Brewing the perfect cup
Flavourful blends
Blended and flavoured teas constitute two major subgroups of tea. Most commercial blends contain 20 or more teas from different origins. English breakfast, orange pekoe and Earl Grey are all well-known black tea blends, the latter also belonging to the "flavoured" category, as it is perfumed with bergamot oil. Other flavoured teas include orange spice, jasmine and Chinese rose.
Not really tea
We call it tea, but technically herbal tea is not a true tea since it doesn't contain leaves from camellia sinensis. Best defined as herbal infusions or tisanes, popular brews include peppermint, chamomile or rose hip.Peak of confusion
Many people assume that orange pekoe is a type of tea, but along with its variations (pekoe, pekoe souchong, and flowery orange pekoe) are all used to identify a leaf size or grading measurement. Most tea labelled orange pekoe is a blend of black teas from India and Sri Lanka. Plus, who knew we were pronouncing it wrong? The right way to pronounce it is PECK-oh.
Loose versus bagged
Tea bags usually contain lesser quality, broken leaves which infuse more quickly than whole leaves, but tend to go stale faster with a six-month shelf life, compared to loose tea which can be stored one to two years.
Storage
Tea stores best in a dark, cool cupboard in an airtight metal or opaque glass container. You can flavour your own loose leaves by putting cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla beans or dried citrus peel in the container.
Brewing a perfect cup
Good quality tea is the first necessary ingredient, but water is the second. When using tap water, make sure it is fresh and cold. If your tap water has an "off" flavour, you may want to use filtered or bottled water. First, warm up your tea pot. Black and oolong teas require hot, boiling water, however with green tea, it's best to heat water to steaming. Or let boiled water rest 3 minutes before making tea. Opinions vary on the amount of tea you should use, but generally use one bag, 1 level teaspoon of loose leaves per 8 ounces of water. Steeping times vary among varieties: black 3 to 5 minutes; oolong 7 to 12 minutes; green tea should steep only 2 to 2-1/2 minutes. For a richer tea, add more leaves rather than steeping excessively as the brew will turn bitter. Remove tea bags or strain out leaves from the pot before serving tea.
Blended and flavoured teas constitute two major subgroups of tea. Most commercial blends contain 20 or more teas from different origins. English breakfast, orange pekoe and Earl Grey are all well-known black tea blends, the latter also belonging to the "flavoured" category, as it is perfumed with bergamot oil. Other flavoured teas include orange spice, jasmine and Chinese rose.
Not really tea
We call it tea, but technically herbal tea is not a true tea since it doesn't contain leaves from camellia sinensis. Best defined as herbal infusions or tisanes, popular brews include peppermint, chamomile or rose hip.Peak of confusion
Many people assume that orange pekoe is a type of tea, but along with its variations (pekoe, pekoe souchong, and flowery orange pekoe) are all used to identify a leaf size or grading measurement. Most tea labelled orange pekoe is a blend of black teas from India and Sri Lanka. Plus, who knew we were pronouncing it wrong? The right way to pronounce it is PECK-oh.
Loose versus bagged
Tea bags usually contain lesser quality, broken leaves which infuse more quickly than whole leaves, but tend to go stale faster with a six-month shelf life, compared to loose tea which can be stored one to two years.
Storage
Tea stores best in a dark, cool cupboard in an airtight metal or opaque glass container. You can flavour your own loose leaves by putting cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla beans or dried citrus peel in the container.
Brewing a perfect cup
Good quality tea is the first necessary ingredient, but water is the second. When using tap water, make sure it is fresh and cold. If your tap water has an "off" flavour, you may want to use filtered or bottled water. First, warm up your tea pot. Black and oolong teas require hot, boiling water, however with green tea, it's best to heat water to steaming. Or let boiled water rest 3 minutes before making tea. Opinions vary on the amount of tea you should use, but generally use one bag, 1 level teaspoon of loose leaves per 8 ounces of water. Steeping times vary among varieties: black 3 to 5 minutes; oolong 7 to 12 minutes; green tea should steep only 2 to 2-1/2 minutes. For a richer tea, add more leaves rather than steeping excessively as the brew will turn bitter. Remove tea bags or strain out leaves from the pot before serving tea.
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