{"id":555,"date":"2019-11-15T03:13:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T08:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.theteatable.com\/?p=555"},"modified":"2019-11-15T13:14:32","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T18:14:32","slug":"how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-tea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-tea\/ ","title":{"rendered":"How to get the most out of your tea"},"content":{"rendered":"

O<\/a>ne of our worst fears is that customers might inadvertently ruin their tea.\u00a0 This is especially easy for the novice who might not yet know the best practices.\u00a0 Here’s a review of the most important things to do for a great tasting cup!\u00a0 I will assume that you have already bought nice loose leaf tea . . .<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Please use good water.\u00a0<\/strong> I can’t overstate the importance of this.\u00a0 Tea is too delicate a beverage to mask the taste of poor quality water.\u00a0 I found this out first-hand many years ago.\u00a0 I had moved into a new house where the city water left a lot to be desired, but I got used to the taste and didn’t think much more about it.\u00a0 I happily made my tea and drank it without complaint.\u00a0 Then I acquired a bottled water service at work, and since I made a lot of tea at work, became accustomed to its taste quickly.\u00a0 Back at home, I noticed my tea tasted awful!\u00a0 Before I realized what the problem was, I threw out a few pots of tea thinking I had let it get too old or something.\u00a0 Then I ordered the same bottled water service for home, and presto!\u00a0 Problem solved<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Use the proper amount of tea.<\/strong>\u00a0 Most people use too much tea, which can contribute to a bitter or overly strong taste.\u00a0 It is also wasteful.\u00a0 The best way to not use too much tea is to weigh it with a gram scale<\/a> (start with 2 grams per 6 oz. cup).\u00a0 Using a teaspoon per 6 oz. cup is also about right, but you have to note that some teas are very dense, like Gunpowder Green, while others are rather “fluffy,” like Imperial Silver Needles, so you have to adjust.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Please pay attention to the brew time.\u00a0<\/strong> In general, if you let your tea brew too long, it will get bitter.\u00a0 Some people are more sensitive to bitter taste than others, so preferences will vary widely.\u00a0 But it is a good habit to use a timer when brewing your tea.\u00a0 Even an old pro like me can walk away and get distracted only to come back 10 minutes later to an evil tasting cup.\u00a0 If you have your favorite tea all figured out and never ruin it, please watch it with new teas, especially green teas, which sometimes can get bitter even after one minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Use proper water temperature<\/strong>.\u00a0 The rule of thumb is boiling water for black and herbal; steaming water (i.e., sub-boiling) for green, oolong, and white.\u00a0 Some of the most delicate teas really do best if you use a thermometer to make sure you don’t go over a certain temperature.\u00a0<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Store tea properly for longest life.<\/strong>\u00a0 The rule of thumb here is “air-tight, dark, and dry.”\u00a0 Don’t use the refrigerator or freezer, just use any opaque container that has a good seal and keep it away from moisture and odors.\u00a0 Out resealable foil bags are an ideal way to store your tea, but you can also use a metal tin.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Clean your teapot regularly.\u00a0<\/strong> It’s easy to clean your teapot.\u00a0 A quick cleaning can be done with hot tap water and a brush to remove the visible residue.\u00a0 Never use a scrubbing pad, or anything abrasive.\u00a0 A more thorough cleaning can be accomplished by adding some baking soda, but only use detergent once, to wash a new teapot.\u00a0 You can continue to use detergent to clean the outside (only) of your teapot.\u00a0 The buildup on the inside of your teapot will tend to add a bitter quality to your brew and it can muddle the flavors of different teas, reducing each tea’s individuality.\u00a0 If you drink a wide variety of teas, you should also have a designated teapot for each type, for example, chai, unflavored teas, herbals, etc.\u00a0 Especially with ceramic teapots, flavors will be absorbed over time and can be noticeable when drinking a more delicate tea.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 Experiment!!<\/strong>\u00a0 This is absolutely the only way to tell the best way to prepare any given tea.\u00a0 Keep in mind that preferences will vary from person to person.\u00a0 Some people have very sensitive palates and can tell if a tea has steeped 15 seconds too long, while others are fine with letting a tea bag hang out of their cup for longer.\u00a0 But if you are interested in improving your cup, try these things:<\/p>\n

Use bottled water for a few days, then go back to your tap water and see if you can tell any difference.\u00a0 Good quality tap water is often just fine, but even so, bottled is often an improvement.
<\/em><\/p>\n

Vary the water temperature and brew time, especially if you are noticing bitter tea\u00a0 — keep notes for each tea so you don’t forget.<\/em><\/p>\n

Try different infusers made from different materials.\u00a0 I find people have really strong preferences about whether or not they like metal, plastic, cloth or paper, and often it is because of the taste.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of our worst fears is that customers might inadvertently ruin their tea.\u00a0 This is especially easy for the novice who might not yet know the best practices.\u00a0 Here’s a review of the most important things to do for a great tasting cup!\u00a0 I will assume that you have already bought nice loose leaf tea… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[78,12,27],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theteatable.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}