xDustinx wrote:
> I just received a celadon gaiwan from The Imperial Tea Court in San
> Francisco and I'm pretty excited about it. So far I've brewed some Pi
> Lo Chun and Tung Ting Jade Oolong in it. Both times I put enough tea
> leaves in to uniformly cover the bottom in a relatively thin layer.
> Probably about two teaspoons worth. The first infusion was a minute
> long with both teas. I noticed that the first infusion tasted slightly
> bitter, which is not something I'm used to with the other way I brew
> tea (infuser basket in a mug for whatever time the instructions say).
> The next couple infusions after the first however, are not bitter, but
> not quite as flavorful as my normal brewing method. Should I adjust
> the amount of tea leaves, the infusion time, or is this normal? I'm
> completely new to gaiwans so any general advice would be helpful as
> well.

I may lose some "street-cred" but I really do not like brewing in a
gaiwan. I don't find that it produces any better infusion than any
other method, and I get a lot more personal satisfaction from brewing
in Yixing or straight in the mug with an infuser basket. There are a
few teas that I will brew in my gaiwans, but they are far and few
between. It really is a delicate balance between amount of tea, water,
and water temp. and I find it is much harder to be precise in a gaiwan
vs. yixing. But that is also why it is called skilled brewing I guess,
I say stick with what works best for you personally, but it is fun to
experiment every now and then with new methods and techniques. I find
it easier to start small - less tea and less water and find what works
then scale it up.

- Dominic