> Huh??? Now why should teabags and loose
> tea of the same variety and same
> importer get different brewing instructions?


I'm with you on this one, man. I've read and heard from a ton of
people, all different times for the same teas. Some people are of the
5-7 minute camp, some of the 2-3 minute camp, some are of the
less-than-a-minute camp.

It's a matter of personal taste, I think. I rarely steep any tea longer
than a minute. Whites and Greens especially. I use gaiwan preparation,
and make sure everything is preheated, rinse the leaves with about a 15
second "1st infusion", discard that, and then add more water, brew for
about 30 seconds, pour off to a mug or retaining pot, brew again, for
about the same amount of time, etc.. I add about half of the previous
cycle's length to each successive brewing.. So.. 30sec, 45 sec, 1min
10sec, 1min 45sec, etc.. This changes depending on the variety and
grade of the tea, since certain teas have different needs for steeping.
I find shorter brewing times for the white/yellow/green teas during the
first 2-3 infusions is good, but then increasing the later brewing
times by a lot to get a consistent brew. Longer brew times (more than a
minute or two) for those teas will make them taste very bitter and
astringent and destroy thier flavour, IMO.

If I'm unsure about how long should brew it, I just sample it regularly
to check it's progress. A little sip.. too weak? wait longer.. too
strong? pour into the retaining pot, and make the next brew cycle
shorter until I figure it out.

Don't ever follow a blanket method, as you're guaranteed to get
medicore results most of the time, bed results some of the time, and
maybe, just maybe, a good cup of tea some of the time.

Much better to think about it and follow your own tongue's desires.

Hope that helps,
Troy Howard (aka Da Tong)