We’ve received a few friendly inquiries into our favorite techniques for brewing the perfect cup of tea so I figured why not write a really long post about it…

First of all, no matter what anybody says there’s no best way to prepare tea. Yes, science is involved and certain techniques will yield consistent results but your own preferences will dictate whether those results are acceptable. See? It’s all about you! Except when it’s all about us, of course, which is most of the time.

Also, while tea is a lovely thing to share with friends I find it makes a great lonely beverage. One of the best, actually, so these instructions are geared toward making the perfect cup and by cup I mean: single serving. When I’m making tea to enjoy with a pal I usually brew up two cups side by side because I can never get it right in a larger pot.

Furthermore, I’m not a scientist (I failed chemistry in high school and only passed in summer school because there is a law of nature that says everybody passes in summer school as long as you show up) so I can’t tell you why some of these techniques work better than others. Feel free to add some fact to my findings — I love learning — but you have to be nice about it.

1. Water.

Ever tried making tea without water? Believe me, it’s very frustrating. Good water makes good tea. As I understand it the minerals in your water have a lot to do with how much delicious flavor is coaxed out of your tea as you brew it. This is why tea tastes better in some places than others. If tea brewed with your tap water is lacking you might try using mineral water instead. It costs a little more but so do good tea leaves — worth the expense I say. If you’ve got some time on your hands, try brewing a few cups of the same tea with a few different kinds of water. You will marvel at the difference and forget all about your lonliness.

2. Temperature.

The darker the tea the hotter the water. That’s the rule of thumb. For black teas and darker oolongs I let the water come to rolling boil. For green and white teas as well as lighter oolongs I usually boil the water and let it sit for a bit to cool off before brewing. There’s a sweet spot around 180 degrees and I usually err on the side of cooler water. Great gear for a tea nut is an electric kettle like this one from Upton which has a temperature knob. As with most power tools you can get by without one, but an electric kettle (with or without temperature adjustment option) is very handy if you mainline tea like I do because it boils that water fast so you can have your tea now!

3. Quantity

I really hate weak tea so I always use an ample amount of leaves. I probably waste some tea in the process but it’s worth it.

4. Steeping Vessel

There are lots of vessels to choose from in which to steep your tea. In general, if you want to get the most from your leaves you should give them plenty of room to spread out. This is especially true for larger-leaf teas. Tea people refer to this part of the process “the agony of the leaves” which seems a bit melodramatic. Agony loves room to writhe about, though, so respect your leaves enough to coddle them while they suffer for you. Also, you should pre-heat your steeping device by pouring in a little hot water and swishing it around until the outside of the vessel gets warm — this will help avoid a sudden drop in water temperature at the start of the steeping process.

For most black teas I like to use a 2-cup ceramic teapot like this one which comes with a mesh strainer. Also nice is this mug with infuser. Ceramics work great for green tea as well, but when I’m in the mood I’ll steep my green tea in an iron teapot like this and maybe write some haiku while I’m at it (note: haiku withheld).

5. Steeping Time

What is time? Time is a thing that is important to keep track of when brewing tea, that’s what it is. Over-steeping tea is the very best way to screw up it up, even with the best leaves. Especially with the best leaves, come to think of it. A good rule of thumb is to brew a green tea for two to three minutes tops. Black teas usually fall somewhere in the three to five minute range. If you’re trying any tea for the first time err on the side of shorter brewing time until you get the hang of it. I will use guesswork to judge the temperature of the water and the quantity of leaves I use but I always use a timer — it makes for a better cup of tea.

6. Repeat

I was drinking delicious loose tea for longer than I care to admit before I realized that many teas taste great when brewed a second or even third time. Greens and Oolongs especially, also Chinese Black teas really give you your money’s worth. Sometimes the second or third cup is even better than the first as different flavors emerge, intensity is replaced by mellower qualities. Go ahead an make your own analogies.  I never brew a flavored tea more than once, and the more subtle Indian and Ceylon black teas are not usually good for more than one round, though.

Hope this is helpful. Go make some tea, already!

Tags: Process

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Process. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.