Six Essential Factors for Brewing Good Tea 3

One Tea One World, One Pot One Universe;
In One’s Palm move the Heaven and Earth,
With the delicate fragrance heart is contented.

The Quantity of Tea Leaves Used and the Length of Time of Steeping

The length of time of steeping the tea leaves will directly influence the quality of tea; therefore the length of time should be controlled with the utmost care. The amount of tea leaves should also be considered along with the tenderness of leaves and the water temperature. If you’re confronted with tea that is of poor quality, steeping too long will draw out tea tannin from tea leaves resulting in a bitter and astringent taste.

Just how much tea leaves should you put in when making tea? First you have to notice the looseness or tightness of the leaf shape; if it’s loose, the amount should be more compared to the tighter ones. Take Dong Ding Oolong as an example, one-third of the teapot amount is sufficient. If you put more than that, the steep time should decrease. For tightly curled tea leaves, the amount should not be more than half the teapot to avoid the leaves not being able to stretch out when they unfold. For spherically shaped tea leaves, the steeping time should be critically controlled; otherwise the flavor would be too rich and concentrated. For thin and tender leaves, steeping time should be less, while for thick, aged tea leaves, the steeping time should be longer to let out the flavor.


In addition, when using a teapot to make tea, you should observe the changes in the teapot spout in order to control the time to pour tea out. When first pouring water into the teapot, water will be spilled out when you put the lid on. The tension on the surface will form the half spherical globule at the spout; after steeping for a while, the leaves within the teapot will unfold. When tea leaves absorb water, the globule will decrease in size or even shrink inward. At this time, you can prepare to pour the tea out.

What’s presented above is a reference guide; the amount of tea leaves and the length of steeping time should be adjusted according to personal taste.

泡好茶的六大要素﹝三﹞

一茶一世界，一壺一天地；掌中動乾坤，清香心自得。

茶葉用量與浸泡時間

浸泡茶葉時間的長短，會直接影響茶的品質，所以要小心拿捏好浸泡時間。浸泡時間的長短也必須要考慮茶葉的用量、粗嫩與泡茶時的水溫。因為若遇到茶質不好的茶葉，浸泡時間過久，會容易出鹼，讓茶葉釋放出單寧酸，使茶湯喝起來又澀又苦。

究竟要放多少茶量才適當呢？置茶時要注意茶葉條型的鬆或緊，條型鬆的茶葉量要多，條型緊實的茶可以少些，以凍頂茶為例，只要放到壺的三分之一就夠了。若茶葉放得多，浸泡時間就要減少，條索彎曲緊結的茶葉最好不要放超過半壺，免得茶葉沖泡後膨脹而無法舒展，揉捻成珠球狀的茶葉要小心控制浸泡時間，否則常會因濃度太高而不堪入口。細嫩的茶葉，茶汁容易浸出，沖泡時間可短些，粗老茶葉，茶汁不容易浸出，浸泡時間則應長些。


另外，用茶壺泡茶時，觀察壺嘴的變化，便可掌握倒茶的時間。在注水入壺後，將壺蓋蓋好，剛注入水時壺嘴的水會滿溢出來，因為表面張力會在壺嘴形成半球型的水珠；浸泡一段時間後，壺中的茶葉慢慢開始舒展開來，茶葉吸收了水份，原本壺嘴上的水珠就慢慢變小，甚至往內縮，這時就可以準備倒茶了。

以上提供的是ㄧ些參考的原則，個人可依對茶湯濃度的喜好，來調整茶葉用量及浸泡時間，來泡出個人喜歡的茶湯滋味。