Brewing tea is an art. Although one of the most easiest beverages to make, not everyone excels at it. Most of us just follow the routine- boiling water, adding tea, sugar, milk and flavor and serve; which almost always makes a bitter or too mild undrinkable infusion- but that’s not the spirit of tea- art of brewing the tea lies in proper boiling of the tea leaves, water temperature at which tea leaves are to added, the amount of water and milk form the most important basis of a proper tea brewing.
Do follow the guidelines for that perfect cup of tea brew:
Water:
Always use fresh cold water to brew your tea and not distilled or heated water from faucet. Boil the water gently till air bubbles start forming on the surface of the water, before adding the tea leaves. Also, what is important is the temperature of the water- Black tea leaves, which are oxidized need hotter temperature while, green tea leaves need a warm temperature to bring out its characteristic flavor.
Infusion Time:
Just like the water temperature, the duration of infusing time is important as well. Green teas and other delicate teas need a shorter period of time for brewing, while black teas need a longer period of time for proper brewing of the tea leaves. It is important to pay attention for the amount of time, we are steeping the tea leaves- as steeping for shorter periods of time results in milder or no taste at all and steeping longer, would result in too bitter teas.
Material of the tea pot:
Black, Oolong, herbal and Pu-erh teas need hotter temperatures for the steeping- so they need steel, yixing or iron vessels/ tea pots while green and white teas need porcelain or glass tea pots to keep the teas cool.
Keep watching this space for more tea brews and recipes.
By: Archa Dave
