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  • Hey Teaheads. This is Don from Mei Leaf. In this video: how much tea do you need for Gong

  • Fu brewing? In this video I’m going to be giving you my tips on how to choose the amount

  • of tea to use just by looking at the leaf. This video is going to go under the "tea masterclass"

  • playlist. If at any point in time you enjoy this video then please give [it] the thumbs-up.

  • The more thumbs in the air, the more tea videos are going to come your way. If you haven't

  • subscribed to our YouTube channel then go click that button. For those of you who don't

  • know, Gong Fu brewing is the style of brewing that is used throughout the Far East, and

  • it is simply the best way to get a proper extraction from your tea leaves. It involves

  • using smaller teaware - somewhere in the region of between 70 to maybe 180 or 200 ml. It involves

  • using a lot more leaf to water ratio, and brewing for a matter of seconds over multiple

  • infusions. For those of you who don't do Gong Fu brewing i really, really recommend that

  • you start trying to do some Gong Fu brewing.

  • Honestly, for some teas it is the only way that you can really appreciate the complex

  • nature, and extract all the aromatics of the leaf. It is [also] the only way that you can

  • explore how the leaf develops as the water enters the leaf over many infusions. So let's

  • begin. How do you know how much leaf to use? The more leaf that you use, the richer the

  • tea is in terms of taste, in terms of texture, and the more infusions you can do. Is it possible

  • to have too much leaf? Absolutely. It would be difficult to do, but it's possible. We're

  • going to be flash-brewing here, [and] when you're flash-brewing it's going to be a matter

  • of seconds, [so] if you put so much leaf in that by the time the water hits the leaf and

  • you've put a lid on the gaiwan or the teapot and you've decanted it, in those few seconds

  • if the tea has been extracted too strong then you've used too much leaf. It would be quite

  • a difficult thing to do. In general, the more leaf you use, the better - and I’m not just

  • saying that because I’m a tea seller.

  • If you know that you are [only] going to be available to drink tea for a few infusions

  • then you may want to reduce the amount, because as i said, the more leaf you use the more

  • infusions you can do. So you [obviously] want to be economical with your brewing styles.

  • Okay. I'm going to bring the camera around, and we're going to go through each type of

  • tea, and I’m going to give you my tips on how much leaf to use. All of the figures that

  • I’m going to be giving you today are grams per 100 ml pot. What you need to do is get

  • yourself a nice, accurate measuring scale that can measure down to 0.1 grams. Then you

  • need to find out the volume of your pot, or gaiwan. The easiest way to do that is to just

  • fill an empty pot with water, decant that water into a measuring jug, and then you can

  • see exactly what the volume is. Now don't forget that you're not actually going to be

  • brewing with that amount of water, because the leaf itself is going to be taking up some

  • of that volume.

  • If you take the volume of your pot - let's say it's 180 ml - then you would just take

  • the figures that i'm giving you and multiply by 1.8. If it's a 200 ml pot then you'd multiply

  • by 2.0. If it's a 150 ml pot you'd multiply by 1.5, etcetera. Let's begin. We're going

  • to start with green tea, because green tea is made from the young leaves. The young leaves

  • are the richest in terms of the amount of catechins and other aromatics in the leaf.

  • Therefore, you don't need as much. So green tea is your lowest amount. I would recommend

  • [that] a good starting point for green tea is between 3.0 and 3.5 grams per 100 ml pot

  • or gaiwan. If you have more dense tea like this Long Jing here, which is flat and dense,

  • then i would be using something in the region of 3.5 grams. If you have more light tea [leaves],

  • like this then i would be using about 3.0 grams.

  • Now that may sound counter-intuitive, but if you imagine that you want to take, let's

  • say, 100 leaves, a hundred leaves of the lighter tea would weigh less than 100 leaves of the

  • more dense tea. So the lighter the tea, generally, the less leaf you use. This is 3.0 grams,

  • and this is 3.5 grams. You can see, visually, the difference in terms of the density. Now

  • if you have a super-light tea, for example a Hou Kui, like this. This is Hou Kui, [which]

  • is a beautiful Anhui [province] green tea. This is very, very light - super light. I

  • would be looking at even less, [like] something in the region of maybe about 2.0 to 2.5 grams.

  • But this is a very unusual tea. For the most part, [for] all green teas you'd be looking

  • at between 3.0 and 3.5 grams of tea per 100 ml pot. Okay. Next up is white tea. White

  • tea is made with young leaves, but it's also usually made with buds.

  • So, for white tea we go from 3.5 to 4.0 grams of tea per 100 ml pot, or gaiwan. Again, I’d

  • be looking at the density. This white peony here is a little more fluffy, [and] a little

  • bit lighter, than the silver needle here, and therefore i would be using a little bit

  • less tea compared to the silver needle. A good starting point [is] 3.5 to 4.0 grams.

  • Okay, next is black tea. Black tea, again, is made with the young leaves and buds, and

  • so therefore requires a little bit less tea [leaves] than you other teas. I would be sticking

  • to between 4.0 and 4.5 grams. So we're moving up in 0.5 [gram] increments here, [and here

  • that would be] 4.0 and 4.5 grams per 100 ml pot.

  • Next up we have oolong teas. Because oolong teas use larger leaves - they use third and

  • fourth leaves - those leaves have less concentration, and therefore you need a little bit more leaf.

  • For oolong teas i'd be going between 4.5 and 5.0 grams per 100 ml pot, or gaiwan. Again,

  • we're increasing it by 0.5 grams, so 4.5 to 5.0 grams, depending again on density. This

  • eastern beauty here is a lot lighter and fluffier, so I’d probably be looking at around 4.5

  • grams, but for the Dan Congs, and the Wuyi Ya Cha’s I would be looking at around 5.0

  • grams. Next up is PuErh tea. For PuErh tea you have the cooked PuErh tea here. This is

  • a shou cha. Then you have some raw PuErh tea here. For PuErh tea i think it is a very standard

  • five grams. From what i have experimented with 5.0 grams is the right amount for PuErh

  • tea per 100 ml pot or gaiwan. So 5.0 grams of PuErh tea.

  • Last, but not least is your ball-rolled oolongs. Ball-rolled oolongs are obviously more dense,

  • and therefore heavier, and i would recommend somewhere in the region of 7.0, and maybe

  • up to 7.5, grams of ball-rolled oolong per 100 ml pot, or gaiwan. If you are brewing

  • western style then i would recommend, [again as] a good guide [or] starting point, would

  • be to divide all of the numbers that I’ve just given you by about 5 or 6. That will

  • give you the amount to use per 100 ml if you are brewing western style. That is all you

  • need to know.

  • I hope that these guidelines make sense, and I’ll put them in the description [section]

  • below. Please remember that every tea is different, so this is just a starting point. With these

  • tips i hope that you will be able to make an educated guess - just by looking at the

  • leaf - on how much tea to use to Gong Fu brew successfully for a rich, flavourful, and delicious

  • brew. That's it Teaheads. If you made it to the end of this video then please give [it]

  • the thumbs-up. Check out our YouTube playlists and let us know if there are any videos that

  • you would like us to make. If you're ever in London then come visit us in Camden to

  • say "hi!" and taste our wares. If you have any questions or comments then please fire

  • them over. Other than that, I'm Don Mei from Mei Leaf. Thank you for being a part of the

  • revelation of true tea. Stay away from the tea bags, keep drinking the good stuff, and

  • spread the word, because nobody deserves bad tea. Bye!

Hey Teaheads. This is Don from Mei Leaf. In this video: how much tea do you need for Gong

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