Don Mei : Hey teaheads! This is Don from Mei
Leaf. In this video : Why Does More Leaf Make
Better Tea? In this video I'm going to be
explaining how the amount of leaf that you
use affects the quality of your brews. If
at any point in time you enjoy this video
then make sure you hit it with a "like", and
if you're not following us on all your socials
yet then go click those buttons. This is it,
[the] third part in our brewing master class
series. If you've not watched the first two
I'll put links in the description below. In
these videos we go geeky, so be prepared.
We go very geeky into understanding how all
of the different parameters affect the quality
of the tea that you produce. The aim of this
series is to test all the theories. Let's
not assume that they're all correct. Test
all the theories, learn together, and by the
end of it my pledge to you is that you're
going to come out of it as a Gong Fu brewing
master, for free. You're going to know how
to brew just by looking at the leaves. In
this video we're doing probably one of the
most important definers of Gong Fu brewing,
the leaf-to-water ratio - in other words,
how much leaf you're using per 100 [milliliters]
of water. It is the key definer for Gong Fu
brewing. For those of you who don't know what
Gong Fu brewing is, again, I'll put a link
in the description below describing Gong Fu
brewing. But essentially, it is one of the
best ways to get rich and flavorful extractions
from your tea leaves. And, as I said, one
of the key markers for that is that you brew
a large leaf-to-water ratio. In other words,
you shrink the size of the teaware down to
small volumes, and you use a lot of leaf.
But why is that? Does it make a difference?
Is it worth you doing? You've probably seen
me brew in other videos where I stuff the
Gai Wan full of leaves. Am I just trying to
sell you more tea, by showing you that you
should use a lot? Or does it make a difference?
Let's first do a quick recap on our first
two episodes. [In] the first episode we talked
about how temperature affects the experience
of your tea. And we came to the following
conclusions: that as you increase temperature
you increase the bitterness that is extracted,
[and] you increase the associated astringency.
However, you have a more structured tea with
a longer finish, and the taste EQ tends to
be a little bit more in those bassier notes.
What do I mean by that? Well, for me, higher
aromatics are aromatics that are very bright,
very light, [and] very zesty. Whereas bassy
aromatics tend to be more of those woodier,
earthier notes. It is a very kind of conceptual
idea, but I hope that it makes some sense
to you when you are drinking your teas. In
the second episode we focused on how the length
of brewing time affects the quality of the
tea, and we came to the following conclusions.
We said that longer brewing makes tea that
is more viscous - in other words, thicker.
Again, [it] has more of those bass aromatics,
less of the high, bright EQ aromatics.[It]
makes a stronger tea, however again, [it]
increases the bitterness [and] increases the
astringency, and you get a longer and more
structured finish. So those were the conclusions
that we came up with from our first two episodes.
We talked about brewing temperature, [and]
we've talked about brewing time. The third
most important key decision that you guys
have to make when you're brewing your tea
is the amount of leaf you use - in other words,
the leaf-to-water ratio - and this can be
a bit deceptive. In front of me I have a Huang
Pian Puerh tea, and I have Gyokuro from Japan,
a green tea. These are both 5 grams of tea.
So you can see [that] if you're judging the
amount of leaf that you're using by volume,
you can be very easily deceived. This, obviously,
looks like a lot more leaf than this one,
but I can assure you that it is 5 grams. To
prove that point I have ground down the same
amount of the Huang Pian and the Gyokuro so
you can see [that] when you take away all
of the air that's hiding in and amongst these
leaves you start to get a more accurate picture
of the difference. You can see that there
is a difference, but the difference is hardly
as pronounced as it seems when you look at
the volumes of the leaves. You can see that's
5 grams of the Gyokuro ground up, and 5 grams
of Huang Pian. So its very important that,
[when you're talking about] leaf-to-water
ratio, that you're focused on the amount of
grams of the leaf. Now, as you start to become
more experienced in Gong Fu brewing you start
to be able to eyeball. You start to say, "Well,
I know this is a Huang Pian. I know it's very
straggly, large leaves, and therefore there's
going to be a lot of air, and it's going to
look like a lot more leaf." But at the beginning,
when you're starting out brewing, I would
highly recommend getting yourself a very cheap,
accurate scale, and that will really help
you dial in your parameters. Okay, so you
can see here the deception that can happen
with the volume of leaf. And I also have to
say that when we talk about grams per 100
[milliliters] of water that is also quite
deceiving too. Because obviously, the amount
of water that you put in a Gai Wan, if it's
empty, may be 100 [milliliters] - or a teapot,
or any vessel that you're brewing in; I just
tend to brew more in Gai Wans. So if you fill
up it might be 100 [milliliters], but once
you've put those leaves in it's going to be
less, right? Because obviously, the volume
of leaf is taking up volume in the vessel
itself , and so you're going to get less water.
And the volume that the leaf takes up - you
can see this is going to take up less volume
than this one - will mean that if I take a
100 [milliliters] Gai Wan and I brew, and
I fill it to the brim with this Gyokuro compared
to this Huang Pian, then when I pour out I
will have less liquor in this tea, because
this takes up more volume in your Gai Wan,
teapot, etcetera. So it would be even more
accurate if, instead of using the volume of
water, you used weight. Generally, there or
thereabouts, 1 milliliter of water equals
1 gram of water. So when we're doing these
tests we are actually weighing the amount
of water that we are using. Now again, once
you start to get into brewing you don't have
to get so geeky. This is all about really
just focusing in on those minor details - those
minute details - to see how they affect the
overall experience. But once you get into
it, and you have your own experience, I'm
not expecting you to pull out scales and weigh
the amount of water that you use. You can,
of course, but I certainly don't do that.
Right. So now we need to move on to our first
experiment. What I've got here is a Gong Fu
amount that I would recommend for Green Coil.
This is Bi Luo Chun. It's a high quality green
tea. [It's] really one of those amazing Chinese
green teas [which is] full of complexity,
full of bright notes, full of dark notes,
full of umami, [and] full of sweetness. It's
a really fascinating tea. The reason why I've
picked this tea is because, in my opinion,
if you don't brew it Gong Fu style there's
not much point in your buying it - to be honest
with you. Really, you need to experience this
Gong Fu style. Let me show you what I'm brewing
it up against. So this is 3.5 grams here,
and this one here is 0.9 grams. So I've taken
a quarter of the amount - this is there or
thereabouts a quarter of this amount. We're
going to be brewing these up for the same
amount of time, and then - in case you guys
out there are wondering what happens if you
just brew it for four times as long? Is that
going to make an equivalent brew? We're going
to do just that. We're going to brew this
0.9 grams of tea four times as long. So what
I'm going to do is I'm going to rinse these
leaves, first of all, in 85 degrees [Celsius]
water - that's 185 [degrees] Fahrenheit. [I'll]
give them a quick rinse just to open them
up, and then I'm going to be taking the 3.5
grams of tea, [and] I'm going to be brewing
that for 15 seconds. I'm going to be taking
one of the 0.9 grams of tea [and] I'm going
to be brewing that for 15 seconds, so that
we can do a like-for-like comparison. Then
I'm going to be taking the other 0.9 grams,
and I'm going to be brewing that for one minute.
Then we'll return, and we'll give them a taste...
Here are the results. This one here is the
3.5 grams at 15 seconds with 100 grams of
water. All of these used 100 grams of water.
I actually weighed the amount of water so
that it is accurate. So this is, there or
thereabouts, Gong Fu style brewing. This one
here is the 0.9 grams for 15 seconds. So [it's]
the same brewing time. We're keeping all the
parameters the same between these, except
for the amount of leaf. And this one here
is our time-corrected brew. This is 0.9 grams,
but for one minute - so four times the amount
of brewing time, because it is a quarter of
the amount of leaf. Now I know that you can
say that that's not a linear relationship,
but that's a whole other discussion, and a
whole other bit of experimentation. But you
see the point here. I'm trying to back the
brews equivalent by extending the amount of
brewing time. So this is the time-corrected.
All right, so let's start off with talking
about viscosity, [the] thickness of the tea
liquor. Let's go with the 15 second 0.9 [gram
brew]. [SIPS TEA] [It's] very, very thin,
[and] very, very watery. [There] is some thickness,
but it's very, very thin. [SIPS TEA] Compared
to the Gong Fu [brew there's] a world of difference.
[It's] much, much thicker, [with] a lot more
texture [and] body in the mouth. Let's compare
it to the time-corrected one. [SIPS TEA] [It's]
in between. So what we're establishing here
is that when you increase the amount of leaf-to-water
ratio you are going to increase the viscosity
of the tea, and when you time-correct it it's
going to make a difference. So as we established
in the last video, the longer you brew is
going to increase viscosity, but it didn't
even manage to match this one. This is a minute
brew versus 15 seconds. So you see the power
of the amount of leaf. Let's move on, and
let's talk about the strength of flavor. That's
something we're going to be talking about
a bit later on. Let's, again, start with the
15-second brew. [SIPS TEA] There is some flavor
there, [but] it's very, very weak. [It's]
very, very weak indeed, compared to this one.
Well, I can already tell you, [SIPS TEA] [there's]
a lot more strength of flavor. [It's] just
bursting with grassiness. I'm getting a little
bit of umami, [and] I'm getting a bit [of]
brothiness in the taste. I'm also getting
those high notes of elderflower, and cut grass,
and a little bit of spinach - [like] spinach
pastries; the warm notes of baked spinach
pastries. [It's] delicious. So [there's] a
lot more strength of flavor. Now, [this is]
interesting. Let's see what the strength comparison
is between this one here and this one here.
This is four times the brewing length, so
you'd expect the strength to be there or thereabouts
similar. [SIPS TEA] What I'm trying not to
focus on is the type of flavor- in other words,
the balance of the flavor; because that is
going to be different - but just the overall
strength of the liquor. And I would say that
this is not as strong as this one, but certainly,
that extra length of brewing has started to
mimic it. I would say that they are similar,
but the Gong Fu still comes up trumps. Let's
talk about the taste, right? The actual EQ
balance of the taste. [SIPS TEA] [There's]
very little going on here, but it's quite
bright. I taste a lot of the bright notes
of it. I'm getting those cut grass notes,
much more in that one, just as a predominance.
Compared to the Gong Fu, [SIPS TEA] I'm getting
tons and tons of those top notes - really
bright aromatics. As I said, I'm getting some
of the warmth of those pastry notes, but [it's]
very, very bright, compared to this one here.
[SIPS TEA] So the extended brewing time has
a definite marked difference in the EQ. This
is definitely more bassy. I get more of the
woody notes. I get more of the papery notes
in the tea. It's just less bright. It's less
zinging, which is why - as I said before - this
tea - this "Green Coil", or Zhang Su Bi Luo
Chen - I really think that if you don't brew
it Gong Fu style yóu're missing out so much,
in terms of the flavor. Now, let's move on
to the richness of the tea. How does that
differ from strength? We'll talk about that
a little bit later, but let's just talk about
richness. You can see the difference in the
color of the liquors. [There's] definitely
a lot more vibrancy of color, a lot richer
color, and a lot more saturated - the color
- and certainly a different texture look in
the color of the liquor. [SIPS TEA] So what
I get here is definition. I can taste everything.
It's in my face. I get all of the flavor notes.
It's very rich, in terms of its experience.
Compare that to the 15 seconds, if I have
to. [SIPS TEA] [There's] next to no richness
to it at all. [There's] just some vague flavor,
but next to no richness. [SIPS TEA] This one
here is the same. This is the key part here:
more leaf will mean richer tea. Again, we'll
talk about that in a second. Let's just keep
going through this, because I'm concerned
that these teas are going to change as I talk,
and the air reacts with them. So finally,
we're going to talk about finish. I should
start, actually, with this one here. [SIPS
TEA] [It's] very, very short. As I said, [it's]
very thin in texture, [and] very short in
finish, [with] no structure. I'm not getting
much coming out afterwards. [It's] very, very
short [and] very, very clean - nothing to
write home about. [SIPS TEA] [As for the]
extended brewing time [one], yes [there's]
a longer finish. I get more dryness. I'm getting
more astringency. I'm getting a little bit
more juiciness coming out from the sides of
my tongue. [There's] certainly more [of a]
physical reaction going on with the extended
brewing time, compared with [SIPS TEA] the
Gong Fu style, which the moment it hits my
tongue, I'm getting instance physicality.
[There's] a lot more finish on this one. So
even though [the] length of brewing time will
extend the finish, it won't be as much as
with the Gong Fu brewing. Okay, so let's just
try to come up with some quick conclusions
here. So if you compare the leaf-to-water
ratio, and keep all of the variables the same
- in other words, the brewing time the same
- then you're going to create a tea which
is higher in viscosity, which is higher in
strength, which is higher in richness, which
has a similar taste EQ but a longer finish.
And if you time-correct the brewing so that
you extend the length of brewing for [a] smaller
amount of leaves, the Gong Fu style brewing
- the larger leaf-to-water ratio still comes
up trumps in terms of viscosity, in terms
of strength, in terms of richness, [and] in
terms of finish. And the taste EQ is a lot
more brighter compared to that longer brewing
time. So what is going on here? And how can
we apply these conclusions to a model of brewing
that you can take forward? In my previous
master class I introduced you to a model to
help you to visualize the brewing process
in action. And if you can visualize this model
it's going to really help you through future
master classes. I'm going to give you a quick
recap, and I have to say that there has been
one change to the model, so if you watched
the previous master class then please pay
attention, because I have made a change. Right,
here it is. This is the model. Imagine a ramp,
and imagine that ramp is divided up into lanes,
and those lanes are divided by a small wall
- so anything rolling down each lane cannot
cross over into other lanes. Imagine halfway
up that ramp is a set of gates running across
all of the lanes. At the bottom of the ramp
is another set of gates running across all
of those lanes. Below the bottom gates is
a collecting trough. Right. The collecting
trough represents the collection of all of
the compounds that you're going to extract,
and is going to result in your final tea that
you're drinking. Right. Whenever you load
up your tea vessel - Gai Wan, teapot, [or]
whatever - with leaves, you're loading the
vessel up with chemical compounds that are
ready to be extracted. These chemical compounds
- in this model - I'm making the analogy that
these are marbles. So if you image [that]
when you load up your vessel you're loading
above the top gate. In the lanes you're loading
them up with marbles, right? Each chemical
compound is a different marble. You can imagine
it like color-coded: red, green, blue, etcetera.
And each lane is reserved for an individual
type. So let's say the red marbles are in
lane one, the green marbles are in lane two,
the blue marbles are in lane three, etcetera,
etcetera. So they're sitting, waiting - in
dry leaf - waiting to be extracted. So when
you hit the leaves with water what you're
doing is you're opening the gates. Okay? So
these marbles are going to start to move down
the ramp, and eventually be collected in the
water - extracted in the water - which is
represented by the tea liquor that is your
collecting trough below the bottom gate. Now,
different chemical compounds have different
rates of extraction. So what I'm asking you
to do is imagine that the marbles have different
shapes. Some of the marbles are spherical,
so they're very easily extracted. They're
going to roll down that ramp. No matter what
the angle, they're going to roll down that
ramp very, very easily. Others are going to
be a little bit more irregular, and there
are going to be some that are very irregular,
that take a lot of time, and a lot of inclination,
angle, in order for them to make it into the
collecting trough. Okay. I hope you're with
me so far. So the brewing time is represented
by how long you leave the gates open. So how
long [the] collecting of those marbles takes,
that is your brewing time. The temperature
- here's the difference, guys, from the previous
model - the temperature is related to the
inclination. In the previous model I said
it was related to the friction of the surface,
and I was going to do something else for inclination
- which will be in future master classes - but
the more I think about it the more I think
it's going to be simpler for you to think
of temperature in terms of inclination. So
obviously, if you have a very shallow inclination
that's going to extract much more slowly,
and that is if you are brewing cooler. The
hotter you brew the steeper the inclination.
So even if you have marbles that are quite
irregular they are going to still make it
through the bottom gate into the collecting
through below, right? So the temperature is
the inclination - the angle of inclination
of the ramp. So you've got: brewing time - how
long the gates are open for, and temperature
is inclination. What is leaf-to-water ratio?
So how can we now bring this master class
and apply it to that model? Well, if you imagine
- just for simplicity sake - that one tea
leaf has 10 lanes. So there's 10 different
marbles; 10 different compounds that need
to be extracted, okay? If you double the amount
of leaves then you are adding more lanes onto
the ramp. So instead of just one lane of red
marbles, now you have two lanes of red marbles,
two lanes of green marbles, two lanes of yellow
marbles, etcetera. So as you increase the
leaf-to-water ratio you are increasing the
amount of lanes. Right. How does that apply
to what we've come up with here, in terms
of: richness, strength, viscosity, etcetera.
Okay, so when you are opening those gates,
and the marbles are coming down, assuming
you are keeping the same temperature - which
means [the] same inclination - and you are
keeping the same brewing time, then obviously
- if, let's say the brewing time is 10 seconds;
so you're opening the gates for 10 seconds,
and then closing them after 10 seconds. If
you have more lanes you are going to extract
more marbles. More marbles are going to end
up in that collecting trough, right? More
marbles means more chemical compounds in your
tea, which means that you're going to have
a stronger-tasting tea, right? More marbles
equals stronger [tea]. Okay. Now, what happens
in the case of this one here, where I have
less leaf but I have brewed it for longer?
Okay, so imagine the model now. So in this
Gong Fu style I have, let's say, 100 lanes,
[and] the brewing time was 15 seconds. So
I've collected "x" amount of marbles - let's
call it a thousand marbles, just for simplicity.
With this one here I have less lanes. I've
got 25 lanes, instead of 100 lanes, right?
But I'm leaving the gates open for four times
the amount of time, okay? So I'm leaving them
open for a minute. My estimation here is that
I will still collect there or thereabouts
1,000 marbles, [but] they are going to be
different marbles, okay? Because now you've
given more time for those irregular marbles
to make it out of the gate. Right? So this
is how the same amount of marbles - let's
say we collected 1,000 marbles in the Gong
Fu style, and 1,000 marbles in this extended
brewing time [marbles] - then those 1,000
marbles will equate to similar - there or
thereabouts - strength, but the EQ will be
different, and the richness will be different.
What do I mean by richness? For me, richness
means that I get more of a particular type
of marble, right? So I'm getting more of those
red marbles, and that means that I have more
likelihood that I can taste, and discern,
the taste of those red marbles in my tea.
So richness is different from strength. "Strength"
is just the total amount of marbles that you're
collecting. "Richness" is how much of each
variety of marble are you collecting. Right?
So if I'm collecting 1,000 marbles here, and
1,000 marbles here, I'll have similar strength
- in terms of the overall amount of chemical
compounds that I'm tasting. But I'm going
to get a much more pronounced character with
the Gong Fu [brew] because I'm getting more
of a particular type of marble, because i've
got more lanes. So in that 50 seconds - [and]
let's assume those red marbles are easily
extracted - I'm getting a lot more red marbles.
The balance is difference, so therefore the
EQ is going to be different - in terms of
the taste - but also the richness is going
to be different too. So that's how the leaf-to-water
ratio affects the richness. In other words,
richness, for me, is being able to taste in
higher definition. Right? Because what I am
doing is tasting more of a particular compound,
or a particular set of compounds, and that
means that I can discern them more clearly
- that they're much more clearly defined when
I'm tasting them - which is why when I drink
I can really taste individual flavors and
aromas much more clearly when I have a larger
leaf-to-water ratio. Okay, so I hope that
this has given you a clearer understanding
of what I mean by the differences between
strength and richness - that richness is much
more about definition. And if you think about
it, then because you're going to be collecting
a different set of marbles with the extended
brewing time, because the gates are open longer,
so some of the more irregular marbles are
going to be crossing that finish line compared
to this one. Because remember, the inclination
is the same. We're brewing with the same temperature
here. So with this one here you're going to
get a different set of compounds coming out
compared to this one. So what's happening
is that the EQ of the taste changes, and also,
you're getting a kind of blurring of multiple
infusions into one tea. Right? Whereas with
this one, because you're doing much shorter
infusions you're kind of taking a snapshot
of the taste of the tea as the water enters
the leaf. As that extraction process happens
you're getting more of a kind of stop-motion
effect where you're taking a much clearer,
high-definition snapshot of the character
of the tea, versus this one here which is
like a long shutter speed, more blurred picture,
because of the fact that you are keeping the
gates open for longer, and it's extracting
a whole mix of different things. So you're
getting more of a blurred, long shutter-speed
taste of the tea. So [HOLDS UP FASTER BREWED
TEA CUP] high definition, stop motion, very
quick shutter speed; so very, very clear images,
[HOLDS UP LONGER BREWED TEA CUP] versus this
one here [which is] much more blurry, [and]
a little bit more of a kind of blended infusion,
which is a lot less clear. So let's run through
how leaf-to-water ratio affects the experience
of the tea. So what we've said is that given
the same parameters - in other words, the
same brewing time and the same temperature
- more leaf is going to make stronger tea,
that more leaf is going to make thicker tea,
with greater viscosity. It's going to make
tea with longer finish. It's going to make
tea which is richer in terms of its high definition
of flavors. And even if you try to extend
the brewing time [by] using less leaf, then
what you're doing is essentially creating
a more blurred image of the tea, versus the
high-definition, short shutter-speed of the
larger leaf-to-water ratio. Also, obviously,
more leaf means more lanes, means more marbles,
which means that you can get many more extractions
out of your tea leaves. So you can get lots
more infusions out of larger leaf-to-water
ratio. You'll also, obviously, require shorter
brewing times. Now that is advantageous, and
one of the key advantages of Gong Fu brewing
is the shorter brewing times. So if we look
back at the conclusions that we made from
the previous video, you can see that some
of the, let's say, more "undesirable" characteristics,
potentially, of shorter brewing time is negated
with larger leaf-to-water ratio. So, for example,
the thinness of the tea, the fact that you've
got a shorter finish of the tea, the fact
that it's weaker, in terms of its taste. All
of those are negated by larger leaf-to-water
ratio. So you can take away those potentially
undesirable characteristics of shorter brewing
time, and you can keep all of the desirable
aspects - in other words, the maintenance
of high aromatics, the control of bitterness
and astringency. Because aromatics is related
specifically to how long it's brewing, because
those high aromatics will dissipate much quicker.
Also, bitterness and astringency is related
to which compounds are released, and if you
keep the gate open for a short period of time
you are going to get less of those bitter,
astringent compounds. So you can control the
bitterness, [and] you can control the astringency.
You can hold onto those high notes whilst
making thicker, stronger, richer tea with
a longer finish. So you get the best of all
worlds if you increase the leaf-to-water ratio.
Are there any downsides to increasing the
leaf-to-water ratio? And is there a point
where it is too much tea? Of course there
is. One of the downsides of larger leaf-to-water
ratio is that your brewing times need to be
a little bit more accurate. You need to pay
more attention. Because of the fact that you
have many, many more lanes there, you can
over-extract tea a lot easier, right? So you've
got to have more intention - have a little
bit more focus when you're brewing - because
five seconds [or] ten seconds, either way,
is going to make more difference than if you
have a less amount of leaf and smaller amount
of lanes. You can have too much leaf so that
there's not enough water to actually surround
the leaf and extract it evenly. This is often
the case with ball-rolled Oolongs. If you
put too much leaf in, because it's deceptive,
they all open up, and suddenly you open the
lid of the Gai Wan and when you're pouring
the water over the water doesn't even reach
the top of the leaves. This happens often
with me, because I load up my Gai Wan. Again,
it's not necessarily a bad thing. It means
that you're not going to get an even extraction,
but sometimes that's quite nice - halfway
through the session you can kind of turn your
leaves over so that you're moving them around
so that they're extracting at different rates.
It's not ideal when you are really trying
to get to know a tea. Another downside is
simply having so much leaf that you can't
actually physically pour the tea out quickly
enough, and you are going to have over-extracted
tea. So if you have so much leaf that the
time it takes after you've filled up the pot,
or Gai Wan, put the kettle down, put the lid
on [and] poured it out, if there's too much
leaf that even in that short period of time
of flash-brewing it's over-extracting, then
obviously that's too much leaf. Similarly,
because of the fact that these gates are open
for very short periods of time, you want some
of those irregular compounds to come out.
You want to taste some of that sometimes,
right? And so, if you have too short a brewing
time then the EQ balance [can] be undesirable.
You can want a little bit more bitterness.
You can want a little bit more astringency.
So sometimes you can have too much leaf [which]
means that you are brewing for such short
periods of time that you're not getting the
EQ balance that you want. Obviously, there
are practical considerations to think about
as well. Using more leaf is going to cost
more, so yoú've got to think about how much
leaf you want to use, and the expense of that
tea. And also, because a large amount of leaf
means you're going to get lots of infusions,
if you don't have the time to have all those
infusions - let's say you're having tea first
thing in the morning, and the you need to
rush off to work; so you don't have time for
a full session - then it's not really cost-effective.
It's not really getting the most out of the
leaves by using a high leaf-to-water ratio,
because you're not going to get all the infusions
that you can out of them. Now, you can come
back to them afterwards. I've done a video
about how to store your leaves in between
infusions, so you can do that. Whenever I
brew - being a tea seller, I have the luxury
to just always brew Gong Fu style - but that
is a consideration for all of you guys out
there. So this is how leaf-to-water ratio
affects the quality of tea, but overall, more
leaf-to-water ratio is pretty much always
going to result in higher quality tea. You're
going to taste with higher definition, [and]
much more character in the tea than if you
brew with less leaf, even if you brew for
longer periods of time. That, I promise you,
is one of the biggest changes you can make
in your brewing that will radically improve
your tea-tasting experience. Right. Before
I go, I'm very conscious of the fact that
I promised you - in [my] previous episode
- that I was going to show you a way to brew
"Sip Spring" Oolong - or any green Oolong
- in a different way that I think brings out
different characters in the tea. I call this
method of brewing "arc brewing". I am not
going to go through the theory of arc brewing
in this video, because this video is too long.
I will be doing it in future master classes,
but I'm going to be leaving you guys with
some homework. You can practice arc brewing
yourself, so that you can get your own opinion
about the differences that it makes, so that
when you watch that video you are already
armed with your own experience. What is "arc
brewing"? Well, what I'd like you to do is
to take three brewing vessels that are identical,
if you have them. If not, you're going to
have to separate these out, and do each brew
differently, which is possible. But try to
do them very quickly, one after the other,
because the time that the tea is left sitting
is going to affect your ability to discern
the differences. So ideally, take three brewing
vessels of the same shape, size, and material.
And then take Sip Spring - or any green Oolong
will do; but Sip Spring is what we've been
practicing on - and you put the amount of
leaf that you would like. We always recommend
something in the region of about 6 grams per
100 [milliliters] of water for these kinds
of ball-rolled Oolongs. Give them a quick
rinse in 95 degree [Celsius] water - that's
205 [degrees] Fahrenheit. [Give them a] quick
rinse just to open up the leaves. Right, so
now you've got three vessels that are ready
for brewing. What I would like for you to
do is to brew one of them at standard Gong
Fu setting - which means 95 degree [Celsius]
water - again, 205 [degrees] Fahrenheit - for
20 seconds. Right? Then I would like you to
brew another one at 85 degrees Celsius - which
is 185 [degrees] Fahrenheit - brew that one
for 50 seconds. So 20 seconds and 50 seconds.
And for your last vessel - this is the one
we're brewing "arc brewing" style - what I'd
like you to do is get a bowl, and fill that
bowl with ice. Put that brewing vessel in
the ice. Now, I've tested this many times
[and] I've never had any breakages, right?
But I'm not going to be responsible for any
breakages that happen in your house through
the temperature difference. But I've never
had any issue with porcelain Gai Wans, so
I don't think any of you will either. So if
you take your Gai Wan, or [other] brewing
vessel, you put it in the ice, so it's surrounded
by ice. Then you hit that leaf with 95 degree
[Celsius] water - so the same temperature
water as your Gong Fu brew - and you leave
it in there to brew for 35 seconds; so halfway
in between. So 20 seconds, 35 seconds, and
50 seconds. Okay? So 20 seconds [with 95 degree
[Celsius] water, 35 second [with] 95 degree
[Celsius] water - but submerged in ice; or
surrounded by ice - and finally, 85 degrees
[Celsius] for 50 seconds. If you do that,
and taste the [differences] between them,
make sure that you [write] them down so that
you remember the differences between them,
[now] you've experienced arc brewing"; something
that I've been experimenting with for quite
a while. I think it's a very interesting way
of brewing. You can try it with other teas.
We're going to regroup in future master classes.
and we're going to do a whole episode all
about arc brewing and how it affects that
conceptual model. You can think about it yourself.
How would that affect that conceptual model
that we've started to create? That's it teaheads!
I hope that this video has given you more
in-depth knowledge about leaf-to-water ratio,
and has spurred you to experiment further.
If you made it to the end of this vide then
make sure you hit it with a "like". Follow
us on all of our socials so that you don't
miss out on any news and videos from Mei Leaf
HQ. If you're ever in London then come visit
us in Camden to say "Hi." and taste our wares.
If you have any questions, comments, or video
ideas then please fire them over. Other than
that, I'm Don from Mei Leaf. Thank you for
being a part of the revelation of true tea.
Stay away from those tea bags, keep drinking
the good stuff, and spread the word, because
nobody deserves bad tea. Bye [WAVING]
