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A few guidelines for brewing the perfect cup... Water
Quality: The quality of the tea you brew will be greatly affected by
the quality of the water you use in preparation. Generally it is
better to use spring or filtered water to make your tea and not tap,
mineral, or distilled water. Tap and mineral water contain more ‘stuff'
in them that will affect the flavor of your tea, and distilled water
will not have as much oxygen in it to bring out the full flavor of your
leaves. Bottled low mineral content spring water or freshly filtered
water are your best options for the least amount of extra mineral
content and most oxygen. If you are going to pay to buy premium tea one
you might as well also pay to buy the correct water so you can fully
enjoy your beverage. Water temperature: Each tea type has
its own ‘best' temperature in which the leaves release their optimal
flavor. It is generally accepted that the lighter the tea the lower the
temperature that will be used to steep the leaves. One other note is
that most people will boil their water and then steep their leaves -
this has two negative affects; the first is that water at its boiling
point (212 oF) is actually too hot for most tea types and
will cook or stew the leaves. The second problem is that when you boil
water you lose oxygen from the water which will in the end produce a
less flavorful cup of tea. A good thing to have is an electronic
temperature probe which you can use to test your water - you can do this
a couple of times to see how long it takes to get to a certain
temperature and make a little chart. This is a little fanatical, but it
is also kind of fun to play with your tea and find out what you like
best so you can brew it how you like it. Tea storage: Tea
is a natural product that relies on its volatile oils for its flavor.
These oils are damaged or destroyed when exposed to heat (and light) so
you want to keep your tea in a cool and dark place when you are not
using it. Your tea will also lose its oils naturally over time when it
is exposed to oxygen. And tea will also absorb flavors from what it
nearby, so make sure you don't store it next to your large strand of
garlic unless you like your tea garlic flavored! It sounds overwhelming
but it's quite easy to take care of your tea if you store it in its
container and then an airtight container in your pantry. Tea does not
benefit from storage in your fridge or freezer like coffee does, the
moisture and ambient odors in your fridge will quickly overwhelm your
lovely tea flavors. Tea and caffeine: True tea (anything
that comes form the Camellia sinensis plant) contains caffeine. This
includes White teas, Green teas, Oolong teas, and Black teas. It is
true that tea does contain more caffeine than coffee ounce per ounce,
but you use less tea to make a cup than you do coffee so in the end your
cup of tea is less caffeinated than a cup o'Joe. You can guesstimate
how much caffeine your tea will contain by the type of tea you are using
as the oxidation process in tea production will produce more caffeine
in the final products. Therefore White tea has virtually no caffeine,
while black tea can have up to 100 mg of caffeine in a 6 oz cup. Green
teas usually have about a third of the caffeine of a black tea and
Oolong teas which are partially oxidized have roughly half the caffeine
of a black tea. By comparison, a 6 oz cup of drip coffee has up to 180
mg of caffeine. You could also buy decaffeinated tea, but for people
who are shopping for premium teas this is usually not what they are
looking for. To decaffeinate tea there are a few processes that are
used and all of them (either chemical, or water washing) will affect the
flavor of the tea in the end. It is better to take you premium leaves
that you want to decaffeinate and brew them as you normally would for a
cup of tea and then discard (or serve to your caffeine loving guest) the
first flush of the tea. Since the first flush will have nearly all the
caffeine in it, any subsequent flush of the tea will be
‘decaffeinated'. There will still be a trace amount of caffeine in this
tea, but any tea that claims to be decaffeinated will contain some
caffeine in it. What are Tisanes: If you do not want a
caffeinated tea you can of course drink herbal teas, which are also know
as Tisane's. These do not contain any of the Camellia sinensis plant
in them and are therefore caffeine free. A lot of herbal teas are very
hearty and delicious both hot and cold and make great substitutes to a
traditional cup of tea. Some very popular Tisane's like the Rooibos and
Honeybush plant from South Africa are incorrectly known as "Red tea'
since they brew a dark red, very tasty and earthy liquid, but they
contain no tea in them. Of course there are exceptions to this as well
as some herbs like Mate and Guarana are sometimes in herbal blends and
these herbs do contain caffeine. Tea and health:
Tea is good for you! It is widely accepted that tea is a very healthy
drink and has been for millennia. There are numerous benefits to
drinking tea and while the finer points of these are still being debated
and tested the big word is 'antioxidants'. One thing to note about
antioxidants is that since tea is a natural product it is very important
that if you are drinking tea for health reasons that you get the
freshest tea you possibly can. Antioxidant compounds in tea will break
down over time and tea that has been picked within the last year is when
the antioxidant levels will be the most potent. It is generally
accepted that the second ‘flush' of the tea is the healthiest and
contains the largest amount of antioxidants, so make sure you flush you
leaves more than once! Steeping tea: This is the art part
of brewing tea, how long to steep your leaves and at what temperature.
Each leaf is unique and has a different set of time/temp which will
bring out its optimal flavor. A lot of times the canister that the tea
comes in will have brewing suggestions on it; it is a good idea to read
all of this information since the people who package the tea usually has
a really good idea of how to make it properly. - White tea
is best when steeped between 140 and 180 oF for a period of
30 second to 2 minutes. White tea is usually very light and delicate
and will sometimes require 1 tablespoon per cup.
- Japanese Green
Tea is best steeped between 160 and 180 oF for a period of 2
to 3 minutes.
- Chinese Green tea is best when steeped between
160 and 180 oF for a period of 3 to 4 minutes.
- Oolong
teas are steeped between 180 and 200 oF for a period of 3 to
5 minutes. Oolong teas come in different oxidation levels, some of
which are closer to the green side of tea and some are closer to the
black side. Make sure to read your canister to find out what you have.
- Black
teas are steeped between 175 to 205 oF for a period of 3 to 4
minutes.
If you overstep your tea, or your water
is to hot for your leaves, you will scald the tea and your brew will be
bitter in taste. Try changing your water temperature and/or steeping
time and find out what works best for you. Most premium teas can
be steeped multiple times for a number of infusions or ‘flushes' make
sure to read you canister to see how many times is recommended for your
particular leaves. You want to make sure that you infuse your leaves as
much as you can or you are just throwing away good tea! Most
importantly, tea is fun! You can spend a lifetime playing with and
enjoying tea in a myriad of ways. You can get really into it and find
the very best temperature and steeping time for all your favorite
leaves, or you can take some boiling water out of your kettle and pour
it over a bag. Whatever way you prefer to drink your tea is what is
right for you. Just have fun with it and enjoy it and keep trying new
things.
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