Originally Posted by jib71
I was surprised to be told that I should drink it from the first infusion. The people who gave it to me told me that the "tradition" of throwing away the first infusion was because of pesticides, whereas the "stone tea" was organic... Not sure if I believe that.
In Singapore round 1 is calling 'washing' the tea leaves, which makes a bit more sense -- after all the processing tea has gone through before it gets in your pot, dipping it in water isn't going to magically remove any pesticide residue, but it will do a better job of getting rid of any dust and dirt that may have accumulated along the way. Also, the first time around the tea is usually not steeped, it really is just "washed" with the hot water poured in and out almost immediately.