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Green & White Tea Preparation
With the start of this new year we have two new teas on our menu, Green Twist (Green tea) and Warm Wind (White tea). With their release, we're taking the opportunity to offer our general brewing recommendations for green and white tea, as well as some other suggestions to prepare these specific teas. Read on to learn more about these two new offerings and how to infuse them to perfection.
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101 Tea Preparation
The quantity of tea, brew time, water temperature, and quality of tea and water are all variables that will affect the extraction of your tea. White and Green teas are more delicate in flavor than other more oxidized teas. We find that infusing green and white teas with a lower water temperature (175-190F) will prevent the leaves from "burning" and preserves their delicate aroma and flavor. A fairly short brew time (1-2 minutes) draws out the natural sweetness of the leaf without extracting the more drying, bitter tannins. We prefer to use smaller brewing vessels (4-6 oz) so we can re-steep the leaves multiple times. Each steep will bring out different flavors and is the best way to experience the fullness and complexity of the tea.
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01 Green Twist
Green Tea
This classic green tea comes from Wangzi Mountain in Ning'Er County of Yunnan Province. The leaves are plucked in one leaf and bud combinations in early spring. After harvesting, the leaf and bud are rolled together then expertly processed in small batches. The masterful processing of the leaf captures the tea's fresh taste, nutty undertones, and bright aroma. This tea is incredibly life giving and is able to be infused up to eight times, quite unique for a green tea.
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Tasting Notes : Roasted Almond, Heart of Palm, Meyer Lemon Leaf
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Infuse -
Weight 3 grams tea
Water 4-6 oz at 180F
Time 2 minute steep
Re-infuse Up to 8x
We suggest doing an initial steep with a very low water temperature (145-150F) for 4 minutes. The result is a mild, dewy, and incredibly sweet brew. Then, reduce the steep time and increase water temperature to the suggested amount for all subsequent steeps. This will bring out the bright and lively qualities of the leaf.
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02 Warm Wind
White Tea
This tea is made from a large leaf varietal from Jinggu, a small mountain town in Yunnan Province. The leaves are picked in early spring, wilted slightly, then placed on drying beds where warm wind is channeled through to complete the drying process. The young, delicate leaves have a subtle and sweet flavor but as the tea ages it will develop malty notes and heavier body.
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Tasting Notes : Whipped Cream, Asian Pear, Spring Greens
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Infuse -
Weight 3 grams tea
Water 4-6 oz at 190F
Time 2 minute steep
Re-infuse
While the above ratios are suggested for general white tea brewing, we found that for the first steep a cooler water temperature and longer extraction time had delicious results. A 150F water temperature with a 5 minute steep produced a lovely floral aroma with flavors of stone fruit. We continued with a lower water temperature in subsequent steeps (160-170F), and reduced the brew time to 2 minutes. While we did not get the creamy mouthfeel created from using hotter water, we did find the sweet and subtle fruit notes to remain in the forefront.
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You can shop our new teas using the links below.
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