Brewing advice for novice
Iam sure this topic came up before but maybe someone can tell what’s wrong. I am new to tea drinking (3 weeks). I have a Teavana Golden Monkey and their Jasmine Oolong. I brewed according to the instructions on the bag. Taste was ok but just ok, nothing like what I tasted in the store. I am using a Perfect Tea steeper/Pot that drains out the bottom. I then doubled to two teaspoons per 8 oz water and much better very enjoyable. Since then it’s been downhill. Can’t seem to duplicate or get a good cup anymore. I am now using a gram scale and have calibrated water temp vs time. Use 195 F for monkey and 190 for Oolong both three minutes. Second steep is very bland. What’s the best way to brew a good enjoyable cup, there seems to be no answer and don’t want this to be a science project. This should be simple and enjoyable. Can tea go stale in three weeks in a bag? Is Teavana a finicky tea. Love to figure this out since the few good cups have been very enjoyable.
not three weeks. years for tea you have I think.
what weight to water ratio are you using? teaspoons are not a very accurate way for me to guess the weight. some tea is lighter than others.
A simple guide I would do is 3g for 3 minutes in 8-12oz of water, just off boiling is fine, i.e. no bubbles.
That should give you a very decent cup of the golden monkey, maybe even a bit too strong, sometimes I use a bit less for these gold/red/black teas.
I dont know about the jasmine, its been a while since ive had jasmine tea, but for oolong I can use the same parameters and should get a good tasting cup!
Teavana always puts out the line that your tea will go bad in five days if you don’t buy a tin because their business model is to sell a tin with each purchase.
i know, and they used to keep pushing the massive glass jar of rock sugar on me… never got the glass for my sugar..
In my opinion their rock sugar is really good, probably better than their tea, just extremely overpriced.
Thanks for your input. Per my scale, I have tried between 3 and 6 grams per 8 ounces of water with bland results.
Would you happen to know the measurements they used? I am not sure if water would make a difference or not.
all brewing was 8 ounces water and 3 minutes at about 195F. Only variable was amount of tea which has been from 3 to 6 grams in 1 gram increments.
That is strange. You are brewing exactly like they say. I just wonder if they gave you a tea that was older than the one they brewed for you?
If you are using tap water that could be the cause. Teavana will use filtered water in store. Buy a good water filter such as the Zero Water filter or get bottled spring water. 3g for 8oz sounds about right to me. I have one of those Teavana perfect teaspoons which is actually slightly bigger than a teaspoon. I use 3 per 16oz when I steep western style.
even with tap water, which I used to use, 6g of golden monkey for 3 minutes would be so strong and malty I would probably throw it away
something sounds a bit wrong. Is teavana a big store? I dont know US vendors
Teavana is the biggest tea store in the US, big chain. Something like 100 stores I think.
Is the Golden Monkey supposed to be dry and crispy and crunchy like mini cornflakes? Or, should it have some flexibility to it?
my yunnan gold here doesnt have any flex, it breaks easily. It should definitely smell nicely of malt though, and you should be able to taste that with the amount you are using.
maybe someone with more experience in this area can chime in, mine is all from vendors I learnt about on steepster, more independent ones.
I have personally felt that Teavana’s straight teas are not of the highest quality. I like some of their blends however. I think they have to buy in too high quantity to get the highest quality. They need to buy in the thousands of kg of a tea when the highest quality blends may only be made in the hundreds of kg at most I would think.
what on line tea source is recommended. I have just ordered from Teavivre and they seem pretty interesting!
there are lots of good online vendors, depends what sort of tea are you after?
Someone with US knowledge will be preferable for you due to shipping costs difference (im in the UK, we dont have many shops here, even samples can cost me a lot – you have a good choice in the US)
try loads of different samples sizes! it might seem expensive, but you are saving in the long run from buying stuff you dont like, and samples can go a long way – if it is good tea you usually get more brews out of it. for some, 6g can last me a whole day.
Mandala Tea is an excellent US vendor for tea. I believe the website is www.shopmandalatea.com.
I also like Teavivre if you are willing to order from China. If you order from them take the slightly more expensive shipping option. It’s only like $5 more but you get your tea much faster.
I have some Golden Monkey from Teavana. I’ll go try it now.
Leaves were dry and twisty with a good amount of golden tips. I had a hard time smelling the malt in the bag, but once I got it out into the (perfect) steeper the smell was more pronounced.
I used 2 tsp (perfect teaspoons) in approx 14-15 oz of tap water. There’s good water where I live. I steeped it for about 2 min. Color of brew was medium brown. Malty smell/taste present.
I feel like this isn’t going to be much help. Mine brewed as expected.
I do know they can use rock sugar in their brewed teas in store. But that shouldn’t affect the strength of your brew. Are you filling the perfect steeper full with water or only half way? I know their steepers are 16oz.
Are you using tap water? Most tap water makes bad tea. Teavana will definitely have used filtered water of some sort.
it wouldnt make bland tea though surely – Ive used tap water for a long time and my tea can always be made strong, 6g in 10oz should be strong tasting
or can some tap water be different? im london water, its a bit hard, but I think good quality (my dad is a geologist and tests it, better than popular bottled water)
Sometimes very hard water can make bland tea. When I was working summer jobs, I lived inland where the water was so hard you could see the calcium suspension. I found it really muted the taste of even my maltiest blacks for me.
But they said their first cup tasted fine, so it might be something else (although in the immortal words of Lu Yu, never re-boil the same water; it’ll be flat and tasteless compared to a first boil of fresh water).
ive been thinking of starting a thread about re-boiling water as I notice a difference
but seriously, even really hard water you can still get a good cup of something as strong as gold or jasmine, cmon. and 6g? thats loads!
Another thing worth mentioning is that when you have Teavana make you a cup of tea they use much more tea than most people, something like double their own recommendations.
I use three tsp (using the Perfect Teaspoon which is actually larger than a teaspoon) per 16oz of tea. I find it comes out what is just right for me. You may find you want more or less tea than that. But it is someplace to start. The next time you at the Teavana store to have a cup of tea, see how much tea they use. Ask them, I know they use a lot of tea per cup.
I have some I bought in November (2015)… Fine as I recall…a bit overpriced for sure, but the sticker says 205 degrees, 1-1.5 tsp, 3 minutes. My water is VERY hard, but I filter it. Maybe the 10 degree increase in temp is needed. I am sure I used a bit more leaf, but not a lot more.
What’s the best way to heat water to the proper temperatures. Seems like there is a lot of variables. What do most people use to get to the right temperature?
most here probably use vari-temp kettles. but a thermometer is just as fine, you just have to watch it or set it to beep. :)
the cuisinart with multiple tea temp buttons is a good one.
If you want to do it without any instrument – you can watch the size of the bubbles and stop at the temperature you want when boiling the water, or boil the water and wait for a few minutes for it to cool down to the temperature you want. Using a cooking thermometer, which are cheaply available, would make this process more accurate.
Just enjoy it and try different water temperatures, vessels, amounts of tea..enjoy it please.
I don’t see it here but there’s always the possibility that you just like a really really strong cup. Your parameters above would be undrinkably bitter to my sensitive taste buds, but maybe it’s not enough for you. I’ve got black teas that are years old that would be strong with those parameters so I really doubt the tea itself is off, especially since you said you had made a good cup out of your bag.
I suspect more than anything that you just want a really strong taste which (in my experience) is common with tea at first. Especially if you were previously a coffee drinker or are drawn to strong flavours in general. And sometimes, even if you’re not either of those things, you still want a cup so strong the spoon would stand up in it (as my grandmother would say).
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