I was given a gift of green tea from my host when I visited in China. It is different from anything I've seen before.

It is KuDing Tea King of Heaven Phoenix. The only info given (in English) is that that particular brand is especially propagated for certain health properties (confirmed by tests run at Beijing medical University) and for less bitterness.

My query is: how much to use. It comes in whole dry leaves, not crushed. The first cup I used several which was way too strong. Then I used a few... which turned out, when re-constituted to be about 7 leaves... whihc still seemed too strong for 1 cup.

Does anybody drink tea as whole leaf? I am thinking just one leaf would be fine. I will end up going through it extremely fast if I don't go at that rate.

I do like it though. The bitterness has an appealing taste.

That sounds awesome. :drool:

Googled KuDing
(http://www.teaspring.com/Kuding-Tea.asp?section=brew)

Googled KuDing
(http://www.teaspring.com/Kuding-Tea.asp?section=brew)

:o

I can't believe I didn't think of that. :o :lol:

Well I just used 3 leaves so I think I will cut down to one...

But it is oretty awsome stuff...

I am not sure how you are preparing it - but there certain techniques/procedures that are recomended for making the tea. I am a traditional kung fu student, and tea is a big deal in our world.

I would do some research on preparing the tea - it can be time consuming at first, but once you get it down it's a nice process. although you probably wound't need to do them, it does bring benifits to the experience of the whole thing.

I havn't done any preperations with tea in a while, so I am not going to explain anything in fear of misguiding you. However I will look up my Sifu's(Father: Teacher) and Sigung's(Grandfather: Teacher) articles and see if I can get some more info for you.(or I will ask them directly, may get more out of that :))

Here ya go:

1. Bring 8oz of water to about 140F (if done in a teakettle, this is when you just barely start to see steam)

2. Place 2oz in the teapot, let sit for about 30 seconds then discard.

3. Place a teaspoon (not a measuring teaspoon, an actual teaspoon from a tableware set) of tea into the teapot and add the 6oz of water.

4. Steep for 30 seconds to 1 minute, based on preference - NEVER more than 1.5 minutes for green tea for first infusion.

5. Enjoy. You can add a second, or even third 6oz of water - just increase the steep time and you'll get numerous cups from one batch. Some say green tea is better on the 2nd or 3rd infusion.



Yes, I'm a tea freak.

Here ya go:

1. Bring 8oz of water to about 140F (if done in a teakettle, this is when you just barely start to see steam)

2. Place 2oz in the teapot, let sit for about 30 seconds then discard.

3. Place a teaspoon (not a measuring teaspoon, an actual teaspoon from a tableware set) of tea into the teapot and add the 6oz of water.

4. Steep for 30 seconds to 1 minute, based on preference - NEVER more than 1.5 minutes for green tea for first infusion.

5. Enjoy. You can add a second, or even third 6oz of water - just increase the steep time and you'll get numerous cups from one batch. Some say green tea is better on the 2nd or 3rd infusion.



Yes, I'm a tea freak.Thanks so much for the info.... As I said in my original post thises come in whole leaves like the link in Kino's post But it is good to know I can use it more than once....

NEVER more than 1.5 minutes for green tea for first infusion.
Yes, I'm a tea freak.
I'm somewhat of a tea nut myself, with a pretty good collection of Yixing Clay Teapots (http://www.yixing.com/index.html?psid=5aecda6176d8871b454c827a82a7c9b1), and Tetsubins (http://www.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/tetsubin/hist.html).
Yeah...I go overboard with everything...:lol: But that's the first I've ever heard of not steeping Green Teas (http://www.tealuxe.com/cgi-bin/teacatagory.pl?abbrev=gr&x=17&y=11) for more than 1.5 minutes. You can see the recommended brewing instructions under each tea.

Green tea releases a good bit of tannins, which to most people taste aweful. Green tea, especially high quality, is very delicate which is why you use lower temperature water and short steep times. I've mistakenly brewed a china gunpowder like it was a black tea (about 4 minutes) and almost threw up 10 minutes after I drank it. The taste of tannins is something you'll never forget.

Excerpt from here: (http://http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/3/a/GreenTea.htm)
>>
Are you brewing for health or for taste?
A perfect cup of green tea means different things to different people. Many tea connoisseurs believe that the best-tasting green tea is brewed for under one minute with hot, but not boiling, water. Using boiling water is thought to impart a bitter flavor to the tea.
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Brewing longer supposedly releases more anti-oxidants, but you can get those from cheap green tea capsules.

I tried a green tea from Whole foods that was supposed to be realy good (of course not the gourmet stuff mentioned here) and it made me gag and I threw it out.

But this stuff I got as a gift from China... it is so good... Yes it is bitter but it is a pleasant experience...

Tannins, anyone? (Anyone get the movie reference?)

This might be a bit of a hijack, but has anyone ever tried the Tibetian teas that taste like cornmeal? They come out a whitish colour...