The number of times we have been asked how you make a decent brew is many… so here it is as simple as we can make it.
- Fancy mug – tick.
- Upgraded to real tea – tick
- Fresh water straight from the tap (not old water that has been sitting in the kettle for days) - tick
Moving on to the numbers bit....water temperature and brew times.
The more the tea has been fermented the higher the water temperature should be. Fermentation means oxidised (this means turning from green to brown, like an apple turning from green to brown when cut open). Black tea has had the most fermentation and white / green tea has had the least so you need to be more delicate with these teas.
With traditional black tea boiling water is a must, straight from the kettle with no hanging around is key. The complicated yummy flavours of black tea are not fully released with water below 99 degrees.
Green tea and white tea are best brewed at 70 - 80 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer to hand allowing the water to cool for 3 minutes will get it to the correct temp.
As oolong tea sits between green and black the best brew temperature is 90 degrees. If you allow the water to cool for approx one minute.
With herbal infusions like liquorice and mint and lemon and ginger we always use boiling water to release all the flavour.
Lastly there is the all important brew time, really there is lots of variation here, it's dependent on leaf size and type. Our recommendation is 3 minutes – whilst you should form your own opinion on the strength of flavour you enjoy to get the best from your real whole leaf tea 3 mins is a must.
