Making Tea 1 - How you can Brew an excellent Cuppa

It's amazing how few individuals understand how to brew the type of refreshing, invigorating tea enjoyed through the English-speaking world for two centuries. This really is undoubtedly the easiest way for strong black teas for example Assam from India, Ceylon from Sri Lanka and blends like English Breakfast.

These teas are dark in colour having a strong tea aroma and therefore are comprised of small bits of broken leaf. They've been withered and air-dried to build up the distinctive colour and flavour, which provides them a higher content from the stimulants theophylline and caffeine. They have to be infused with really boiling water for any small amount of time, and create a very unpleasant bitter or stewed flavour if brewed too much time.

The critical factors are quality equipment and materials, cleanliness and maximum flavour extraction. Which means you'll want really warm water and stir the pot! The technique given here's easy and reliable, but could continually be varied to match individual tastes.

You'll need:

Top quality, fresh strong black tea

Heavy china teapot with a decent spout

Fresh, clean, soft water

Kettle, electric preferred

Tea strainer, stainless with capable preferred

China cups or mugs, preferably 200ml or larger

Skim or low-fat milk (optional)

Tea cosy to maintain teapot warm (optional).

I haven't mentioned lemon, sugar or teaspoons since they are all quite unnecessary to savor good tea. The teapot, kettle and strainer should be clean every residues from previous use will modify the flavour.

What direction to go:

Place the water onto boil: about 1 cup (250ml) per person, plus 1.

Pre-heat the teapot by pouring just a little hot water inside it in the kettle, right before water boils. The teapot should feel totally hot to touch.

As the water reaches the boil, pour the water from the teapot.

Add tea to pot: one good, heaped teaspoonful (about 4g) per person, plus one "for the pot".

Pour the boiling water directly to the tea.

Stir vigorously having a spoon. The majority of the flavour is extracted over these first couple of seconds, which means this step is vital.

Leave to face for 3-4 minutes. Any more and also the tannins will quickly be extracted, giving the tea that woody or stewed flavour. Cover teapot with tea cosy if room is cold or draughty.

Pour a little volume of skim milk into each cup (if liked). About 1 tablespoon or 20ml is sufficient. When there is only full cream milk, use less.

Pour the tea into each cup while using strainer to trap leaves (there must be several ).

All of the tea ought to be poured at the same time, leaving just a little who are holding cards. Second cups will never be of the same quality as the first, so aim to make that first cup big enough!

The tea as poured ought to be a deep coppery brown, as well as with milk added ought to be an abundant coppery brown instead of milky white. The tea within the cup (or mug) ought to be drinkable for 25 minutes approximately, which time could be extended by since the cup having a lid.

For any variation, use twice the quantity of tea as well as an even shorter brewing time. These items includes a real kick!