What is Tea Patience?

Question: What is Tea Patience?

I was drinking oolong tea with some people who know more about tea than me and they kept mentioning "tea patience" and saying the tea was "patient." I'm so confused! What were they talking about?

Answer: Tea patience refers to the way a tea reacts to being steeped multiple times. A patient tea can be steeped many times without losing flavor or complexity.

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean that it tastes the same every time it's steeped! Quite to the contrary, some particularly patient teas (notably rolled / semi-balled oolongs) will exhibit very different flavors over multiple infusions.

Here's an example of how the flavors of a light oxidation, light roast, semi-balled oolong might evolve over five infusions:

1. Light, sweet, floral
2. More body, more aroma
3. Less aromatic, but sweeter and creamier
4. More vegetal
5. Less floral and sweet, but still complex and flavorful

When they are brewed gong fu cha style, teas exhibit far more tea patience than when they are brewed in a large teapot or with a lower tea to water ratio.

Aged teas, such as aged pu-erh teas and aged oolongs, tend to have a lot of patience when brewed. (Perhaps they're willing to take a little longer to let go of their flavors after so many years of waiting to be steeped!)