Making A Delicious Cup of Quality Loose Tea
No cup of tea is the same. With each brew, we experience new tastes and aromas.
When making teas at home, the amount of tea you use as well as the temperature of the water and the length of time it is allowed to steep will affect the nutrition content, as well as the taste, of the tea. Learn the proper way to make tea with 5 simple steps below.
Step 1: A good cup of tea starts with good water
For the best tasting tea, we recommend using freshly boiled water. If using freshly boiled water the herbs infuse quickly.
Step 2: Get the right temperature for each tea
Water temperature plays an important role when making a good cup of tea. Different herbs and teas require different brewing temperatures, because the wrong water temperature can cause a bitter or weak cup of tea.
The correct temperature to brew herbal tea is between 60 – 70°C degrees depending the type of herb. Delicate herbs like chamomile and mint should be brewed at a lower temperature to avoid becoming bitter, while heartier herbs like ginger and turmeric can handle higher temperatures.
For example, green tea and white tea should be brewed at a lower temperature, around 70 to 80°C, to avoid becoming bitter.
On the other hand, black tea require boiling water between 80-90°C to fully extract their flavour.
Still it depends the type of the black tea. for example, Persian black tea require boiling water to 94°C and long brewing to fully extract its flavour and color.
5 Surprising Things You Never Knew About the Temperature of Herbal Tea, Click here
Step 3: Accurate tea leaves to water ratio
The amount which we recommend is 1 g for herbal tea and between 2 to 3 gr of black, green and white tea per cup (300 ml). However, you can add as much tea as you want, that’s personal taste. But take a note that if you use too much tea for little amount of water, your tea will be very strong. And if you use too much water and not enough tea, it will be very weak.
Step 4: Rinse tea with cold filtered water
For getting the best possible taste out of each tea, it is better to rinse them with cold water to get rid of dust.
Step 5: Time your steeps
After you pour water over tea, cover tea during the steeping process that will help it maintain the water temperature needed.
Similar to water temperature, the length of time you steep a tea will vary. It depends on the herbs contained in the blend, the ideal infusion time is between 5-10 minutes. If you are using freshly boiled water the tea brew quickly (within 5-6 minutes).
For Anousha tea blends that contain saffron (Happy tea & Love tea), it is better put it on indirect heat, such as boiling kettle, tea maker or heater up to 10 minutes, so that it will brew gradually; It helps to release the color and aroma of saffron.
I’m also answering some frequently asked tea questions here. You can ask your question in the comment below.
What kind of tea infuser should I use?
Teapots are the best option for brewing any real tea. They are with or without an infuser. A good infuser in a teapot, must be the right size to allow the infused tea to expand.
Tea pots can be made in different materials, like glass, ceramic, cast iron, proclaim etc. I will write about them later.
And also, about tea infuser, the most important thing is to be big enough for leaves to fully expand. When tea leaves don’t fully expand, they won’t release their full flavour. Therefore, it’s best to find a loose-leaf tea infuser that will give the tea leaves lots of room like basket- style infuser.
Is there any simple brewing method that could still have a good cup of tea?
Yes, there is good way for when you don’t have the time for a full traditional tea ceremony.
In this method, you brew tea in a big cup and put tea directly into the cup and covered with hot water. As I mentioned just don’t bring water to the boiling point.
How to make best iced tea?
Iced tea requires us to pour cold water over herbs and leave it in the fridge for several hours to steep or would be better overnight. It is good to have a bottle of a cold herbal tea in the fridge, especially when the temperature starts rising.
If you are in hurry, you can steep herbs in hot water close to the boiling point and then pour over ice before enjoying it.
I bet you’ll have something to say about your cup of tea or tell us what makes a cup of tea perfect to you? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Anousha
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