The Perfect Pot Of Tea

To Make A Perfect Pot Of Steeped Tea...

the tea from which you will derive the most pleasure is always made from high quality, full leaf, loose tea leaves. Obtain this, along with a tea kettle, a tea pot, a tea cozy, and a large wire mesh tea ball and you are ready to begin.

First, fill your tea kettle with fresh, cold water and begin bringing it to a boil. Fill your tea pot with hot tap water to warm it. Spoon your tea into your tea ball, allowing one generous teaspoon per cup plus one for the pot. It is important that your tea ball is large enough to accommodate the tea and still have half again as much space remaining. Tightly packed tea leaves cannot steep properly.

Once your water reaches a fierce boil, pour the hot tap water from the tea pot and place your tea ball inside the pot. Pour the bubbling water over the leaves, filling the pot it its brim.

Brew black tea for three to five minutes, perhaps a moment longer for very strong tea. Shorten your steeping time to three to four minutes for oolong teas and two or three minutes for green teas.

Be careful that you do not over steep your tea or you will end up with a harsh, astringent cup, when what you are truly after is a cup that is fragrant and inviting.

Remove the tea ball from the pot with tongs or decant to another warmed pot. Use your tea cozy to ensure that each cup poured from the pot is as hot as the first cup.

Tisanes ~ Although the brewing of tisanes requires a similar effort, the steeping time can vary from ten to twenty minutes, depending on the herbs being brewed. Since tisanes are herbal, they do not contain the caffeine or similar alkaloids which often proves to be the culprit in a bitter cup of tea.

Unlike tea, tisanes may be made using bagged mixtures or bagged herbs. The longer brewing time required for tisanes makes the use of a tea cozy even more important.

Iced Tea ~ Iced tea can be made in two ways. You can brew double-strength hot tea and then chill it in a clean glass pitcher. Double brewing is important so that the addition of ice does not dilute the flavor.

You can also make sun tea by placing 10-15 tea bags in a clean glass container and covering them with fresh, cold water. Place this container in a sunny place for four to eight hours. Sun tea tends to be less cloudy than iced tea made by the hot brewed method.

Sun tea is the only kind of tea ideally made from tea bags. Bagged tea is made from the broken leaves, dusts and "fannings" of the tea drying process. As these leaf fragments no longer have an intact integument surrounding the leaf, they readily release the astringent tannins when boiling water is poured over the tea bags. These same tannins are not released when the bags are heated by solar gain.

Bagged teas do, however, release the characteristic proteins and alkaloids of their larger-leaf loose teas. Consequently,bagged teas make very good sun tea. Large leaves require the heat of boiling water to fully expand and release the characteristic proteins and alkaloids necessary for a fine cup of hot tea. Heat from the sun is inadequate for this purpose and so sun tea made from full-leaf loose pack tea generally lacks the body of sun tea made with tea bags.

This article is written by Laurie Nienhaus, founder of The Ladies' Tea Guild and Editor in Chief of The Gilded Lily. Visit The Ladies' Tea Gild @ www.GLily.com