Best Practice Guidelines for Tea Making
HOT SERVE TEAS
- The tea used should be of good quality.
- Always warm the pot before making tea.
- Run the water for a moment so that it is fresh and well oxygenated before filling the kettle or water heater and make sure that the water is boiling before pouring it over the tea.
- The quantity of tea used should be adjusted according to the number of people being served and the method being used. Using leaf tea the guideline is to use one heaped teaspoon full per person plus one extra ‘for the pot’. If using tea bags, use one per person but make sure that you use the right size teabag for the size of cup or mug being used. As a general rule a standard size 2 gram teabag is designed to fit a 6 ounce tea cup - an 8 ounce mug requires a 2.5 gram English style tea bag.
- After pour boiling water onto the tea leave it for four to six minutes before pouring so that the tea leaves have time to open properly. The colour of the tea does not necessarily indicate this.
- Once infusion has taken place, remove the tea leaves or tea bag to stop further infusion. If tea is left in the cup or pot too long it releases too much tannin and becomes bitter to taste.
- Milk can be added to the cup either before or after the tea is poured, depending on personal taste. However, china and green teas, which are light, are generally better without milk as are flavoured teas.
ICED TEAS
- To make iced teas, follow exactly the same procedure as above but use 50% more tea than you would for hot serve teas.
- Once the tea has been allowed to brew, pour the tea through a strainer (or remove the tea bags) and let the tea stand for about an hour until it reaches room temperature. It can then be put into a refrigerator to cool further or poured over ice and drunk.
- Some quality teas will turn cloudy when placed in a refrigerator but this has no harmful affect on the taste or quality.
- Iced tea is best served poured over ice. Stir the tea into the ice and add sugar to taste and serve with a slice of lemon or sprig of mint.
- Iced teas should always be served within 5-6 hours of being made.
