How To Prepare Proper English Tea
- Boil the water when making black tea. If making a green, oolong or white
tea, do not boil the water; the leaves should be infused around 185 degrees
F. or they will extract bitterness.
- Preheat your teapot with warm water to maintain optimum brewing temperature.
- Measure the tea. Too much or too little can ruin all efforts to make
a good tasting tea.
- Place the tea into the mesh infuser of your teapot or a mesh tea ball.
If using a tea ball, do not fill it more than half full because the tea
leaves will double in size when infused.
- Just as the water reaches the boiling point, turn off the flame. Do
not overboil the water or it loses oxygen, and tastes flat. Pour out the
warm water in the pot. Insert the mesh infuser and pour the water onto
the leaves. When the loose tea and boiling water meet, the leaves unfurl
and unveil their flavorful infusion. This is called "the Agony of the
Leaves."
- Time the infusion. You only want to extract flavor, not the bitter tannins.
Depending upon the tea variety and your particular taste, infusions take
3 to 5 minutes.
- Remove the mesh infuser. Cover your pot with a cozy to keep the tea
warm and enjoy a cup.
