Can I fancy you a cup of tea?
I’m kind of picky about my tea. I don’t like coffee, so during those cold Minnesota winters I opt for a hot cup of tea. Truth is, I’ll drink hot tea any time of year. In fact, I drink about 3 cups everyday, and then another couple cups of iced tea.
I love tea.
But when offered a cup of tea by someone else, I hold back: “Ummm, what kind do you have… Nah, that’s alright, I’ll just have water, thanks.”
Here are a few tips to create that perfect cup of tea to make anyone smile:
Start with the good stuff:
Make sure to start with quality teas. Loose leaf tea is the best, however not the most convenient option. Don’t worry, there are some good tea bags out there, including triangle-filter bags with full-leaf tea inside. A good option if you opt for using tea bags is Twinings (regular tea bags come in cardboard boxes and the large leaf triangle bags come in tins). Looking for some top-quality, delicious loose leaf teas right here in Minneapolis, then check out the TeaSource.
Use the right accessories:
When brewing loose leaf tea, be sure to have the right infuser on hand. Those cute little silicone tea filters that are shaped like animals and hang on the edge of your cup WON’T DO! Why? Because they are often way too small to actually let the leaf of the tea expand and brew, which allows the flavors to develop. So, make sure you use a LARGE, stainless steel tea ball or infuser basket. Another, more convenient option are tea filter bags like T-Sacs, which are large enough to let the leaves expand and disposable so there is no cleanup. Additionally, electric water kettles with various temperature settings will make the next step a breeze!
Optimal brew temp & time required:
White tea, green tea, oolong, and black tea all come from the same tea plant, Camellia Sinensis (herbal teas come from other plants, fruits and herbs). However, each variety is picked from a different section of the plant and processed differently to create the unique flavors. This means, they must also be prepared differently. Black tea requires boiling water to brew optimally, whereas green tea requires lower steeping temperatures to create the best flavor.
Additionally, each type of tea requires a different length of brew time. If the teas are brewed past the optimal brew times, they become bitter or change flavor. For a stronger cup of tea, don’t brew longer, brew more. Each tea brand should provide the time and temp required to achieve the perfect flavor, but in general here are a few guidelines:
Black Tea: 212° F; 3 – 5 minutes
Green Tea: 142°–189° F; 30 seconds – 3 minutes (higher-quality = lower temps and shorter brew time)
White Tea: 160°–180° F; 2 – 3 minutes
Oolong: 185°–205° F; 3 – 5 minutes
Add-ins, optional & delicious:
Cream, sugar, or lemon are the go-to add-ins for a cup of black tea. I recently went on a Twining Tea Tour and learned that the origin of adding cream or milk to tea happened by accident. In England, back in the day, they used very, very fine china. When the boiling water used to brew tea was added to the china cups, they often chipped or cracked. So, to save their china, tea drinkers would line the cup with milk or cream before adding the boiling water. And that is how cream became a popular tea addition, or so I’m told.
My favorite add-in to both hot and iced black tea is lemon! If you use lemon in your tea every day like me, I’d recommend getting a 5-pound bag of fresh lemons, squeeze them all and pour into small ice cube trays so they’re ready to pop in mug or glass whenever you fancy a cup of tea.
Enjoy!
