Does a long brew or a quick rinse change the first infusion?

Not every tea needs its first infusion poured away. Rinsing, also called blanching or awakening the tea, suits some leaves and harms others. Teas that undergo minimal processing, such as white tea and green tea, can benefit from a quick rinse with 185°F water because their unbroken leaves and white downy hairs steep slowly. Compressed and aged teas can be rinsed up to twice.

Timing is the key variable. When rinsing tea, steeping should last only a few seconds to preserve most of the flavor, a far shorter contact than a long brew. Small-leaf Japanese teas such as sencha are often not rinsed at all, since their leaves are small and release flavor quickly. The more the leaf surface is pierced or rolled, the faster it steeps, so the rinse decision follows the leaf.

Many people learning to brew loose-leaf tea hear the saying that "the first infusion should be poured away," also known as rinsing the tea, blanching, or awakening the tea. But in fact, not all teas require this step. Whether to rinse depends on the type, form, and processing method of the tea. This article sorts out in detail which teas are suitable for a quick rinse and which are best to skip this step, and explains the actual impact of rinsing on flavor and caffeine content, helping you make more suitable choices in your daily brewing.

When learning how to brew loose-leaf tea, we often hear this saying—pour out the first infusion! We pour hot water over the tea leaves to be brewed. Then, immediately pour it out. We also call it "rinsing," "washing," or "blanching" the tea. But do we always need to rinse our tea?

How to Brew Loose-Leaf Tea: Why Rinse the Tea?

Some people believe that what we should do with all loose-leaf teas is pour away the first infusion. However, this is not the case. Rinsing tea is not a necessary part of gongfu tea. Only some teas need to be rinsed, while others do not. This is purely to bring out the best flavor in each type of tea.

Although certain Chinese teas can gain notable benefits from blanching, we would not consider or recommend blanching most Japanese teas. For example, sencha leaves are small, so it is best not to rinse them.

When rinsing tea, do not steep for more than a few seconds. It is best to keep the steeping time short to preserve most of the flavor. On the other hand, fermented or aged teas can be rinsed up to twice. This will only improve the quality of future infusions.

Which Tea Varieties Should I Rinse?

• Teas that undergo minimal processing. Think white tea and green tea. Certain white tea varieties, such as White Peony and Silver Needle, undergo the simplest processing. This means the tea leaves have not been broken down. In addition, their leaves all have the signature "white downy hairs." These factors act as a kind of protection, making it harder for the tea to steep quickly. Quickly rinsing the leaves with 185°F water can help the tea steep faster, because it undergoes an initial "breakdown"—the rinse.

In contrast, we roll tea leaves up, or even tear them into pieces. Generally, the more the surface of the tea leaves is pierced, the more easily the tea steeps quickly in water.

• Compressed tea. These include all compressed teas. For example, pu'er tea (ripe and raw), compressed white tea, and tightly rolled oolong or pearl tea. Even if the surface of the tea leaves is already quite broken after fermentation (such as pu'er tea), these teas still need a good rinse to loosen them from their compressed shape and release all their flavor.

Comparing rinsed pu'er with unrinsed pu'er makes it easier to see the benefits of rinsing. The aroma and flavor of the tea will both open up.

• Heavily roasted oolong. Certain heavily roasted oolong teas, such as Wuyi oolong, can be rinsed. The flavor becomes clean and sharp.

What Other Teas Should We Rinse?

• Teas you think may contain debris. The most common tea is pu'er tea! This is not to say that pu'er tea is dirty. However, because farmers store it in large warehouses during fermentation, it is not uncommon for dust and other small debris to accumulate. When buying pu'er tea from untrustworthy vendors, or buying pu'er tea that is suspiciously cheap, "junk" is everywhere. We can usually spot this when breaking up tea bricks. Pu'er tea may be a tea that we would say needs a quick rinse, and sometimes even two.

• Teas with higher caffeine content. Some people rinse tea when brewing it to remove caffeine. Research shows that some (but not most!) caffeine is released in the first infusion. It is important to note that this is not a way to make your tea caffeine-free; the tea will still release caffeine in subsequent infusions. However, it can slightly reduce the caffeine content.

When you brew tea and do not plan to rinse, the most essential thing that cannot be omitted is preheating the tea vessel.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.