How to Brew Black Tea in Classic Teapots, Gaiwan, and Yixing Teapots

Black tea is the most consumed tea in the western world, but also the worst brewed. In this video, how you can improve your brewing skills to get the most out of your black tea. Hi guys, this is Gabriele from NannoCian where we share the pleasure of drinking and discovering genuine farm tea. If you're also looking to expand your tea knowledge and brewing skills and you haven't done it yet, then subscribe to our channel and more videos like this will come your way very soon. And if you enjoy what you're watching, don't forget to give us a thumbs up. Today we are speaking about black tea. If you're watching this video, you have certainly made had a bad experience with black tea. You prepare your black tea and then at the end the tea liqueur was quite intense, very strong, bitter, it was drying your tongue and mouth, you did something wrong. But what? Let's look together in this video what you can improve when you brew your tea. First of all, there are different methods for brewing black tea and I will show them in this video, so that you can actually even prepare the same tea in different ways. Let's start with the most classic and widespread method that is brewing tea in a large teapot. So what do you usually do? You take your teabags or maybe a couple of teabags if it is a larger teapot or you have loose tea, you put the loose tea in a strainer or just the teabag inside your teapot, you boil your water in the kettle, you bring it to a boil, you put the water in your pot, you wait let's say five minutes, then you remove the teabags, you serve the tea and that's it. And that's it, you have a bitter tea. And in fact what happens is that you tend to add a lemon, you add sugar, you add honey, you add milk, so that you can adjust a little bit the taste. But instead of adjusting the tea, let's prepare it properly to get the most out of those tea leaves. So let's start speaking about leaf quantity. How much leaves do you want to use? Well if it is a loose whole leaf tea, I suggest using a ratio of six grams for 500 milliliters of water. So six grams for half a liter. This is a good ratio for all black teas out there. If the leaves are chopped in small pieces or they are in a teabag, it could be even fennel, so just tea powder, like it's common for Indian black tea, then actually you kind of can keep the same amount of tea. I would keep the same amount of leaves, but you have to adjust other parameters that we will look at in a second. So now let's speak about temperature. We say usually you bring the temperature to a boil and you pour it. What happens? It happens actually that the bitter substances in the leaves dissolve more at high temperature, while aromatic substances dissolve quite well also at lower temperature. So when you use 100 degrees boiling water, what happens is that actually you tend to dissolve in water more bitter substances, and that's one of the reasons why your tea turns to bitter. So the temperature I suggest using as a reference is 90 degrees centigrade for water. Then you can adjust it a little bit according to your taste. If you like bitter taste, a bit higher or a bit lower, if you don't like it. However, if the leaves are of the large leaf variety, Da Ye Zhong, then you can even go higher with temperature, like 95 and even 100 degrees, because those leaves resist better to high temperature. However, when I say large leaf variety, that doesn't have to be confused with simply large leaves. And if you are a subscriber of Nanoshan and you have been watching our videos, you know what I'm talking about. And if you don't know what you're talking about, then you might consider to subscribe to our channel, because there is a lot to learn about that. As a matter of fact, a large leaf is not necessarily a large leaf variety. And actually, if it's not, it could be that it's simply a leaf from a summer harvest, where the plants have grown larger leaves. In that case, your leaves will have even more bitter substances. Why? Because the plant actually develops bitter substances to protect itself from insects and other pests. So that in summer, when there is more insects, when there are more insects around, the plant tends to produce even more bitter substances to keep those enemies away. So that's why, not to be confused, actually summer leaves are even better to reduce the temperature, otherwise you develop even more bitter substances. Anyway, this is to give you a little bit an idea about the water temperature. But what about the steeping time? Well, for the steeping time, you know, it's hard to generalize. I could generalize a little bit for leaf quantity and water temperature, but the steeping time really depends on the type of tea you have. It is somewhere between three and five minutes, for sure, if you have whole leaves. But in the case they are chopped in small pieces or in tea bags case, you have to reduce that, like between 2.5 and 4 minutes would be indicative. If the seller provides you information on the tea pouch or on the website about their suggested steeping time, follow it for the first time and then you can just adjust accordingly. Otherwise, if you don't have any reference, just start with four minutes or three minutes if it is tea bags and then adjust accordingly in the next time you will prepare the tea. So, these general rules about teapot, but sometimes we do prepare actually tea just in a mug. You take a large mug, you put your tea bag, water and so on. So, is it good or not? First of all, it depends. Sometimes you have a loose leaf, then if you have a strainer that goes all the way along the surface of the mug, then it's kind of okay because you allow the leaf to swim, to float in the water. But don't put the leaves in a small strainer or in this type of tea bowl that sometimes are used for that, because you basically constrain the leaves in a small room and in this way you prevent actually the leaves to give out substances and flavors to the water. This is actually what you actually want to do. And what happens is that then you have to steep it longer to get all these substances out and we say that bitter substances, bitter molecules that are a bit more difficult to dissolve in water, start dissolving later. So, if you steep for a longer time, then you get more bitterness out of it and more strength. So, say that the mug has also other disadvantages. Usually the mug doesn't come with a lid and not having a lid has also an influence on the taste because the water cools down while you're steeping, so you cannot really keep it at 90 degrees. It cools down over five minutes. So, all in all, the mug is not a good tea vessel. If you can avoid it, better to avoid it. Say that we have other methods actually to steep tea and again, if you are one of our followers, you know what I will talk about very soon. But before doing that, actually, I will show even how I do it, so that you can learn by watching actually. I have now the water at precisely 90 degrees centigrade. Before starting this video, I already put some leaves in the gaiwan. Actually, it was three grams of leaves and now what I do, I do a very quick rinse. You see that now my tea vessel is actually very little. It's not like a half a liter water and this method that I'm using is what they use in China. So, they have a smaller vessel, everything is pretty tiny and it has some advantages actually with respect to the brewing in the teapot. The most obvious difference is that, as you will see, I will actually be brewing the tea multiple times. And if you're asking why I'm actually now wasting the water, it's because I want to wake up the leaves. I want also to clean them a little bit because black tea are processed leaves and starting to lose a little bit the leaves so that they can quicker in the next tea release their taste. Very sweet malt tea. It is this tea, it is chin and maofeng that I'm drinking now. A classic black tea that is very good for this experiment because one of the advantages actually of this method is that you can brew the same leaves multiple times. So, you will see it now. I will do a first brew here and let me do an example. So, as I told you, in the leaves there are different substances. There are substances that bring bitterness, other substances are a little bit sour, there are different flavor notes, different type of molecule that brings sweetness, not only sugar but also starches and so on. So, what happens? It happens that these substances develop at different rates and different time with respect to the steeping time, of course, and also the brewing temperature. So, let's make an example and I think this one would be actually a good example for it. Usually, you have very sweet and floral substances that dissolve very quickly, at the very beginning. Then, later on, you will have more bitter substances that come out and then bring strength to the cup. At the very end, when the tea starts becoming a little bit weaker, you have complex molecules like starches that start breaking down and dissolving in the water that bring a second sweetness. Now, to experience all these steps, you need to do multiple steeping because if you steep it only once in the teapot, you have to mix everything and you will certainly, for example, not be able to taste and enjoy that last sweetness that comes at the very end of the steeping because that will be completely covered by the strength of all that has been dissolved previously. So, for example, in this cup, I steep it a bit longer the first because it is very very tightly rolled so I want really to release, to loosen the leaves and I instantly lemon. That's the first thing that I thought. At the palate, lemon. There is no lemon, of course, in this tea. It's just the leaves themselves. So, it has a certain fruitiness. It's light, light in the mouth, extremely aromatic, very light, very pleasant, no bitterness, sweet and with this fruity citrus note and on top of it also some florality. And this is just actually the first steeping. Now, I told you before that, just before starting the video, I put some leaves. I weighted the leaves. I weighted about three grams and after having done that, I put the leaves in the gaiwan. Now, how much leaves should you use? I'm using now about three grams, as said, but there are different approaches. I made a dedicated video, actually, that explains the difference between different approaches in terms of leaf quantity and how to deal with it. So, you want to have a look at that if you're interested in the topic and if you want even some more basic knowledge about the difference between Gong Fu Cha, which is this steeping method and the classic western style method in the teapot, there is another video in which we did actually a comparison one-to-one between the two methods, so that you can have a better idea. So, if again the seller, the shop, give you some indication about the steeping time, then just follow it before inventing yourself, and then you can adapt in later tea sessions, while if it doesn't provide you any information at all and you really don't know where to start, then what I suggest, of course, always using the same amount, the same water temperature, we say 90 degrees, then you want to maybe start from a first steeping at about 45 seconds, if you use 3 grams of leaves, and then you can make a second steeping at 60 seconds and a third one at 90 seconds. Let's say this is like an example, it's a good starting point, but then you have to adjust accordingly. I will now throw away this tea, just I want to see how the second steeping is developing, and I don't drink everything while I'm going. So, if you put in the gaiwan, let's say, almost double the quantity, let's say that you put 5 grams of leaves, then you can do, of course, more steeping, but you have to do them shorter. So, again, if you don't have a reference, you can use 20 seconds for the first and for the second, then you can use, let's say, 60 seconds for the third and for the fourth, and then for the final one 90 seconds. And that's not the end, if you want, you can continue as long as there is taste, there is no reason why you should not continue drinking your tea. So, now let's see how it is this other brew. I haven't really paid attention before about the color, maybe you did, this could be a little bit darker. Shimen Mouten, that is the tea that I'm drinking now, is also famous for having kind of a little bit of a lighter color with respect to other teas, and I want to see what happens now to the taste. I will let cool it a little bit down, so that I can more appreciate the taste, this is something that I suggested to do you as well at home. So, I was really watching for this citrus note, I cannot really spot them, maybe a tiny bit, there is more of a pungent bite to it, slightly more strength, and the flavor became more, there is more maltiness and a tiny bit of honey in it, dark honey, so it's kind of changing the taste, it's more intense, it doesn't have any more so strong floral and fruity notes, but those notes may be transformed in something more, still flavorful, but more in the direction of dark honey. Yeah, there is a tiny bit of lemon, lemon skin maybe, but not that much. While I do the last steeping, and I said I have only three grams, so I'm doing just three steeping, you can go for even more than that, but I want to do a final steeping, I won't be able in this steeping most probably to really spot that starchy sweetness that comes at the end, for that it would be probably a fourth and a fifth steeping needed, but I can tell you, as soon as you remove all those substances that have this bitterness and intensity, you always have a certain portion of more complex molecules that dissolve, and that brings again a final sweetness at the end. So let's speak about Yixin teapot, for those of you that are familiar with the topic, Yixin teapot, like for example this one here, are a particular type of plate, there are many videos on our website about Yixin teapot, if you don't know what I'm talking about, let's have a look. Usually they are smaller than the classic western teapot, and the question is, can you use an Yixin teapot also with black tea, so in which type, because this one is kind of sand color, sand yellow kind of, but there are also different type of clay, so according to my experience, I have two suggestions for you, one is to use a Zini, Zini is a purple clay, which actually is a dark brown color, of high density and high quality, if the black tea is particularly aromatic, this I would say would be a good example, but for example another one is Fengqing Hongcha, from Yunnan, extremely floral, and I have seen that used also in Yixin itself, because you know Yixin teapot, Yixin is name of a place, and actually the most famous tea produced in Yixin is a black tea, Yixin Hongcha, so if locally they produce black tea, of course they will use also usually Yixin teapot for brewing it, so definitely black tea is suitable for Yixin teapot, and I say, go for a high intensity Zini, although the bad side of it is that high density Zini is rare and very expensive, that's a drawback, or if you have a large leaf variety black tea, or black tea that have more strength and intensity, more body, and then in that case, I suggest using Duanni, like this one, and the best Duanni for that is a Duanni with a large opening, and a flat shape, so that more surface of the pot is in contact with the water, you know that if the pot is almost a sphere, that's actually the minimum surface of contact with the water, but if you have a flat surface, you actually expose more clay to the water, and the clay, the Duanni smooth down a little bit the edges of the very strong black tea, it brings a tiny bit of minerality as well, I've seen very good results with Duanni, so I definitely suggest you to try it out, this cup is still very similar to the previous one, but I would say now the citrus is completely gone, there is more of a warm neutral taste in it, a tiny bit of cookies, yes that reminds me more the sweetness of cookies actually, and a fair amount of pleasant bitterness to it, let's say we don't have a lot of time today, if I would continue I would get that starchy sweetness at the end, try yourself at home, steep your black tea as long as it can go, and let me know if at the end you get this kind of return of sweetness in the cup, not to be confused with the Huigan, thanks a lot for watching, I hope you have enjoyed this video, if you want more videos about brewing skills, let me know in the comments below, and please don't forget to subscribe to our channel, and by doing that you will learn a lot about Gong Fu Cha, about Yixin teapot, about brewing skills, and more and more and more tea content, thanks a lot, if you enjoyed the video give us a thumbs up, and I will see you the next one, bye bye guys!