Brew assistant
Pick a tea and a brewing style. Everything below is transcribed from that tea's own authored parameters — nothing is scaled from another style, because a ratio and a steep time do not transfer between styles.
Water temperature
95–100 °C
Typically 98 °C
Leaf for 250 ml
10–17.5 g
Typically 12.5 g
Ratio
4–7 g /100 ml
No rinse
Infusion schedule
This style is authored as a single infusion. A second steep from the same leaf will be thinner rather than merely weaker.
- Infusion 1720sTwelve minutes in the small pot to make the zavarka. It is a concentrate and it is not tasted on its own — the strength is judged after it is diluted in the glass.
Equipment
- Samovar
- Podstakannik (glass holder)
- Tea glass
- Vacuum flask
- Zavarnik (concentrate pot) — The small pot on the crown holds a concentrate that is not meant to be drinkable as poured; it is diluted in the glass from the tap below.
- Copper and brass teaware — Samovars, urns and trays were historically made in copper and brass, with the interior tinned because copper reacts with an acidic drink.
Vessel: A small teapot standing on or beside the water vessel so that the concentrate stays hot without continuing to cook. The drinker dilutes to taste in the glass, which is the whole architecture of the service.
Note: Assam and Indian leaf generally is a mainstay of Russian and Central Asian daily tea and has been for a long time, and the catalogue's samovar sets were Ceylon, Georgian and blend records only. Malty, strong material suits the format well: a concentrate that will be cut with hot water at the point of drinking needs body more than it needs finesse, and delicate teas are wasted on it.
What this does not tell you
These parameters are a synthesis of common practice rather than recorded practice for this specific tea.
Leaf weight is a weight. A teaspoon is not — a fluffy white tea and a tightly rolled oolong differ several-fold by volume, so scales beat spoons here.
Other authored styles for this tea: Western brewing (teapot or mug) · Mug infuser brewing · Tea bag brewing · Chai preparation
Methods TeaHQ describes but cannot give numbers for
1 of 28 brewing methods have no authored parameters on any tea. They are listed rather than hidden: the method exists and is described, the numbers are simply not written yet. Nothing here is estimated from a neighbouring style.
- Herbal infusion (tisane)
Herbal infusion is on that list for a second reason as well: the herbal catalogue is two records held in review, so there is nothing to brew even once parameters exist.