SIPDOWN, and a Gongfu brewing session!
According to Verdant Tea’s website, you should steep this tea for 3 seconds and then increase the steeping time after the third infusion by 3 seconds or to taste. Three seconds seemed like an awfully short amount of time. So, I opted to start out at 10 seconds. The resultant liquor is an unsettling yellow color. I won’t tell you what it reminds me of…
But the flavor is incredible! So very different from what I remember from the Western steeping. It tastes like snap peas and butter. It’s very flavorful and very delicious! Second infusion also for 10 seconds was similar but a little bit greener. There’s more of a grassy note apparent now.
(Start unrelated rant). Why do people fight you on stuff when you’re the expert in it? I know what’s best. You don’t. You came to me for my assistance, not the other way around. If you think you know best, then do it yourself and leave me out of it! I had to waste an hour of my time for people to come to the same conclusion that I told them in the first 5 minutes. And then they try to give me an extremely unrealistic deadline. I can’t work on 4 different projects at once and get them all done in 30 days. Are you serious? They can’t all be at the same priority level! Some things are just more important than others! And if this is really that important, then hire more people to work on it! I shouldn’t be the only one! Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. And now I have to wait for the water to boil again. Ugh. (End rant).
I don’t know what I did wrong, but the third infusion for 10 seconds was bitter. Blech. Ironically, the fourth infusion for 13 seconds had no bitterness at all. The cup returned to its beautiful creamy, buttery, vegetal self. I wonder what happened? Maybe taking a break in the brewing session allowed the wetness in the leaves to sit and create bitterness. That’s the only explanation I can think of that makes sense because the fourth infusion picks right up where the second one left off. Weird.
Fifth infusion for 16 seconds was less flavorful. The liquor color remained strong though, and the aftertaste was a nice buttery grassiness. Sixth and final infusion for 19 seconds was pretty much the same as the fifth. I think this tea is done. The first two infusions were definitely the best. I had hoped that the interlude wouldn’t color my opinion of this tea, but I think it has. Phooey. So much for relaxing with a nice cup of tea this afternoon. :/
