1. Seven steps for making a great cup of tea is exclusively for loose-leaf tea.
2. The second step in seven steps for making a cup of great tea is to use good water – Brewed tea is more than 95 % water, so make sure your water tastes good. Natural spring water will make a great tasting cup of tea. Filtered waters like PWS or Clearly Canadian is easily available and they do a very good job. There is a simple test, just taste your water before you start the kettle to boil. It should taste good by itself it should be smooth tasting and perhaps have a slight sweet taste. It should have no metallic or chlorine taste and distilled water is a “no no” as that makes poor tea.
3. The third step in seven steps for making a cup of great tea is use the correct measurement of tea -we recommend 2 - 3 grams of tea per 8oz cup of water. For most teas that means one rounded measuring teaspoon to 8oz of water and you may need to adjust slightly based on the tea. If it is very dense tea you would use 1 level teaspoon, if it is very bulky, you would use two even taps. Also how strong you like to drink you cup of tea will make a difference in the amount used.
4. The fourth step in seven steps for making a cup of great tea is to use the correct water temperature -This is vital and this is the most common error. I have listed the recommendations below and if it is green or white tea that you are making it would taste unspeakably bitter if you leave it over-steep.
Black tea, boiling water (212 degrees)
Oolong tea, water between 180 -200 degrees
Green tea, water between 160 – 180 degrees
White tea, water between 155-165 degrees
Puerh tea, water is just off of a boil 200 – 210 degrees.
5. The fifth step in seven steps for making a cup of great tea is to steep the tea the correct amount of time-These are generalizations, however there are many exceptions to the rule. Just remember if it steeps too long the end results is having a cup of bitter tea.
Black tea 4-6 minutes.
Green tea 2 -3 minutes
Oolong tea 3-5 minutes
White tea 1.5 – 2.5 minutes
Puerh tea 30 seconds – 30 minutes
6. The sixth step for making a great cup of tea is to allow the tea leaf room to expand to at least 3 to 5 times in size -Tea is simply a dried out leaf and when it is re-hydrated it will expand to a dramatic size and if there is not enough room for the leaf to expand it will not release its natural flavour and some of the tea leaves may not even steep as it may be packed in the tea ball too tightly.
7. The seventh step for making a great cup of tea and the final one is to remove the leaves as soon as it has reached the steeping time as if you leave the tea in the water, it will become very bitter and almost undrinkable.
Enjoy all of your future cups of tea!
Would you like to recommend this article to a friend? May we suggest you try one of our teas: Cream Black Tea, Lady Grey Tea or Vanilla Black Tea.
