Once again my standard is to allow at least 2-3 times the volume of
the fully expanded leaf. Personally I don't use infuser baskets
anyway. I prefer to allow unrestricted movement of the leaf and full
contact with as much of the water as possible. I recommend the
ingenuiTEA teapot, it allows full contact and makes all of that
infuser debate unnecessary.
https://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingen...982 307ced4d5



On 19 Dec 2004 13:19:18 -0800, cast caution to the
wind and posted:

>Thanks Mike, for that reply. I
>
>Now, I agree with what you say in part. Clearly I don't believe that
>the volume of the infuser makes any difference -- it's the volume of
>the water-filled part of the infuser that is important. But... and
>here's what I was trying to say... when I fill the infuser in a teaCUP,
>the water goes all the way to the top, however, the leaves are
>basically at the bottom. Yes, they are unfurling, and they are using up
>some of the volume given to them, i.e. they expand and when I'm done
>infusing I note that they have expanded to maybe 3 or 4 times their dry
>volume depending on leaf type. However, they obviously don't expand all
>the way to the top of the infuser.
>
>In the teaPOT, I am unable to fill the infuser all the way to the top.
>However, there is about 3/4" of water above where the leaves are. I am
>not "limiting" their space to expand in this way, because even with
>more water, they would be settled at the bottom. My question only had
>to do with whether the amount of water ABOVE the leaves allows them to
>infuse faster or better or whatever. The actual expansion of the leaves
>is by no means restrained (except perhaps for the most LARGE leaf
>greens, like gunpowder pellets or pearls).
>
>Does that make any sense? You still may be right, but I just wanted to
>be clear.
>
>To sum it all up, imagine that the leaves will expand to volume X. In
>my tea-cup, they do this near the bottom of the teacup, because the
>infuser extends all the way to the bottom. In my tea-pot, they do this
>sort of suspended in the center of the water space, or maybe slightly
>above the center. But their unfurled volume is clearly the same. I
>think.


Mike Petro
http://www.pu-erh.net
remove the "filter" in my email address to reply