The Perfect Cup Of Tea
A Guest Post from Hardwick
The most important thing about making tea is to take your time and Tea made with already boiled water that is only warmi- ish never tastes as good as if you take a little time over it.
Always use freshly drawn water from the cold tap or filter.
Boil the water- As it comes to the boil warm the tea pot or cup with a small amount of water.
Swirl several times to warm and then discard.
Add the tea bag or loose tea, one teaspoon per person and one for the pot is usual.
Add the slightly cooled water to the warmed pot/cup, stir and then leave to brew for 5 minutes. (green, oolong teas and fruit infusions require differing brewing times) green 1-3 minutes, oolong 5-7 and infusions up to 10 as required)
Adding directly boiled water will inhibit the delicate flavours of some teas and leaving to brew for a longer time won’t increase the strength. If stronger tea is preferred add more tea to the pot, stewed tea will only alter the flavour for the worse.
Pour the tea into the warmed cup from the tea pot, or remove the tea bag from the cup and then add a dash of milk and/or sweetner if desired.
If making in a cup/mug never add the milk first, this reduces the antioxidant effect of the tea and will inhibit delicate and subtle flavours.
Loose leaf tea can be used more than once, each use will produce different flavours but they must be strained between each use.
Why not experiment and mix available blends to create your own signature blend of tea!
1 May 2013 at 13:20
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