jason Froehlich (JFroFitness) Thank you for the crazy high praise, you brought a beaming smile to Don and made our day here at chinalife! More videos are on their way.
Hey Don, I'm creating a tea room in Paris around the concept of slowing down our lives (and appreciating loose leaf teas of course!) and you're bringing new ideas, and confirming old ones, with all your videos. I've subscribed and I'm watching your Tea Masterclass videos one by one with so much pleasure. One regret : not to have stopped by Chinalife tea room when I was in London, one week ago. Much much love from France.
Great stuff, I will come and visit when I am in Paris!
Hey! Sorry to wake an old thread up, but I'm curious, is your tea room open now in Paris?
Rinsing the tea has real effects on pesticide levels as shown in this scientific study :
"In conclusion, rinsing tea leaves in boiled water removed between 0.2% and 24% of
370 the residues of 8 different pesticides from 3 types of tea. Rinsing tea before brewing can
371 reduce the risk of exposure by 5% - 59% in the brewed tea infusion. While a short
372 pre-rinse with a small volume of boiling water can significantly reduce the health risk
373 from most pesticide residues, the loss of nutrients (0 - 11%) was negligible. Therefore,
374 rinsing tea before brewing is strongly recommended for these three types of tea. While
375 the health risk posed by pesticide residues can be reduced, some methods of rinsing are
Page 19 of 38
ACS Paragon Plus Environment
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
20
376 better than others, some pesticides are removed at greater rates, and no method can
377 remove all residues. Therefore, it remains that the overall application of pesticides should
378 be reduced, perhaps with a special focus on those residues that are not removed in great
379 quantities by a simple water rinse."
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30350971
Thanks for sharing!
@@brockshen Glad it was useful :)
Bro, I've been mainlining these videos for the last few days. They are gold! Thank you so much!!!! ❤❤❤
I’ve been thinking of having a tea café so learning this is very helpful.
Informative and well produced, as usual. Definitely paying the shop a visit next time I'm in Camden.
my favourite youtube channel, thank you so much!
next time I'm in London I'll definitely pay your shop a visit
Informative as usual good job thumbs up
Just discovered your channel and LOVE it - yours are the most thorough, clear, interesting and well-researched (while still being super natural) videos I’ve come across, subscribed for sure! My favorite expression for ‘washing’ the tea from Chinese comes from a tea supplier friend in Tainan, and he always calls it ‘awakening’ the tea, which I love! :D cheers dude!
I love your videos, learning so much , thanks
Great info!! I had no idea about tea rinsing. I just recently became a tea drinker. Thank you for the pearls of wisdom and your comparisons for our eyes to witness !
I've recently fallen in love with rolled oolong teas, so I'll have to try rinsing them! The second brew always tastes the best.
The second brew after the rinse is even better!
Very good video. It helped me to understand all about green tea. I am motivated to drink tea more than before!
This was so good to find. Everything else in the search is about green tea for hair loss! Thank you for the detailed video.
These videos are Awesome and I have learned so much from you and your wife !!!!!! Great stuff Don
This is so interesting. My first video really getting into “tea culture”. I find it very interesting. Thank you! I want to learn more! I live in Taiwan currently, I would love to go to a tea place and learn all about these processes.
AMAZING channel, great great videos.
Thanks for sharing your tips, love the tea.
I'm getting into the subject tea right now, seaching for the right way to do it. Your video was so helpful.
You seem very nice. It's interesting listening to you and I really learned something I can use! Thanks man. Sub and 👍
Thank you for the training!
the rinse so it opens up the leaves makes sense. We do the same with coffee by doing a small pour to bloom the grounds for 20-30 seconds then a high pour to aerate it. I tried discarding the first pour and it definitely made a difference, especially with red processed coffee beans. Now I need to find the gongfu set you use here in the states.
Good basic tea stuff!
very nice video!!
Woah, where did you get that poster from? I absolutely love it!!!
I wasn't rinse my tea.. I though I was wasting my drink.... but after listen the reasons I am going to rinse my tea.
Many people say the second oolong brew is the best and I tend to agree. I guess that is true when there is no rinse. I'll have to try giving rinsing a go.
I LOVE gaiwan brewing oolong leaves because they get so large and bouncy as you pour more cups. ☺️ They practically fill the cup.
New to the channel my buddy and I got some Taiwan Gaba oolong and because of the price I wanted to make sure I was doing it right! ANyway thanks this is great info!
Interesting. However, washing sits uneasy with me as I get a sense of loss. You put that concern to rest. As for bitterness, less water, shorter time will reduce it, even if the compounds are more soluble.
I have tried this method and I have to say the result was mind blowing with Pearl Green tea rolled into balls did a rinse and the tea was refreshing and tasty and it was amazing.
I am so loving your videos, thank you. Regarding the “moisturising” the tea leaves, it does make sense to me, in that moisture is water, so in effect you are plumping up the leaves, (re hydrating).
Moistening is better word to describe rinsing tea and it’s effect
Greetings,
I just discovered the channel and I love it. I think it may be one of the best tea information deliverers here at the moment.
Keep up the good work !
I would like to ask, if possible, for more videos concerning good quality tea leaves recognition.
Thank you.
+Wichmann Daniel Thank you! Yes we will be making more videos on recognising quality tea, any particular tea you are interested in?
Well, I find it difficult to choose good 普洱 (Pu Er) just by checking the leaves / cakes.
Thank you.
+Wichmann Daniel Ooooh this is a big subject with a lot of opinions. We will try to do a video about it but the key is to buy tea from suppliers that you trust and getting reliable information about the tea such as age of tea tree, when it was produced and from which mountain but in the end it comes to your preference in taste.
Visually, higher quality Sheng Pu Erh usually has more buds and small to medium leaves. The colour depends on the age of the tea. When brewed the leaves should be strong, thick and pliable and brew many infusions.
Rinsing tea is just a waste of water. Best thing I think, and I learned this from a Chinese lady who runs a NYC tea shop, is to save your wash for the end. She calls it "surprise tea". So you save the wash then, do your steeps and in the end, drink the "surprise tea". It is very interesting and refreshing and doesn't waste the water. I would also add that warming tea ware is also essentially a waste of water. It is for ritual purpose and doesn't affect the quality of the tea whatsoever.
So in short.
It mostly makes sense to rinse your tea,
IF
it has lots of broken or dusty particles in it,
OR
its a tightly packed or ballrolled tea.
Otherwise rinsing is near entirely optional for quality tea.
Excellent video, wow. I sometimes find these videos a tad too long, but this one was to the point, while remaining super comprehensive, useful, and with great live examples of the described effects. Keep it up, Don, this is great!
I prefer the longer videos.
I always enjoy your videos - so informative and fun! Hoping to get to the shop some time this year, and hope I get to say hello :)
+Missus Tribble Absolutely! Come say hi.
Wow!! I finally finally... understand!!!!
great video again. so are there teas that don't need rinsing? or just do it with every tea?
wow the first video I saw of you was mute with a scroll. I definitely thought your voice would be different. You're much less strange sounding than I expected. Keep up the tea vids. I love japanese green teas myself.
Great video. Important question: does this matter for any type of tea or mainly black and green teas? In other words: should I wash/ rinse them all or just certain types (if so which ones; which ones not)? Thank you
I really liked this video. I decided to dedicate 2017 to coffee and tea and I believe I came to the right address if we're talking tea :)
I agree with most of the things you say but I would water my plants with the rinse and not just through it away but I often only buy superior or supreme oolong and other teas(not pu' erh I dont like dark, strong down to earth flavours in teas so even my black teas I brew fast and not that strong) dont usually dont bother with rinsing
Mei Leaf , hey Don, love your content. Finally i found someone who makes good and educational videos about tea, i really enjoy them. Question: should i rinse green tea to fully enjoy the flavour?
It's not really necessary to rinse Green tea unless there is a lot of broken leaf that you want to rinse away before brewing.
Thanks for the video, my teas taste better since I suscribed to your channel. Should we rinse black and green teas as well??
Hi,
Do you do any videos of Zen tea making where the leaves are freshened/toasted before infusion. I have found that this process improves the flavour of most teas. I would like to learn more about it.
David
I have been binging on your videos! I have a question though, on your website's brewing guide, it states strip oolong leaves to be brewed at 99c. Aren't oolongs brewed around 80-85c?
It depends on the oolong but the majority of oolongs are suited to boiling water (exceptions are the more bud heavy oolongs).
I like that pot. Do you think they sell one without the tap?
How do you know when to use a Gaiwan or a pot? Is it just down to what feel like doing at that particular moment?
Since I started with Chinese teas after drinking Japanese ones for several years, the practice of rinsing still seems a bit strange and wasteful to me.
+MarioAtheonio Yes we understand and there is no requirement that you rinse but give it a try with PuErh or ball rolled oolongs.
+chinalife Tea House I know, and I usually rinse pu-erh these days (I don't drink oolong very often). But it still feels a bit weird, subconsciously.
Then what do you rinse your tea stones with? If not for he sake of washing it of impurities at least you could do it out of tradition.
I always rinse my tea leaves unless I'm making green tea in which case I just go straight to brewing because green teas in my experience tend to brew quicker.
Can you give some more examples of quick extracting green teas?Are Lu'An or Long jing into this category?Jut trying to figure out what's a quick extracting tea
what about tea that is softer and relatively less dry than these types? like gyokuro for example? does it need rinsing, or is it too light, that any rinsing will throw away the flavor?
oh, and thank you for these amazing videos; i discovered this channel today, and i'm already hooked :)
+Prince Angel No we do not recommend rinsing Gyokuro or other faster extracting tea. Please read the video description. Thanks.
+chinalife Tea House OH! how didn't I notice that?! sorry
so i just found your videos today. watched most of them, subbed, started hating tea bag products i have from the coffee shop i work at cuz of your vids. but while i look for loose leafs i am still gonna use some of them. so my questions are:
1. do i still need to rinse a tea bag?
2. why do you steep a green tea bag so fast when it states 3mins-5mins on products instruction
3. lastly how long do i steep a black loose leaf( like lapsang souchong or jin jun mei)?
Hi,
Thanks for watching. Here are some answers for you:
1. If the tea inside is powder then we would say no to rinsing but if they are whole leaf then we would advise opening up that teabag and brewing the leaves with a short rinse.
2. I actually never understood why people are advised to brew teabags so long but this is a matter of taste too. I find that this makes very strong and dry tea and not what I am searching for in green tea.
3. Download our brewing guide for more information. A Lapsang or Jin Jun Mei (ua-cam.com/video/ZFx3v0tXuJ4/v-deo.html) would be a small leaf black tea: chinalifeweb.com/guides/the-tea-brewing-chart/
When I first wanted to learn a little bit about tea I stumbled upon your UA-cam channel and I just wanted to thank you very much for educating myself and others about tea. Since I'm in the US I can't really partake or come by your shop, but I'm still trying to figure out a reliable retailer of high quality teas. Would love to hear if you have any suggestions for US retailers, but otherwise keep up the awesome work! Thanks!
+Goodylee Thanks for watching and for your comments.
We do not know enough about US suppliers to make recommendations but a good way of guessing is if they stock a lot of scented tea or blends then they are probably not a high quality supplier.
Keep us in mind too. We do ship everyday to the US and we try our best to keep postage to a minimum (it takes about 10 days to reach you from London).
+chinalife Tea House Next time I'm looking for some high quality teas you guys will be on the list! Didn't know you shipped stateside! As a side question: I'd love to hear some more info on my favorite everyday drink: Earl Grey. Since it's a relatively inexpensive tea, I'd love to know more about it and to get some tips from such a great resource about how to get the best brew from my Earl Grey. I seriously appreciate this channel!
+Goodylee We can give you some tips here if that's ok? Do you drink it loose or in a bag as this makes a difference to brewing instructions.
I drink it loose. I'm currently using about 4 grams of leaf for a 16 fl oz bottle every morning. I'm steeping it for about a minute 30 on the first steep and 2 minutes on the second. Would love to hear what tips you can give me about the tea!
+Goodylee Sounds like you are brewing it properly. If the leaf is broken then I would advise dropping the temperature to around 196 Fahrenheit to reduce bitterness (unless you are adding milk in which case you have to brew stronger). If the leaves are whole then the temperature depends on the type of black tea that was used but traditionally it would be an Indian black and therefore it can take 200 Fahrenheit water.
We are sure that you are getting good quality tea but it iw worth confirming that the Bergamot used to scent is pure essential oils and not artificial.
Enjoy!
What kettle do you use in your videos? Ive been looking for a good digital kettle that is best for Pu Erh for Gong Fu brewing. Thanks ahead!
This is a Kamjove kettle but it is not easy to get outside China due to electrical certificates.
Shall we rinse our teas at lower temperature that we use for brewing?
What's your suggestion for a tea set. I actually bought super expensive tea in China and San Francisco. I haven't used it yet due to unknowledgeable high quality tea set.
We love Gong Fu Brewing and of course recommend our teaset ;) ua-cam.com/video/HDthPn4NNd8/v-deo.html
Essentially finding a nice water catcher tray and then assembling you collection of teaware from glass, porcelain and clay.
All good points. However I will never discard good quality tea. Just accept that the rinse or first brew may be a bit off. I want the full experience.
Good perspective, i may begin doing this simply because of your reasoning.
Please tell me what kind of electric tea kettle you are using in this video (also where I might purchase one). Thank you...
+Gary Moore The kettle is made by Kamjove but we have bought it from China and we don't know if it is being sold abroad online.
i'm just wondering about this china life box
it works great for the videos but do you actually use it casually too?
I have some samples from China looks like oolong, tasted boggy, steeped as the video. was interesting but I have no idea what it is. my Chinese friend took a few so must be a good tea sample set direct from China. Thanks for another great video. myself and other half after we close the shop will be sampling pu erh cooled tea cake think it's sword book 2014...:) Happy Friday :)
Boggy? I think I know what you mean, kind of a stewed vegetal muddiness? Usually the taste of tea which is past its prime but perhaps I am wrong.
You need to redo the test with the oolong, blind (i.e. get someone else to brew it for you out of sight so you don't know which is which) to remove an confirmation bias!
Yes true, this is very subject to bias although the difference was quite discernible we should never underestimate the power of expectation to influence our senses.
Would you rinse flower scented tea like jasmine pearls?
And what about other types of tea like white or green? Should we rinse them?
After a while I realized you can judge it yourself..... Sometimes its necessary, other times, on the contrary, its a waste of good flavor (especially for shorter lived tea). Some people will even save the wash in a cup for after finishing the infusions, this is called 回味杯 (return flavor cup)
What about rinsing to remove or reduce the caffeine
Rinsing removes dust. Tea is harvested and prepped in open air and during this time and during storage it can gather dust. Brewing tea with the dust is going to ruined the tea.
I've read somewhere that during the first minute of rinsing the green tea you infuse around 90% caffeine… Are the studies reliable?
hey can you tell me the name of the tea kettle combo kit you use to heat the water up and also if you dont have a water filtration system can you use bottled spring water like poland spring?
This is something we bought from China and they call it a kettle (no particular name). Yo can use bottled water although we have not tried Poland Springs - we are testing quite a few brands and will feedback our thoughts on UA-cam.
Mei Leaf ok my sis had an electric tea/glass kettle kit that she wasnt using that had temp presets for each type of tea from 80c to 96c i believe but i did use bottled poland spring to brew some bulang black that i order from you guys ended up drinking 8 diff brews made with the connisuer set you sell on the website....very diff from drinking teabags deff enjoyed it alot cant wait to try out the other diff typed of teas i got on the brew for tomorrow is the the jade sword
Thank you for ordering and for commenting. Hope you enjoyed the Jade Sword tea!
Mei Leaf so far i reallllly enjoyed the duck shit oolong i think its the best out of the ones i got so far that i brewed up
I enjoyed you presentation. However, I’d like to propose the word ‘moistening’ as a better word to describe rinsing tea and it’s effect. thanks for your thoughtful explanations.
Thank you so much for these videos I love to take my experiences to the top levels when it comes to the senses, taste and smell my faves! I just ordered canopy flasher and I am excited to try this tea or any tea of this caliber of course. I have never had tea like this so I am watching these videos and have decided this is my tea guy! My curiosity about being tea drunk has had me wanting to take a chance on buying tea but what to buy? These videos have been so helpful, I can’t wait until I get to taste real good tea for my first time.
Are the teas from Chinalife tea house organic, high quality and pesticide free? If so, what is an average price for a small to medium amount of tea?
+Singular Mass The teas that we stock are all selected for quality by Don. They are NOT certified organic as the vast majority of high quality tea is not organic certified and the reasons for this are quite detailed but essentially the higher quality tea plantations have no need to spend more money or effort on going through organic certification as their tea will sell (demand for their tea is higher than supply). Organic tea is often from lower quality fields that can command a higher price if organically certified - this is not true for all organic tea but is usually the way things work in tea.
The tea is tested for heavy metals and pesticide residues. It is very rare for our farmers to use pesticides and when they do it is organic pesticides.
Prices vary hugely from $5 - $100 per 100g depending on tea. You can browse all of our tea chinalifeweb.com/shop/category/tea/
Thank you! I understand the organic certification issue as well as responsible use of pesticides. I will definitely be purchasing shortly :)
I've purchased puerh during my time living in China, and my impression was not that it was of bad quality. However, even after 3-4 rinses, it tastes like cow manure/a barnyard. Is this just bad quality tea, then?
Where can I get that electric kettle?
There should be more explanation on fishy smells. Shou pu er going through wodui(fermentation) can be either fishy due to recent or badly done 'fermentation. However fishy doesn't mean bad. You can break pu er and air it out for a few weeks months to rid of the smell.
Inexperienced drinkers might perceive that their shou is bad and toss it out.
You are right and we will be doing a video on Shou in due course.
What is the traditional name for teapot?
After rinsing could we cold brew it still?
nice :)
9:35 that moment when the medical mj hits you and Don snaps with his fingers at the same time.. wow..
What is that tray your preparing your tea on?
It's a tea tray, designed to dispose of the water used for rinsing the tea (there is a reservoir under the lid). It also catches all accidentally spilled water.
👀 Wow this is really a thing
Isn't it better to drink the rinsing water instead of discarding it?
It depends on the tea really. Certainly for high greens and oolongs it is fine to drink the rinse but as long as you realise that it may not be the best taste. For some teas like fresh ripened PuErh or teas with a lot of dust we would recommend throwing away because the flavour will usually not be worth drinking.
Lol I agree with most of the things you say but I would water my plants with the rinse and not just through it away but I often only buy superior or supreme oolong and other teas(not pu' erh I dont like dark, strong down to earth flavours in teas so even my black teas I brew fast and not that strong) dont usually dont bother with rinsing
Lol I agree with most of the things you say but I would water my plants with the rinse and not just through it away but I often only buy superior or supreme oolong and other teas(not pu' erh I dont like dark, strong down to earth flavours in teas so even my black teas I brew fast and not that strong) dont usually dont bother with rinsing
Lol I agree with most of the things you say but I would water my plants with the rinse and not just through it away but I often only buy superior or supreme oolong and other teas(not pu' erh I dont like dark, strong down to earth flavours in teas so even my black teas I brew fast and not that strong) dont usually dont bother with rinsing
Lol I agree with most of the things you say but I would water my plants with the rinse and not just through it away but I often only buy superior or supreme oolong and other teas not pu' erh I dont like dark, strong down to earth flavours in teas so even my black teas I brew fast antd not that strong dont usually dont bother with rinsing
sorry the dubble post but my internet wasnt working
The only teas I’d advise NOT to rinse are Chinese and Japanese green teas and charcoal roasted Yan Cha (rock oolongs).
CustomGrow420 intro lmao
Dam i was thinking because of heavy metals and toxins
Not "moisturizing" the tea, but "hydrating" the tea.
He did cite "moisturising" as being a horrible literal translation from Mandarin/Cantonese to English, rather than being a more accurate one. Don Mei clearly understands the distinction between "moisturising" and "hydrating" better than most.
@@DG-mv6zw Thanks, but nobody said any different. It's interesting to see the nuance lost in translation. Plus, more may be going on in making tea. I'd like to see an electron micrograph of the tea leaf-water interaction to see the dynamics of how tea releases its solubles or otherwise into the water.
Another reply had "hydrating", too. I don't know of a better word.
I bought some cheap chinese green gunpowder tea. I don't know how tea is processed on china, but after drinking a cup, there was a lot of gritty residue on the bottom,dont know if it was dirt or what, but it tasted like rough grit dirt, I couldnt drink the last 1/2 ounce or so. I experimented by washing in cold water first, then brewing a cup to see the difference.Seemed like it helped a lot.
Is moisturizing not hydrating? By moisturizing you are conditioning, and adding moisture to something, skin, tea leaves, hair, you name it. Perhaps that term is not used in sense typically but the message is all the same.
It's your fault I watch your videos, it;s your fault I left coffee for tea, it's your fault I'm contemplating on spending more money on tea than my beloved bicycle. It's your fault that I love tea....
I hate to be that guy, but you added more water to the non washed tea like 1/4 more water than the other one, that's why it was weaker (imo). i'm not a tea expert and not claiming to be one, i could be totally wrong im just saying what i think is happening.
Ian Thompson I'm no expert either but I've brewed a lot of tea. It actually wouldn't have been a fair comparison if he hadn't added a touch more in order to allow some to soak into the dry leaves.
I met a tea master who instead of rinsing tea, rinsed the gaiwan and let the tea leaves sit in the steam - think they were suspended in a strainer within the pot but can’t remember- and as the water heated up again, let the tea leaves very very gently open up in residual steam in the cup. What say ye to this method, oh great Sir Don Mei of the Precious Leaf? I look to thee for guidance and wisdom.
Love your videos, too long though. 14 minutes for a yes or no answer. All the other videos are really interesting too, then you realize its a 28 minute video on how to gu shong or whatever. Too long, bro. Maybe a series of tea videos for people with ADD who just want the bare facts.
Interesting video BUttttttt to be honest the price of your teas is a joke. But hey as long as you are making a massive profit out of unsuspecting people then good for YOU. Im not saying your teas are not a good quality but I find it sad when tea companies charge the prices you do and basically price out of the market for those of us who are not rich. It seems you 'get it' but the tradition of drinking tea isa beautiful humble friendly thing and as such should be shared by and made available for everyone - your prices make it a boutique afair. Of course your shop in Camden will not be cheap to run but online?
We respect your opinion but we absolutely do not agree that our prices are a 'joke' and we certainly are not out to make a profit from unsuspecting people but instead educate people to understand more about tea and make more informed purchasing decisions.
We absolutely agree that tea should be shared and not made exclusive which is why we are not charging the snob pricing of most high end stores in China. Of course there are many, many less expensive grades of tea below ours and some super expensive grades above so it really depends on what you are comparing but we stand by our pricing 100% and because we buy direct from source we would be amazed if you could find tea of a similar quality in the UK for much less money.
Im sorry, I dont meant to offend but, for example, a 2016 100g raw Pu Erh for £59 is a little ridiculous - Perhaps I have just been very lucky in finding an exceptional tea merchant who offers top hand picked quality at very reasonable and affordable prices - perhaps we live in different worlds but the average person on the street cannot afford £59 for 100g of tea, never mind that it is only 2016! - I can happily point you in the direction of a much more competitively priced UK tea merchant although it would be unfair to do so publicly on your channel! - Again I apologies but there are many of us out there that simply cannot afford the prices you charge - Im sure you source great quality & are obviously a passionate tea person - your channel is wonderful but still it would be great if there was more good quality drinkable affordable oolong & pu erh sold from UK merchants
Hey Jo. Thanks for your reply. There are so many grades of PuErh and pricing depends on so many factors such as the mountain, village, season and age of tree so its hard to know if you are comparing like for like.
The He Kai for example is £39 for 100g for 500 year old Gushu because it comes from a revered but lower priced area. Some people love the He Kai whereas others crave something with more gan like a 600 year old Lao Bang Pen but these leaves cost us double the price. Then we have a Lincang raw Gushu PuErh which is over 10 years old and that is a lot less at about £23 per 100g. As I am sure that you are aware, these are all Gushus which are a massive price difference compared with plantation tea that would sell for a LOT less money.
The point is that the prices across Yunnan vary as wildly as the teas due to a varieties of factors (some that really are important and some which are hype). Of course we can find much cheaper raw PuErh or much more expensive ones too.
We taste blind so we judge first and foremost by the taste/body/aroma/finish and effects of a tea and then we assess if they are worth the price to us and our clients but we certainly do not mark up the prices in an unreasonable way. It's funny because we have received comments the other way too - that the PuErh prices are too cheap for what we 'claim' to be selling so it seems that everyone has a different measure of what a certain tea should cost according to their purchasing experience.
Regarding your comment about the tea being 2016. The price of PuErh is generally more expensive for the super fresh raw PuErh before dropping in price as it ages past a few years and then begins to rise in price past 7-10 years. The obsession with storage age being the fundamental marker for price and the the idea that young raw PuErh should automatically be the cheapest is a fallacy. The key to pricing is the quality of the raw material and if it is good then younger is often more expensive to buy from farmers than 3-7 year old tea.
Anyway, we are happy that you are finding tea that you enjoy because that is all that matters in the end so happy sipping!
No doubt I have a lot to learn.Forgive my frustration at 10 years of trying to find affordable drinking Pu Erh :) - I own and have had some lovely teas but it is just so difficult to find good AND affordable tea.
I tried some Oolong from Fortnum & Masons a while ago and whilst it was silly price I bought the smallest amount. it was. . . at best, good but no where near the asking price as after 3 steeps it was done o_0 Ive had some Tawainses Oolong that still keeps going after 13 flushes! - Maybe I was just lucky? No thing personal to you - best wishes
+Jo Par indeed we share your frustration as some of the tea market is hyped (especially in Pu Erh and Taiwanese Oolong) because of demand and we are very often priced out of buying great tea because the farmer is offered more money by sellers who sell exclusively to rich clients. Even worse are shops that sell substandard tea at a ridiculous mark up 😑 (you should definitely get at least 8 really good infusions out of a decent oolong!).
Finding suppliers that you trust in terms of sourcing and pricing is so important because when it boils down to it there is nothing worse than feeling cheated when leaf hits water.
I agree with most of the things you say but I would water my plants with the rinse and not just through it away but I often only buy superior or supreme oolong and other teas(not pu' erh I dont like dark, strong down to earth flavours in teas so even my black teas I brew fast and not that strong) dont usually dont bother with rinsing
sorry the dubble post but my internet wasnt working