Cup of Tea
- Steep your tea for only 3-5 minutes. It's essential that tea is never allowed to over infuse. You'll
end up with bitter, ruined tea. For stronger tea, add more leaves rather than infusing longer
than recommended. At the end of a timed infusion, decant all of the tea or remove the tea
leaves to avoid ruining your beverage.
- Use loose leaf tea whenever possible. The tea used in teabags is usually broken, dusty bits
of lesser quality leaves.
- It is best to boil fresh tap or bottled water (not distilled water) and avoid reusing water that
has already been heated or boiled. This is 'flat' water and the oxygen has been depleted
making it less than ideal for brewing a good cup of tea.
- A tea strainer or infuser basket is preferable for infusing loose leaf teas (rather than a tea
ball or clamping spoon) in order to give the leaves plenty of room to expand and fully infuse.
- Buy a beverage thermometer to be sure you are infusing your teas at the appropriate
temperature. Using water that is too cool, or too hot, can ruin a good cup of tea. Always
remember that black teas infuse best with water at the boiling point and greens should use
water at 160-180F (at most). Oolongs vary so follow the directions provided by the supplier.
- For the more advanced tea enthusiast, try using a small gram scale to weigh your loose tea.
Some teas have small or broken leaves and some large or whole. Weighing is the only way
to know how much to use, roughly 2.5-3 grams of leaves per 5-6 ounces of water.
- To make amazing iced tea, brew double strength then pour over ice. Any tea will work so try
a variety. Green, oolong, black or flavored teas....try them all.
- Shelf life of tea is more than 24 months if kept airtight in a dry place. Tea should not be kept
in the refrigerator as it will absorb moisture and food smell.
