5 Tea Tips for 2023

January 19, 2023

Happy New Year my dear tea lovers! I thought I would start your new year off the right way and share my 5 top tea tips. 🌿🫖

1. Loose Leaf Tea

It s true, preparing loose leaf tea does require a bit more effort than throwing a tea bag in a cup. But the results are of so worth it!

Using loose leaf tea will always give a full-flavoured cup, while keeping the health properties of the tea intact. And you can use the steeping time to pause, breathe and reconnect.

2. Water

Water makes up 99% or more of a cup of tea. It has a great impact on the taste and aroma and yet it is often an ingredient that is overlooked.

You should always start with water that is good tasting and fresh. If you water is hard, or treated with chlorine, it will affect the taste of your tea, and therefore should be filtered first.

3. Temperature

Different teas require different steeping temperatures. Black teas are totally oxidised. This makes them very robust, and so are able to withstand boiling water.

However, if you pour water that hot on white or green tea, it scalds it. The tannins leech out of the leaves very rapidly and your cup of delicate tea flavours are overpowered by the bitterness of the tannins.

So what temperature should your water be for the more delicate leaves? Generally somewhere between 70 and 80 degrees is appropriate. That way you won't scald the leaves and you'll get the flavours without too much of the bitterness.

4. Steeping

If you are new to using loose leaf tea, you may be unsure how long to steep the leaves for.

As timing is one of the most important factors in getting good tasting tea, one of the best things to do is to invest in a tea timer. That way, you will not end up with bitter tasting tea, but will make the perfect cuppa every time.

The recommended steeping times are:

3 mins for a light brew

4 mins for medium

5 mins for a strong cuppa.

To get the strongest cup of tea possible, you need to add more leaves at the beginning of the process. Leaving the leaves to steep longer than the recommended time will just leave you with bitter tasting tea, due to the release of tannins. This is especially the case if you are using a black loose leaf blend.

5. Never reboil.

Water also reacts best with the tea if there is oxygen in it. So you should always empty the kettle and refill it with cold water before boiling again, and do not re boil twice. Re boiling reduces the amount of oxygen and nitrogen and results in a duller flavour.

Happy steeping! Let's make 2023 your year to make the best cuppa every time.

🌿🫖

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