Brewing Tea - The Best Way - By: Lee Dobbins

We all love tea, its different flavors and its burst of much needed energy in many people, as well as the many health benefits ready to be had when drinking tea. However, when brewing tea, there are many different things that can directly affect the quality and taste. In this article, we will discuss a few tips on properly brewing tea that will ensure you always get the best cup of tea you can ask for.

The first thing you want to do is make sure you always have clean equipment. You see, after each brew, residue and mineral deposits will exist, it is important, in order to get the best quality in each brew that you clean all equipment. This means your teapot, kettle, cups, tea infuser, and strainer. These should be washed gently using baking soda or soap regularly.

Your water is an essential element as well, which is a given because tea is made up of ninety-nine percent water. You might want to consider using bottled or filtered water while brewing tea. The rule of thumb is the better tasting your water, the better tasting your tea. If you do not have any bottled or filtered water available, you will need to use tap water. Make sure the water is cold and you run it out of the faucet for at least 10 seconds before you begin to fill your teapot.

For brewing tea, you will need to make sure you measure six ounces of water for every cup you brew. Now, there are rules of thumbs about temperature of the water and when it comes to steeping, it all depends on what type of tea you are intended to brew.

For example, for black tea, you will want the water temperature to be somewhere between 195 and 210 degrees Fahrenheit and you would steep the tea for up to five minutes. For Oolong tea, your water should be between 185 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit, with a two to three minute steeping time. Green tea needs a water temperature of 165 to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, White Tea needs 160 to 175 degrees Fahrenheit, with both need two to three minutes of steep time.

When brewing tea, you have the choice of using tea bags, satchels, or whole leaves. Tea bags and satchels are the easiest and require no measuring; you would use one for each cup you intend to brew. However, with whole leaves, depending on the tea you are brewing you would use one to two teaspoons of tea for each cup of six ounces brewed.

About the Author

Lee Dobbins writes for http://tea.topicgaint.com where you can learn more about different types of tea and how to brew them.

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