Nov 07, 2016

How To Make The Perfect Cup Of Tea In Just 3 Steps

Intro How much water do you use to boil your tea? And at what temperature? Do you approach green tea in the same way that you make black tea? And how much time should you take to brew the tea? These are all great questions that are going to have a lot of answers depending on who you ask, but in this article, we’re going show you how to brew the perfect loose leaf tea…...

First Step: Get A Porcelain Mug

sweese-tea-infuser

Guess what an 8th-century Chinese poet drank his tea out of?

For centuries, Asian culture has made an art form out of drinking tea, whether it’s green, black or white. So who better to get a recommendation from than a poet like Pu Yu who took the time to tell how he made his own cup of tea. He used porcelain, and Yu did that because he understood that the type of cup you use has quite an effect on the taste of your tea. Think of how whiskey or wine connoisseurs have a variety of glassware to drink their varieties of drinks from. And our porcelain? It’s sturdier than most other ceramics because it’s vitrified in excess of 1300 degrees Celsius. It’s non-toxic and is made with absolutely no chemicals. Plus, the infuser that comes with our mug is made of 18/8 stainless steel. Pu Yu would’ve loved to have drunk a cup of tea from our product! We bet you will too. Buying a mug is just the first step though…….

2nd Step: How Much Tea & Water Per Person

This is where personal preferences come into play as the way you prepare the water, as well as much tea you use, will affect the taste. As a basic rule, you want to stop boiling your water as soon as it reaches the point BEFORE it hits boiling temperature.

Many factors go into making the perfect cup of loose leaf tea, but our post will help you with getting the right water, the right temperature, and steeping it correctly.

It’s important to avoid getting the water too hot because the amino acids that produce a lot of the tea’s flavor will dissolve at this level. On a side note, many tea drinkers like to use filtered water for a purer taste. As for how much tea to use, you generally want a teaspoon per person. If you decide to use one of our mug infusers, then you will want to use that amount to put into the stainless steel infuser. However, if you’re particular about your teas, then you should use an electronic temperature gauge to hit the right spot. 70 degrees Celsius for white and green teas, 85 for black and oolong, 90 for chamomile, and 100 for herbal infusions. Remember though, these are guidelines for loose leaf tea only. The industrial tea bags that you’d usually get your tea from at your local grocery store will not produce the subtle flavors you may be looking for.

3rd Step: How To Brew Loose Leaf Tea

Image credit: B / World of Tea Infusers

Don’t stop at learning how to correctly boil the water though! Which tea you choose to drink will require different temperatures and steeping times.

Just as there are multiple forms of drinking containers to use, there’s a lot of ways to prepare the next step: boiling the water. With our mug infuser, you can avoid learning how to make green or black tea with a kettle or boiling pot as the stainless steel infuser has plenty of room to let the leaves breathe and steep. However, many connoisseurs choose to use a boiling kettle. This method should be used if you don’t mind leaving the tea leaves directly in the water. Just make sure you have a mug with a strainer on it otherwise you’ll have a messy cup of tea!

Like we mentioned before, you simply take some filtered water (usually a cup of water per person or serving) and then bring it to a boil. Stop it JUST BEFORE you reach the boiling temperature!
Then pour it out, and start boiling more water. Trust us, this makes the perfect cup of tea as a lot of the flavor will come from the pot, and warming it beforehand helps speed things up.
Add the tea leaves once you hit the correct temperature for your leaves, whether it’s green, oolong, black, or whatever.
Allow 3 to 5 minutes to steep, depending on how strong you want the taste.
Pour yourself a cup, add milk or sugar, and enjoy!

We heavily suggest that you do further research on your own to identify the best practices for the specific type of tea you’re making. Some teas, like many oolong teas, need lesser steep times and less leaves, while other tea leaves get their best taste after the third infusion. Like coffee or wine, these choices will coincide with your personal preferences. We hope this post was helpful to you and will provide a few tips that’ll bring even more enjoyment to your tea drinking! Whether you are just learning how to make loose leaf tea, or just want a cool porcelain tea mug to drink out of….we hope you’ll take a look at the Sweese Tea Mug Infuser.