A a cup of loose tea is not prepared in the same way as a teabag. Real tea lovers actually love steeping/brewing their cup of tea sometimes more than actually consuming it. Or they have visitors over at home and they like to show off their brewing skills. When brewed poorly, even premium teas taste horrible. Don't be scared away. Making a cup of tea isn't difficult at all. To develop a feeling for it we have prepared all the information below to get you started and unleash the tea master within. Here are the basics for brewing a great cup of tea at home.
Water for Tea Guide
A cup of tea consists of over 99% of water. Therefore, the choice of water significantly influences the taste of your cup of tea. Lu Yu, the author of "The Classic of Tea" wrote an entire book about water selection for tea. In this very first tea book ever written, he claimed that mountain water from stony lakes, the middle of slow-flowing streams, or milky-white springs is the best. You don't have to go that far, but to ensure that your delicate tea leaves produce a delicious, flavorful tea, there are a few important things to keep in mind.
1. Natural spring water is the best choice for steeping tea. The disadvantage is that you have to pay more for water.
2. Use boiled tap water to steep your tea if you don't want to use spring water. Tap water can usually produce a good cup of tea, but this depends on the tap water quality locally. If you are a tea geek, use water filters first before boiling.
3. Never use water that has been boiled before, that because water releases oxygen each time it is boiled, it becomes "tough," loses its essence, and can not bring out the essence of tea after it has been boiled multiple times (Tea Scholar, Wen Zhen Heng).
4. Don't use distilled water. It is generally agreed upon that distilled water just does not taste very good when used to brew tea. That's because the tea has a plain taste, missing the complexity of taste in a good cup of tea.
Tea Steeping Time
When brewing tea for the first time, you can easily overlook ideal tea brewing times or you easily forget when to stop brewing. Avoid over-steeping, because it can easily ruin an otherwise perfectly steeped pot of loose tea. In contrast, when brewing time is too short it can result in a tasteless tea, though not as serious of a problem. Whether you are using a timer or counting in your head, never overlook the importance of steeping time. This guide help you brew great tea.
First of all, start with the brewing times as suggested on our product pages in the "additional information tab". Once you have followed our guide, you can afterwards can try to vary the water to tea ratio, the brewing temperature and/or the brewing time to make your perfect cup of tea. If the tea tastes slightly bitter, then you could reduce the steeping time and temperature. If your tea tastes a bit plain, you could try adding more leaves or increasing the brewing time slightly. If you favor strong tea, don't over increase the steeping time, because this will only make your tea taste bitter. Instead, add more tea leaves.
Remember that this guide is for a casual way of brewing tea, not gong fu tea or brewing in a 'gaiwan'.
Tea Steeping Temperature
As for steeping time, you should again follow our details with regards to steeping temperature when brewing tea.
If you're not fully satisfied, try using a lower temperature, brewing for more/less time or using more tealeaves. When in doubt, always first try using cooler water. Whereas teas can be ruined by water that's too hot, they are rarely hurt much by water a few degrees too cold. You can make up for it during the second infusion (usually the best for loose leaf teas).
Congratulations, you now know all the basics about steeping tea! Life is short, only drink a good cup of tea - Teasenz.