BREWING TEA TIPS

HOW DO I BREW TEA?
For each renewing cup of hot tea, use one filterbag.

Bring freshly drawn cold filtered water to a boil and pour into cup over tea.

Allow black and herbal teas to steep for five minutes, green and oolong teas for three to four minutes, or until as rich and aromatic as you like.

Remove bag and serve.

Save the tea leaves to spread in your garden or toss as confetti.

For iced tea, place two bags in 8-ounce container and steep as above.

Remove bags and pour hot tea into a tall glass filled with ice.

REDUCING CAFFEINE IN TEA
To reduce the caffeine in your own tea, simply pour boiling water over green or black tea, infuse for 45 seconds, pour off water and brew the leaves a second time. Any tea will now have significantly less caffeine.

Brewing tips (from Guardian)

· Use freshly drawn water. It must not be reboiled.

· Use the correct-sized teapot. To heat, pour some of the water, just before boiling, into the pot. Swirl and empty away.

· Use orthodox, good-quality leaf tea. Grades such as Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) or BOP Fannings are popular. Indian Assam second-flush is thick, soft-liquoring and malty, and Cleon Dimbula is a good standard for a flavoury tea. Use one spoonful per person and one for the pot.

· Fill the pot and stir gently for a few moments. Infuse for five minutes. Use a timer to get this right.

· Put room-temperature whole milk into the cup first. Use about one and a half tablespoonfuls. Do not use skimmed milk.

· To ensure that the leaves do not get into the cup, pour tea through a mesh strainer. Fill the cup to 1cm from the rim.

· After the first pouring, add extra hot water to the teapot, so as to continue drawing further flavour and strength from the leaves.

· Always discard cold tea at the bottom of the cup before a second pouring.

· Even if the tea has been brewing for 10 minutes, orthodox leaf tea will not become too strong or bitter.

· Use a tea cosy.

More Tips for Brewing Tea

Sparkling Clean Equipage
Before making your tea, check to be sure your teapot and utensils are clean. While this seems obvious, kettles, teapots, cups, strainers and other tea accessories need to be gently washed on a regular basis with soap or baking soda (even if they are just used for boiling water or brewing tea).

This helps remove mineral deposits and old residue that can taint the flavor of your freshly made brew.

Start with Cold, Good-Tasting Water
Since tea is comprised of 99% water, the type of water you use will affect the clarity and taste of your beverage. So if your water tastes good then your tea will taste good.

The best type of water to use when brewing tea is filtered or bottled water (not distilled water) that is free of chemicals and chlorine. If that isn’t available and you are using tap water, run your faucet for around ten seconds and until the tap water is cold before filling your tea kettle.

Water and Steeping
For each cup of tea you prepare, you will want to heat 6 ounces of water. So if you are making a pot of tea, be sure you have pre-measured the amount of water the pot holds. The water temperature and length of steeping time varies by the blend of tea you are brewing.

Here are some general tea brewing guidelines for water temperature and steeping times. Adjust the heat and time based on your individual preferences.

The time it takes to brew tea correlates to the size of the leaf in your blend. This means the larger the leaf the longer the brewing time.

Black:
Water Temp : 205-212 F
Steeping Time : 3-5 minutes

Oolong:
Water Temp : 185-200 F
Steeping Time : 3-5 minutes

Green:
Water Temp : 165-185 F
Steeping Time : 3-5 minutes

White:
Water Temp : 160-175 F
Steeping Time : 2-3 minutes

Herbal/Tisanes:
Water Temp : 205-212 F
Steeping Time: 5-7 minutes

Amount of Tea
To maximize taste, it is preferable to brew tea leaves in loose form rather than using a small tea ball or infuser. This allows the leaves to fully open and release all their flavor.

Use 1 teaspoon of whole leaf tea for each 6 ounce cup you are brewing. This is the standard for compact blends. If you are brewing tea that has a lot of volume, consider using up to two tablespoons per serving.

If you want the convenience of using a tea bag or sachet, simply use one for every cup of tea you are making. The key to good tasting brew is to make sure your tea bags are always fresh.

The tea in commercially produced bags is typically comprised of small pieces of leaves or fannings that are susceptible to becoming stale faster than the well-stored loose leaf variety.

Serving
When your tea is done steeping, immediately remove the loose tea from the strainer or the tea bag and lightly stir. Then serve while fresh and hot. If your tea gets too cool, it is best to enjoy it over ice verses re-heating the brew.

Depending on your preference, you can enjoy drinking your beverage plain or with a bit of milk, lemon, honey or sugar. In Asia, people typically drink tea without accompaniments.

In England, a small amount of milk is often added for extra body and smoothness. In Russia, brewing tea and adding lemon is common. Raspberry jam is sometimes added for sweetness.

Yet, brewing tea is all about the experience and how you take your tea is a matter of individual taste and enjoyment. Experiment until you find a combination that suits your palate "to a tea."

STEPS FROM WIKIHOW

1. Fill the kettle with cool, fresh water. If you have a filter use water from there.
2. Turn the kettle on to boil the water.
3. Place a tea-bag (or loose tea in a filter) in each cup or two in a teapot
4. Pour the boiling water from the kettle into the cups or teapot.
5. Wait for 2-3 minutes or maybe even 4-6 for the tea to brew, depending on the kind of tea you are using. After 3 minutes most teas become too tannic. Try and keep it hot for this time by keeping the lid on or using a little plate on top of a cup.
6. Now pour the tea from the tea pot into a cup (using a strainer to filter out tea-leaves). If you brewed your tea in a cup, simply drink and enjoy!
7. If desired, add a sweetener and/or flavoring to the cup or teapot. You can use sugar, honey, and lemon, among many other variations.
8. Add milk or half-and-half if you so desire. Adding it before the tea is done brewing will cause it to cool prematurely.

TIPS FROM WIKIHOW

Familiarize yourself with the type of tea you are making as some teas may require that for best results one uses water that is less than boiling hot for brewing, a particular water to tea ratio (especially when using powdered teas like match) and/or certain brewing time.

Try varying the time that you allow the tea to steep, before you add the milk.

If you're making green tea, don't steep it for more than a minute or two. After a while it ferments and begins to get bitter.

By pouring the tea on top of the teabags fairly slowing, most of the water will run though the bag, reducing the time needed to brew.

If you prefer tea warm rather then hot, make the tea using boiling water and let it cool. Using warm water will make a very weak tea.

Putting the tea in the water before you boil it will produce stewed tea. It's a very strong tea usually drunk with a lot of sugar. It's not to everyone's taste.

Try combining different leaves or similar tastes, buying different brands or quality, (many famous English teas brands names are the surname of the families that used to make the mixing).

Grannies used to keep apple skins inside tea leaves wooden boxes for some months until the tea tasted like apples. Then, when poured try adding some cinnamon.

When brewing leaves instead of a bag, try boiling the water in a kettle, then pouring the water over tea leaves in a teapot. The teapot should then be drained and refilled with boiling water, effectively brewing the tea twice. This method of only drinking the second batch is a traditional Eastern method, and is used to make sure that any impurities are washed from the leaves.

WARNING

Mixing milk and lemon in your tea can cause the milk to curdle.

Don't stew tea in an electric kettle.

If you are drinking the tea for health purposes like for EGCG intake, do not use milk as the casein it contains binds to the EGCG. If one desires a milky/creamy flavor, use soy milk instead of milk derived from an animal.

Taste carefully! Not only is it painful to burn your mouth, but it also damages your taste buds, making it more difficult to fully enjoy the tea.