Enyeribe Ejiogu ([email protected])
To tea aficionados, tea is not just prepared anyhow. There is a culture attached to it. Without going through the appropriate ritual of making the popular beverage, the result does not excite at all.
First, you need to understand that there are only six kinds of tea. All tea comes from the same plant. “All teas that are classed as tea have to come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant,” Kate Woollard, tea expert at Whittard, told BuzzFeed Life in a report. “A lot of companies have gotten into the habit of giving something the title ‘tea’ because it’s something that you put in your cup and it’s hot. “Specifically, tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia plant. Everything else, a herb (like mint), fruit (like raspberry) and so on, is an infusion.”
For clarity, the types of tea are white tea, green tea, yellow tea, oolong tea, black tea, and pu-erh tea. “When you have the title ‘white tea’ or ‘green tea’, you’re actually describing the process by which it has been made,” Woollard said.
You should never add boiling water to the pot
“You never want boiling water when you’re drinking tea,” Woollard cautions, adding, “You don’t want to burn the leaf.” When it comes to making an infusion, however, boiling water is a good idea. “You want to make sure you get the best amount of flavour out of an infusion. It’s almost like a jam. You’re rehydrating the fruit.
You should try to use fresh water every time
If you live in a hard-water area, you might find a scum at the top of your cup. There are a few ways around this. Firstly, if you have a water filter, then use filtered water in your kettle. But if you don’t have a water filter a nice trick is to use fresh water every time. Every time you reboil your water, you’re condensing the minerals that are naturally in existence in water. So when they cool down, they rise to the surface and give you that film on the top. If you only use the certain amount of water in your kettle, enough to fill up your cup, every time you’re using fresh water, you’re reducing the amount of lime scale build-up in your kettle.”
You never need to add a spoon for the teapot
You should only use one level teaspoon of tea leaves per person – by adding more tea you will end up making the tea too strong and lose that original unique flavour of the tea. Effectively, you’re wasting tea. “Never add ‘one for the pot’, it’s an old wives’ tale,” Woollard says. “You’re using way too much tea than what you need. With a six-cup teapot, and a standard tea, use five level teaspoons. A large leaf tea, something like a silver needle, you’d use six level teaspoons.” But what about teabags? “Personally, I don’t drink normal teabags, but I do drink large-leaf teabags. This is the convenience of a teabag, but with loose leaf tea in it. It means that I get the best quality tea, and I can reuse it two to three times, and I don’t need a strainer.”
You never need to heat up your teapot
The only time you should heat up your teapot with a splash of hot water is if it’s heavy stoneware.
“I would heat up your stoneware teapot slightly, with a little hot water,” Woollard says. “If you have quite a heavy stoneware or china teapot, it’ll retain a lot of its own temperature – so it’ll be cool. It can drop the temperature of your tea quite rapidly down. “Whittard likes to use a glass teapot. “We’ve got a six-cup Chelsea teapot made from reinforced glass. I love to have a glass teapot – it’s nice to see the different colours. It’s got a really visual impact.”
If you’re using a pot, add milk to the cup first
The order depends on how you’re brewing your tea. If you’re making tea in a teapot, add milk to the cup first. “If you’re making it in a teapot, we always recommend that you put the milk in first,” Woollard says. “If you pour the tea afterwards, it heats up the milk to the same temperature as the tea. It makes all the proteins in the milk break down at the same rate. It means you get great flavour throughout the cup of tea and it stops that build-up of scum you might get at the top. Basically, if you put the milk in first, then you bring the temperature of the milk back up to the same temperature as the tea. If you’re adding milk afterwards, you’re making the tea cooler.”
If you’re using a teabag, add the milk second
Let the tea brew, add the bag to hot water for three minutes, take it out, and then add milk. “Some places pour water in on top of your teabag, and then pour milk right on top. You have to allow the tea to breathe, you have to allow the tea to start to brew. I would recommend to put the teabag in, then your hot water. Then leave it for the allotted amount of time (three minutes). And then you can add milk as you like. If you put milk in straight on top, it cools the water down. Also, the fat on top can clog the tea leaves and stop it from brewing,” says Woollard.”
Never squash the teabag against the side of your cup
Squashing the teabag by the side of the cup will release more tannins, and leave a bitter taste. Instead you should just lift out the teabag, to stop the bitter flavour. “If you leave it in for too long, you’re going to overwhelm the flavour with all the natural tannin flavours in there, and polyethanols etc. “We’ve gotten used to really strong bitterness and think that’s what tea should taste like. Tea should never feel that strong or bitter. If you do really like a really rounded malty flavour, as opposed to a really bitter flavour, then we just recommend you change your tea. A really strong malty flavour would be an assam second flush. It gives you a nice breakfast flavour. For stronger again, I’d go for a Kenyan. So instead of over-brewing, just change your tea.”
Why does tea taste better from a teapot?
“If you’re using loose leaf tea, then the tea has a wider surface area,” Woollard says. “This means it needs space to brew. If you give it that space (in a teapot), then it gives it a rounder and more easygoing flavour. If you’re using a teabag in a cup, it’s designed for speed. Because you’ve broken down the size of the leaf, if brewed incorrectly, it can be stronger. We’re not trying to dissuade people from using teabags, but if you want a more rounded flavour, then we’d recommend loose leaf tea.”
The order depends on how you’re brewing your tea. If you’re making tea in a teapot, add milk to the cup first. “If you’re making it in a teapot, we always recommend that you put the milk in first,” Woollard says. “If you pour the tea afterwards, it heats up the milk to the same temperature as the tea. It makes all the proteins in the milk break down at the same rate. It means you get great flavour throughout the cup of tea and it stops that build-up of scum you might get at the top. Basically, if you put the milk in first, then you bring the temperature of the milk back up to the same temperature as the tea. If you’re adding milk afterwards, you’re making the tea cooler.”
If you’re using a teabag, add the milk second
Let the tea brew, add the bag to hot water for three minutes, take it out, and then add milk. “Some places pour water in on top of your teabag, and then pour milk right on top. You have to allow the tea to breathe, you have to allow the tea to start to brew. I would recommend to put the teabag in, then your hot water. Then leave it for the allotted amount of time (three minutes). And then you can add milk as you like. If you put milk in straight on top, it cools the water down. Also, the fat on top can clog the tea leaves and stop it from brewing,” says Woollard.”
Never squash the teabag against the side of your cup
Squashing the teabag by the side of the cup will release more tannins, and leave a bitter taste. Instead you should just lift out the teabag, to stop the bitter flavour. “If you leave it in for too long, you’re going to overwhelm the flavour with all the natural tannin flavours in there, and polyethanols etc. “We’ve gotten used to really strong bitterness and think that’s what tea should taste like. Tea should never feel that strong or bitter. If you do really like a really rounded malty flavour, as opposed to a really bitter flavour, then we just recommend you change your tea. A really strong malty flavour would be an assam second flush. It gives you a nice breakfast flavour. For stronger again, I’d go for a Kenyan. So instead of over-brewing, just change your tea.”
Why does tea taste better from a teapot?
“If you’re using loose leaf tea, then the tea has a wider surface area,” Woollard says. “This means it needs space to brew. If you give it that space (in a teapot), then it gives it a rounder and more easygoing flavour. If you’re using a teabag in a cup, it’s designed for speed. Because you’ve broken down the size of the leaf, if brewed incorrectly, it can be stronger. We’re not trying to dissuade people from using teabags, but if you want a more rounded flavour, then we’d recommend loose leaf tea.”
