Making tea may seem a simple and easy task but to brew the perfect cup, one needs to take care of some key details. Kausshal Dugarr, founder and CEO - Teabox elaborates how: The quality and freshness of tea defines a good tea experience. Buying fresh whole leaf teas is key to savouring delicate tastes and aromas.
When you've acquired the best loose leaves, then the quality of water plays a very important role in bringing out the best flavours. Water should be as fresh as possible.
Temperature plays a crucial role in steeping tea. Use water just when it starts to boil (around 85 C - 95 C). This will effectively bring out all the right flavours and curb the unwanted bitterness.
Avoid boiling water. It scalds the leaves and affects the flavours adversely.
A tablespoon (2.5 gms) of leaves is recommended for every cup of water (180ml).
Choose a clean tea-maker/pot, ideally porcelain, glazed ceramic, or glass to avoid unwanted peculiarities of taste.
Pour hot water over the tea leaves and not the other way around. A lot of people overlook this simple step. Leave the infusion covered for 2-5 minutes according to the instructions provided. Your tea is ready to drink.
For cold brews, you'll need 1.5 times more leaves than a regular hot brew for every cup of water. Add leaves into a flask/jar and pour cold fresh water over it. Depending on the type of tea let it steep for 4-10 hours. Steep white, Oolong, green teas for shorter durations and blacks, flavoured fruit/floral infusions for longer.
You can also refrigerate the brew if you prefer colder drinks.
Rishav Kanoi, Tea Expert and Founder at Tea Trove also has some tips to share:
One shall understand the four different types of tea: White, Green, Oolong and Black.
One shall not call it brewed; tea is steeped.
One shall steep tea as per suggested steeping time of 5 minutes for Black and White teas, 2 minutes for Green tea and 4 minutes for Oolong Tea.
One shall use filtered or bottled water to make tea.
One shall use a proper teaspoon for every 180 ml of water.
One shall not use a tea bag but shall only use loose teas.
One shall steep loose tea leaves 2-3 times by adding hot water and increasing the steeping time with each infusion.
