Tea Tasting In Portland

I was away from Floating Leaves Tea a couple of weeks ago because I was doing a tea tasting in Portland. I travel to Portland twice a year to do tea tastings. I can't recall when this tradition started, but I love it!

getting read for a fun tasting!

Every tea tasting there of course feels different, but there is one thing that hasn't changed: the sweet tea community in Portland. Through the years, we have formed a wonderful tea friendship...and even more than that. I am treated like a family now and some of them welcome me to stay with them when I travel there.

At this particular tasting, participants seemed to be in a particularly bright and lively mood. It was so great to see these wonderful tea lovers:  Jan; Masa; Marilyn; Jim; Karen; Kate; Craig; Dana; Ana; Stephanie; Holly; Jennifer; David, and Jaynie. Plus the added, sweet surprise of two customers who moved to Portland from Seattle a couple of years ago: Chris and Kate!

Thank you, Jan, for letting us use your beautiful tea cups!

talking about tea and look at how much tea we drank!

We spent a couple of hours tasting 10 different Taiwanese teas while enjoying many tea conversations and laughter. For me, this is what tea is all about, sharing the goodness with good people. I feel so lucky that I get to be part of this great tea community. I wish in the future I could travel more to different places in the US and connect with more tea lovers like the ones here.

A couple of participants write a tea blog. Check it out! I think it's fun to read about the tasting from a different perspective:

Delight of the Heart by Marilyn Miller.
Steph's Cup of Tea by Stephanie Wilson.



If you live in Portland, or travel to Portland, and want to taste some good teas, my friend David hosts tea tastings. Good tea and fun guranteed! You can check out his tea tasting schedule here at PDX Tea.

Also, there will be a tea festival at Portland! You can find out information at Tea Fest Portland.

*the last two photos by Ana Martinez.

Gaiwan Tea Brewing: Timing

I promised in my last post that I would write down how long I brew tea for in a Gaiwan.

I timed myself and found it very distracting to have to pay attention to a timer while brewing tea. I failed a couple of times when customers were coming in and out of the tea shop. It was very frustrating!

Then a tea friend came to visit and I asked him to time me while we drank some tea. I asked him not to let me see the timer.

We shared a pot of ShanLinXi and here is the result:

Gaiwan: 120ml

Amount of ShanLinXi I used that day: 7.7grams (I put the usual amount of dry leaves I put in the Gaiwan and then took the tea out to measure the weight. I don't time my brewing and I don't measure my tea either, I just eyeball it.)

Water Temperature: Boiling water. I heated it back up again for the forth infusion. I did a quick rinse(about 5 seconds).

1st infusion: 25 seconds (a good indication to pour out the first infusion is when the leaves are half open. Please see the picture below):
2nd infusion: 20 seconds
3rd infusion: 17 seconds
4th infusion: 20 seconds
5th infusion: 35 seconds
6th infusion: 55 seconds

leaves that are slightly open: a good time to pour out the first infusion

I know some people don't like to use as much tea as I do, so I did one timing with just a thin layer of dry leaves to cover the bottom of the Gaiwan. I took the leaves out and weighed it. It's 5.8 grams. My friend secretly timed me again and here are the results:

1st infusion: 30 seconds
2nd infusion: 23 seconds
3rd infusion: 30 seconds
4th infusion: 30 seconds
5th infusion: 45 seconds

I have included the above experiments and times as a response to the many questions I get about brewing times; these are not meant as rules for anyone to have to follow. I'd bet that my timing changes a bit when I brew the same tea. This is for people who are new to Gongfu tea brewing to give them a frame of reference.

My suggestion is still the same. After you brew Gongfu tea for a while, stop using a timer or measuring the "exact amount" of tea. Start to pay attention to your tea rather than your timer. Trust me, you will build a good internal clock for your own tea brewing. Without the exact timing, the best cup of tea will show up when you least expect it. Without exact timing, you will reach a deeper understanding of the tea. Why limit yourself and your tea with a timer, be open and your tea will give you the best surprise ever. Happy tea brewing!

*first photography by Douglas King.

Gaiwan Tea Brewing

I am often asked how long I brew my teas for. To be honest, I don't time myself. I only time my tea brewing is when I am brewing teas for initial tastings or comparison using the competition brewing set.

However, I understand the curiosity or frustration with using a Yixing tea pot or Gaiwan for the first time. I remember when I brewed Gongfu style tea the first few times and my tea didn't taste right. I had friends who would brew the same teas, and what they brewed tasted better. When I asked them how they did it, they always looked at me a bit puzzled and told me to use my feeling and intuition.

That's pretty vague, right? Feelings? What kind? I decided to watch them whenever I had a chance to watch people brewing tea. I discovered experienced tea people have developed their feelings and intuition so that brewing tea has become natural for them. They feel the tea. It's like a beautiful dance between tea leaves and the brewers. It's like the person who brews tea has a thougtful conversation with the leaves.

This can sound fu-fu. If you have been doing something well for a long time, like cooking, brewing your own beer, making kombucha etc., you will probably know what I am talking about. You build a very good sense of how you are going to tranform the ingredients into something delicious. You simply know when it's ready for the next step.

However, we don't start by being perfect. We try and make mistakes even when we follow the recipes. I encourage you to be open to making mistakes when you start to do Gongfu tea. If you can watch an experienced tea person brew tea, that might be the best way to learn how to brew tea.

If you have to measure the amounts of leaves, water temperature, and time yourself, do that. But please don't follow any brewing instructions like they are laws. You can follow them the first couple of times to get used to brewing tea in a gaiwan or yixing tea pot, but go out of that box and see what you might discover.

With that being said, it's still difficult if you are new to this. So in my next couple of posts, I will let you know what my brewing times are with some of the teas, with the help of a friend who secretly timed me.

*photography by Douglas King.