How to make the perfect cup of tea

Until recently I was never really a big tea drinker. I found that it was either too weak or too bitter tasting for me to really enjoy a cup or two. I ended up drinking mostly sweet, fruity teas rather than the real thing.

Since starting my health-kick in October of last year I have been reading a lot of nutrition books and I came across Dr Michael Greger’s ‘How Not To Die’ book which includes information on the benefits of drinking tea, in particular, white tea, for warding off illnesses. 

Deciding that I was going to start incorporating more tea into my daily routine I started researching into all things tea and have become a bit of an amateur tea junkie over the last week or so, learning about the different types of tea, how to brew the different types of tea and which teas to avoid in order to get a genuine cup of quality tea.

Today I want to share some of the tips I have discovered in my research because learning how to make the perfect cup of tea has converted me into a big tea drinker! So if you want to find ways of adding healthy and delicious tea into your daily routine check out the below.

First and foremost avoid tea bags.

Yes, I know they might appear to be convenient and the most popular way to brew tea but there are lots of problems with this method of brewing. The tea used by big corporations in their tea bags are usually of low quality and the leaves are practically pulverised in the machine-picking process which means you miss out on so much of the goodness and flavour from the tea.  There is also the question of the material the tea bags are made from, do you really want to be drinking plastic? For the best tea experience, loose leaf is the way to go.

Get to know the types of tea.

There are several different types of tea which differ based on which leaves are picked and at what time of year and each one needs to be brewed differently in order to get the best out of the leaves. I admit I didn’t realise that oolong was its own type until recently! The main types of tea are white, yellow, green, oolong, black and fermented. Once you know what your tea is you can learn how best to brew it. There is a fantastic guide to brewing different teas which you can find here.

Have the correct teaware.

If you do choose to move away from tea bags (do it!) you will need some decent teaware in order to brew up a good cuppa. The basic apparatus you will need is a temperature controlled kettle (so you can heat your water to the correct temperature for your chosen tea), a teapot (with internal infuser which holds the tea leaves) and your favourite tea mug. There are lots of beautiful tea sets and fancy gadgets out there for brewing tea so spend some time choosing your teaware and get just what you need for making a great cup. I recently purchased the Connoisseur Glass Tea Brewer And Decanter which I will review soon!

Avoid flavoured teas.

A trap that I have discovered I have fallen into is buying teas which have an amazing smell or flavour without checking the labels to see the ingredients. The majority of flavoured teas, such as ‘chocolate chip chai’ are made by mixing regular tea leaves with artificial flavourings which don’t give you a genuine tea experience because the chemical additives hide the real taste of the tea. If you want to have a flavoured tea then the best ones to go for ones with flavours from flowers, such as jasmine, as these are usually made with real flowers rather than artificial flavouring. Always check the back of the back!

Remove your leaves.

One of the big mistakes most of us make when making tea is letting the tea leaves steep in the hot water for too long which results in stewed leaves and a tea which can taste very bitter. The bitterness comes from chemicals in the leaves called tannins which are released after extended brewing times.  To avoid this nasty taste make sure to brew your tea for the time specified by your type of tea and remove the leaves from the water immediately, don’t let them hang around! Using an infuser is great for this as you can easily remove the leaves without making a mess.

Switch to Gong Fu Brewing.

In the West, we tend to use a small number of tea leaves and brew them for a good few minutes which doesn’t necessarily produce the optimal conditions for a quality tea. Gong Fu Brewing focuses on using a large number of tea leaves and brewing them very quickly so there is less of a chance for the tannins to build up which leaves you with a flavourful tea, not one that is bitter, over-brewed and stewed. It is amazing how different a tea can taste when you brew it this way rather than the western style. You might discover that you actually love a tea that you’ve hated in the past simply due to the way it was made.

Don’t waste good tea leaves

Most of us will throw away our tea leaves once we have brewed one cup and get on with our lives but this is a big mistake especially if you are brewing Gong Fu style where you use a large amount of leaf. Tea leaves can be used multiple times (infusions) if you don’t brew them for too long. In fact, some types of tea such as oolong can be used up to 9 times! Keep this in mind if you are buying loose leaf tea which is usually more expensive than tea bags because you can actually get far more bang for your buck than you realise!

How do you enjoy your tea? Have I inspired you to make any changes? Let me know in the comments.