We have broken down the details of brewing a fine cuppa with our post “Infusion Confusion” now let’s put the record straight on multi steeping your tea.
We are talking about loose leaf tea rather than tea bags which are designed for one use only. See “Think Out of the Bag” post. Depending on the type and quality of loose tea, you should expect to make several steeps or infusions.
Follow your usual procedure to make the first cup of tea. If your preference is strong tea I suggest increasing the amount of tea, rather than the time you allow the tea to infuse. Make only the amount you require or decant into another pot to preserve your leaves and stop them from over infusing or tasting astringent.
This is an important step. It’s not the fault of the leaves as they simply carry on doing what YOU put them there to do!
Add more water to start the second infusion, releasing another round of flavor. Allow more time; I usually double my original infusion time. You may enjoy this cup more than the first; it has a roundness or smoothness which is most pleasing.
At Local Coffee + Tea we add the first and second infusion together making what we believe is the perfect cuppa. We call this multifusion!
Go ahead and infuse your leaves once again. You can continue this process until the leaves offer you no more surprises. If you are infusing a rolled leaf you will certainly be rewarded with many infusions, a cut leaf not so many. Our oolongs offer at least 4 steeps, and my personal favorite for beautiful multifusion flavors is Flowering Pomegranate.
Multi-steeping is also one of the reasons we love using tea makers with pressure release bottoms to brew loose leaf tea. The lid keeps the leaves moist and fresh if you are away from your tea making duties. You can also place the tea maker in the refrigerator if not using till later in the day or even the next day.
Experiment, play around with each tea. You will notice after the first steep, it is hard to overstep the tea and you should not experience any astringency. This is one of the reasons some people prefer the second or third steeps to the first. And remember it is suggested that oolongs are washed, basically discarding the short first steep or rinse. If you read our “Oooolongs” post you will note that I drink this batch and love it!!
Enjoy multi infusions as you drink loose leaf tea and keep in mind the great value loose leaf tea offers long after a tea bag is discarded.
Cheers,
the tea lady
October 30, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Even when I was devoted to tea, I had reservations about doing Gong Fu brewing, which is multiple very short infusions. But once I made myself do it, I discovered that it’s no trouble at all. With my favorite tea, Puerh, you get more infusions than with any other kind of tea.
December 2, 2009 at 3:46 am
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April 12, 2011 at 9:25 pm
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October 24, 2011 at 2:35 pm
[...] so we selected our wonderful Yorkshire Harrogate to celebrate. And for all of our teas we suggest multiple steeping, and our Flowering Pomegranate is a great example of a tea that holds up to 3 or 4 or more [...]
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