With its lengthy history, tea is the most popular beverage in the world, only surpassed by water. Tea is the beverage of choice for many for a multitude of reasons, particularly in terms of health advantages. You might not be aware of a few minor brewing factors that might optimise the quality and health benefits of your tea. Therefore, it might be as easy as changing your brewing method if you've ever had doubts about the quality of tea leaves since they might not have tasted as good in the past.
To elevate the intricacies of tea brewing, here are the top 7 tips to remember while brewing tea to avoid common blunders:
Water Quality
Water quality is important; don't undervalue it. The quality of the water is the first step in making a good cup of tea. The flavour of your tea may be affected if the tap water has been contaminated with heavy metals or chlorine. To ensure that your brew has a pure and neutral base, use freshly filtered cold water.
Always Using Tea Bags
Although tea bags are convenient, loose-leaf tea yields a more fragrant and aromatic cup. Using tea bags makes sense because they're inexpensive, simple to use, and tasty. However, since loose-leaf tea is exposed to more air throughout the drying and grinding process to make teabags, it is unquestionably fresher and frequently contains more natural oils and antioxidants.
Additionally, tea leaves often survive longer than tea bags. Furthermore, unlike using a bag, which can dilute the flavour, you aren't placing a barrier between the tea leaves and the water. You also receive less tea than you would with larger loose tea leaves since a tea bag can only provide you with as much as the bag can contain.
Using Boiling Water
Do you brew tea leaves in a tea kettle with hot water? The temperature of just-boiled water is already too high to make tea. Tea leaves can become bitter due to overheating the water, which lessens the tea's natural pleasant flavour.
Overboiling water can destroy the healthy components of tea leaves. Use water that is just coming to a boil, with little bubbles developing on the side, for the ideal cup of tea.
Avoid Overpowering With Sweeteners
Although sweetening tea is a personal preference, moderation is key. Excessive use of sugar or honey might mask the inherent flavours of the tea and make it too sweet.
To get the right sweetness level, start with a small amount of sweetener and gradually increase it. As an alternative, consider cutting back on calories by using natural sweeteners like agave syrup or stevia.
Choose The Right Cup
Teacups are meticulously created to improve the experience of drinking tea, even if many people choose to use their favourite mug, an insulated to-go cup, or even the cleanest, most accessible choice. That's not to say you can't use your favourite mug, but choosing the correct cup is important.
An excellent tea cup releases the scents as it cools down, unlike coffee mugs or insulated cups, which are made for other purposes. Size is important, just as design is. You could prefer a smaller cup depending on the type of tea, particularly if you sip tea more slowly. To concentrate on the delicate flavours in just a few sips, green tea, for example, is typically served in a tiny teacup to allow it to cool more quickly.
Store Tea Properly
Without fail, keep your tea in an airtight container—ideally, a pouch inside a metal container. Steer clear of heat sources and direct sunlight, and avoid emptying the tea leaves immediately into a glass jar or metal box. It is generally advised to avoid storing your tea in the same cabinet as your spices since the tea will absorb the strongest scent and take on that taste when you boil it later. Thus, keep it away from heat sources and spices.
Get The Right Tea-to-Water Ratio
While you can't measure tea bags, you can measure loose-leaf tea, so finding the right tea-to-water ratio might be tricky. Starting with one teaspoon of loose-leaf tea per 175 ml of water is a good idea. The sort of tea and the size of the teacup, however, affect this basic guideline. A bigger cup, which contains closer to 355 ml, will probably require twice as much tea.
When brewing tea, this specific ratio is important since using too much tea will result in a very strong and bitter flavour, while using too much water would dilute the flavours. Of course, individual preference also plays a role. You might like the robust flavour of tea, or you may prefer its delicate flavour. However, if you're trying to find the ideal cup, the ratio matters.