They say you are not a tea fanatic if:
- You drink mostly tea that comes in a tea bag.
- You never stepped foot into a tea store.
- You don’t know what Rooibos is.
- You never made tea yourself.
- Your teapot lies rusty and abandoned in an obscure kitchen corner.
They say you cross the line from a tea lover to a tea fanatic when:
- You’d rather spoil yourself with tea than with chocolate.
- You have a well-sized pantry shelf stocked with loose tea containers.
- You know when tea bags were invented and how.
- You shrug at the very notion of tea bags.
- You’ve brewed more cups of tea than you can remember.
Ok, so maybe we don’t all drink tea like the British, but there’s probably no one who wouldn’t enjoy a well-brewed cup every so often, so whether a tea lover or just the occasional drinker, you know what they say: if you want something done right, do it yourself. And this is where to start.
- Pick your tea
You can go with both loose tea and tea bags to personally test the difference. Sometimes, the key to enjoying tea is to get your hands on whatever you can find, that is buying different teas and working with different aromas to avoid falling into a tea rut, and consequently associate tea with bland and boring taste.
Some people switch from coffee to dark teas, others prefer herbal teas, and many go for fruity mixes. With so many options on the table, the only trick is to find your favorite(s).
- Make sure you’re using quality ingredients
If you’re a coffee drinker, then you must already be familiar with the basics of brewing, and that is the quality of the ingredients, in this case, the tea and the water.
Nothing takes the pleasure of drinking a hot cup than stale tea, and we’ve often seen this with tea bags, but even with loose tea when leaves are stored improperly. So it’s important that you use good quality tea and water because this is going to influence the result a lot.
- Brew it properly
There are several ways to brew tea: one is simply boiling water on the stove, another is using an electric kettle, and the third is using an automatic tea maker.
If you are really into teas, then investing in a tea maker mightn’t be such a bad idea since these machines can regulate time and temperature properly to give you a tea infused to perfection. But if you only have tea once in a while, then you can just use a simple teapot.
- When brewing tea, it’s important to remember that water temperature has to be adjusted according to the type of tea. You have to boil water for black tea, for example, while for white and green tea, you need water to be cooler so that the tea doesn’t taste bitter.
- You usually have to add about a teaspoon of leaves for a mug and an additional one for the kettle. So you would have 3 teaspoons if you made tea for two.
- Add water to the tea and let it sit for up to 5 minutes if it’s black tea, up to 2 minutes if it’s green and up to 3 if it’s white.