A Tea Addict's Journal

I did the rougui experiment today, and it was a resounding success.

I tried brewing the same rougui with my gaiwan today, to test whether or not there is any difference in how the pot affects the taste, especially with regards to the lack of aroma in my initial tasting with my pot. So…. I brewed it up, and right away, I could see a difference in the liquor. The liquor came out darker, and the taste was much more explosive with aromas and all the tastes that I found when trying the tea at Lao He’s place, but was lacking when i used the pot to brew it.

I might’ve added slightly more leaves as a proportion of the brewing vessel, but it was a small difference, I think, when compared with the results.

Does this mean that my pot is still soaking up the tea’s flavours, and thus leaving me with a lot less to drink? Maybe. I am putting a good amount of excess tea in the pot today (wash plus some of the leftovers from each infusion), just to feed it. My hope is that over time, it will start giving instead of just soaking (as they’re supposed to do). I’ve heard this theory first at the Best Tea House while chatting with more experienced tea friends who loiter there. I was initially very skeptical as to whether a pot can really soak up the flavours that much, but this experiment definitely nudged me towards thinking there is something to that theory after all.