Tea Preparation
Tea brewing is an art that is simple to perform but which also requires
some care to do well. While essentially tea is brewed by adding boiling
water to the dry leaf, the quantity of leaves, the temperature of the
water and timing is of vital concern. The following is a guide for brewing
tea leaves. Please feel free to experiment to find the method that best
suits your taste and the particular leaves that you are preparing. Each
package of our tea contains detailed instructions as well as brewing
times for the various teas.
1) Warm your empty tea pot by filling it with hot water. This will
prevent the hot water from cooling too quickly when it is added to the
leaves.
2) Boil freshly drawn tap water. If the quality of your tap water is
poor, try using filtered or bottled spring water. For black tea, use
the water when it comes to a boil. Water left boiling too long will
de-aerate. This will result in a flat tasting tea. For green tea, the
water should be heated to a lower temperature (usually approximately
80 degrees Celsius), which may vary from tea to tea.
3) Empty the hot water from your tea pot and add 2.25g or one rounded
teaspoon of tea leaves for each cup (5.5 oz) of water (or one heaping
teaspoon per mug). We suggest placing the tea directly into the bottom
of the pot or using a basket infuser. Tea ball strainers, while convenient,
often yield poorer tasting tea as they are often too small to allow
all of the leaves to fully unravel. If you do use a tea ball, be sure
to use one that is sufficiently large.
4) Add the freshly boiled water over the leaves in the tea pot.
5) Brew your tea for the appropriate amount of time. The amount of
time needed to brew your tea varies depending on the leaves being used
and the drinker's individual taste. Careful timing is essential for
brewing tea that meets your desires. A very general rule to follow is
the smaller the leaf, the less time required for brewing. Broken grades
of tea leaves and most Darjeeling teas usually only need 3-4 minutes
to brew. Whole-leaf teas often need 4-5 minutes. All teas, however,
will become bitter if brewed for longer than 5 or 6 minutes. When brewing
tea, time with a timer, and not with your eyes. It is a common mistake
to brew the tea until it looks a particular color or shade. The color
of tea is a poor indicator of the tea's taste.
6) Serve the tea. If you use a basket infuser or a tea ball, remove
these promptly when the brewing time has expired. If you placed the
tea directly into the pot, pour the tea into the cups through a strainer
to catch the leaves. In this instance, if you do not wish to serve your
tea immediately, pour your tea through a strainer into another pre-heated
tea pot.
7) ENJOY YOUR TEA!!! Add whatever you desire to your tea. You may find
that some teas taste particularly nice with sugar and/or milk or lemon,
while others taste best pure.
Want to know more about Tea? Read
on.
