Are you wondering how to get the most delicious flavors out of your loose leaf tea? In this blog, we’ll take you through several steps to help you bring out the best flavors in your cup of tea.
Anyone can make tea. Hanging a tea bag in a cup of boiling water will do the trick. But how do you brew tea with loose leaf tea? To get to the brewing method for each type of tea that gives only the flavors you want and leaves out the unpleasant ones, you could well speak of an art. The art of making tea.
Besides a delicious cup of tea as a result, going through the steps also helps you step by step to be more in the moment. Your complete focus on preparing tea makes you forget everything around you for a while. This is your moment of balance today.
It's time for the first step. What tea have you picked out? Depending on your choice, you can begin to determine the appropriate brewing method. Green, white, oolong, black, yellow or Pu Er tea each require their own brewing method. A few degrees warmer water or longer infusion time can give a green or black tea an unpleasantly tart mouthfeel. While a white tea brewed at too low a temperature or with too short a brewing time has a flat taste. Is the leaf rolled into balls? Then the tea leaf often needs several infusions to get all the beauty out of the tea. Does the tea consist of smaller (often broken) particles? Then the extraction takes place more quickly and you can generally keep to a shorter infusion time. What seem like small variations can give big differences in flavor.
The next step is to determine which way you will brew the tea. Will you use a tea infuser, tea strainer, paper tea filter or Magic Tea Maker? We are talking about making tea the Western way. See how much room the tea leaf has to open. Is there enough space? Then the tea leaves have a good chance to release their flavor. If there is less space, then this is made more difficult and you may need more extraction time. Often tea brewed in the Western way is suitable for one or two infusions. Are you going to make tea the Eastern way and use a gaiwan or kyusu? The tea leaves then get the full space due to the width of the cup or pot. In addition, according to tradition, more tea is used with these brewing methods. It is then recommended to keep shorter infusion times and make multiple infusions.
Choosing water is the next step. In addition to tap water, you can use spring water or filter tap water with a Brita or ZeroWater water filter jug. Each type of water affects the taste of your tea. This has to do with the amount of minerals (especially calcium and magnesium) and the PH level. This can also vary considerably from region to region. Even though the tap water in the Netherlands is of very high quality, when we use it to make tea it does not always turn out to be the best. When you start applying the art of tea making per tea, you will see that every tea has its own match in water type. Tip: take notes so that next time you will know which brewing method with which type of water you liked best. You will discover that some oolongs require calcium-rich water to get typical flavor characteristics in your cup of tea. In contrast, most black teas come out well with mineral-low water. Just experiment!
Finding the appropriate water temperature for the tea of your choice is the next step. For each type of tea, there is a rule of thumb you can follow as a guideline. White tea 70-90℃, green and yellow 70-85℃, oolong 80-100℃, black 90-100℃ and Pu Er 100℃. Note that if you keep a relatively high temperature for the tea type, you will shorten the infusion time slightly. Temperature has a lot of influence on the flavors released from the tea leaf in the infusion. Polyphenols - chemical compounds found in plants - cause astringency (the tart, dry mouthfeel) and dissolve faster in hot water, which is not always what you prefer. Temperature is an important factor when it comes to influence the flavors you want to get in your cup of tea.
You have now weighed the right amount of tea according to the chosen tea, prepared water to the desired temperature and set up your brewing equipment. Now let's move on to the last step before you can start enjoying your delicious cup of tea. We are going to determine the infusion time, or extraction time. On the packaging of HAO TCHA tea, or on the HAO TCHA website, you will find the brewing advice including the infusion time. Often, teas from other brands will have brewing recommendations as well. No brewing advice to be found? Then these tips may help you. Are you going to make tea the Western way? Then you can apply 1-2 minutes. With an Oriental brewing method, 30 - 90 sec per infusion is a good indication. In general, you can say that with a higher water temperature, the extraction proceeds faster. In other words, the tea releases its flavor into the water faster. The result is a more intense infusion. A shorter infusion time is then recommended.
Congratulations! You did it! You have a delicious cup of tea in front of you with all the unique flavors that have arrived in the infusion. You can be proud of that. If you get a lot of enjoyment out of brewing tea and may be trying to master this art as well, then note-taking may be for you. Writing down all the steps and experiences that your senses take in will bring you even more into the present. That's exactly what we at HAO TCHA get a lot of satisfaction from. Have you been successful in creating your moment of reflection? Did preparing and drinking tea contribute to a better balance in your day? Then maybe tomorrow it's time to consciously brew a new tea from your stash of tea.
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We believe in finding a balance. Or, you might say: in continuously looking for balance. After all, we move up and down with the waves of life. HAO TCHA is a way to feel at ease among these waves. To find a moment of reflection and inner peace.
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