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Making tea.
redx
I(x)=2(x)+1whole numbersRegistered User regular
I(x)=2(x)+1whole numbersRegistered User regular
Yeah, so I got around to picking up a kettle, and the little lipton in a bag thing just does not seem to be fancy enough to maintain my hot bevrege wang.
Always been a coffee guy, and I know a pretty ungoddly amount about it. So, I figure I should study up a bit on tea. What should I know? What is the deal with the tea in tins? How's that work? Do you use those little metal dealies with the hole in them? How long shoud I let it steep? What questions am I not asking?
Always been a coffee guy, and I know a pretty ungoddly amount about it. So, I figure I should study up a bit on tea. What should I know? What is the deal with the tea in tins? How's that work? Do you use those little metal dealies with the hole in them? How long shoud I let it steep? What questions am I not asking?
They moistly come out at night, moistly.
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Also: cinnammon chai teas. I've only had one or two different varieties, but they were incredibly tasty and usually just sweet enough to satisfy the palette.
A 'true brit' won't drink tea that isn't prepared this way.
I say it's bullshit, i can't tell the difference. I drink alot of tea though.... and i'm not that picky.
The idea i've heard is that it was (maybe still is?) important to steep tea at the high temperatures to kill off bugs and bacteria.
Coffee, if I remember correct shouldn't be made at above 76 C as it burns the bean and makes it taste un nice.
I like to hand in my man lisence and drink Mint green tea, it's extremely refreshing after a big meal and helps aid digestion.
Seriously there are hundreds of teas, go somewhere and ask for a recomendation trying new ones all the time, you will find one that you think is awesome.
Satans..... hints.....
The nice thing about loose tea is that it can be a great deal cheaper, and it offers a number of flavors you'll have trouble finding in tea bags, and it tastes infinitely better. There's no comparison whatsoever. It's extra effort, but it's extra class, too.
My favourite teas are Genmaicha (green tea & roasted rice kernels), Creme De Earl Grey, Market Spice and generally speaking, most any spiced (East) Indian tea blends, except Chai because apparently I'm weird.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Coffee beans are already roasted, as in, burnt. It's not using water that's too hot that gives that burnt, shitty taste, it's leaving brewed coffee on too much heat for too long.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I agree about the coffee thing. Never heard that before and turkish coffee is heated over dirrect heat untill it boils, and espresso is made with steam. Both tend to be dark roasts anyway, but I doubt there is more burning going on.
That would probably be fine, drank unstrained green tea and such before iwthout a problem.
If we're talking about tea, yes.
You don't really need to strain it, it's not like the floating bits are going to prevent you from sipping your tea. But I'd suggest that it'll be a little less frustrating if you do strain it.
The thing about loose tea though is that unlike the packaged and processed stuff, the tea leaves are gonna contain tanin. It's gonna get bitter if you steep too much too long in hot water. That's where having a tea ball or a specialty kettle comes in nicely. They tend to be very, very cheap, I think mine was $3 CDN, and you can generally get them anywhere that would sell loose tea in the first place.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Powdered green tea (matcha/maccha) is also quite good, and can be used with water of any temperature.
I was told that they had to do this before they discovered china (pottery), because their cups would shatter if heated too quickly, but now it's just a part of the 'tea culture'.
if my girlfriend is making it, a kettle will replace the microwave. we let it steep while it cools down from surface of the sun-degrees.
The way I make tea is to preheat the tea pot with hot tap water. Boil th ekettel and then our the just boing water straight into the now hot tea pot. Epicure also sells these Steeping baskets that fit in most tea pots that are wonderfull. I like my tea stronger so having an insulated pot and steeping for ~5 min is perfect for me.
They also have these tea tubes that are great for one cup of tea. You sccoop out your leaves with the tube and the bottom of the tube is perforated. You then set the Tube in your cup and steep untill ready to your taste. I am pretty sure you can get tea tubes from most kitchen shops.
I drink mosty herbal and some flavored black and green tea. Nothing beats Stash's mint tea when you are sick, cold, lonley or whatever. Use 3 bags of orage pekoe and 3 of cranberry stepped for a long time to make Iced tea.
Boiling water depletes the oxygen dissolved in the water, resulting in a flat taste with both coffee and tea. You want to bring cold water briefly to a rolling boil and no more otherwise you'll impair the flavour. Optimum temperature for coffee is supposedly around 96 degrees celcius but really what that means is water that has been briefly brought to the boil and then left to cool for about 30 seconds unless you are going to be really obsessive. Oh, and don't use water from the hot tap, the heating process in the tank is exactly what you're trying to avoid.
You can find tea brewing guides via a little known website that indexes most sites on the internet for easy searching. Here's one i found - http://www.2basnob.com/brewing-tea.html
Wiki's article on the subject is a bit long but nicely detailed.
As you can see, they aren't pricey at all, and loose leaf tea really does taste a lot better then the bagged stuff. There are also several variations of these infusers.
Also, the reason you don't want to seep tea too long is because of the Tannin content. This is what makes it bitter.
I don't really know if this is a worthwhile contribution, but it's early and I'm waiting for my Monster to kick in.
hmm... you think they sell it by the case?
:P
so, where is a good place to pick up nice tea? Would a whole foods sort of place have a good selection?
oh, and a big thanks to all the folks that posted stuff. Y'all rock.
edit:the tannin mentioned is the same stuff found in red wine, right?
You dont necessarily have to go to a speciality shop. Most of the grocery stores in my area have a few tins of loose tea of various types in the Coffee/Tea aisle. Though of course a speciality place will have a better selection. And selection at grocery stores surely varies by city and country. We might drink more Tea in Canada than in America.
As an alternative to a Tea Ball, there are tea pots you can buy that have a strainer thing built in, I've seen them in several places, though I dont have any personal experience as to how they compare to a tea ball. I've seen cheap ones for as little as $5.00 at the Chinese super market near me.
Something like this:
An organic or health food store would probably have a good selection of different teas.
Yeah
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Stash actually makes an excellent chai green tea. I also very much enjoy lipton's mint green tea. Both very tasty.
Now, is it correct to squeeze out the tea bag after steeping?
Tea Puritans will say no. The water you squeeze out of the bag apparently not only contains lots of small tea leaf particles, but it's particularily bitter and would ruin an otherwise nice cup of tea.
Then again, actual tea puritans will probably tell you to drop the bag and use loose leaf in a ball, or just loose leaf altogether.
Me personally? I just squeeze it a small bit so it doesn't leave a trail of dripped tea on my way to the garbage.
I buy loose tea from Teavana, and I also bought the "Perfect Tea Maker" there as well. It's a mug with a strainer at the bottom, you steep the tea in it then place it on top of your drinking mug and the tea strains through. This store is in the mall near me which is why I tried it. My recommended flavors there are Precious White Peach, Mandarin Orange Green, and Shanghai Dreams. I probably over pay for everything too.
As for the water temp and stuff I probably don't do that correctly, but I try to follow the steeping time that they say.
I'm a sissy and don't like the way the tea tastes by itself so I sweeten it with honey.
I use tea bags as well since it's more convenient sometimes.
Buy some useless stuff at my Cafepress site!
Has anyone tried these types of pots? I usually like to drink two cups of tea at a time, so this would make a lot more sense than using a tea ball.
these work fine, I use them when I'm feeling a little lazy
I got one, and It is pretty rad.
I feel lazy a lot.
Yeah, Bodum makes some awesome tea/coffee making & drinking peripherals. They have a cup that's just like the kettle above; so it makes tea for one. You know, say, if you're a friendless loser.
For loose tea, Tazo (find it in Starbucks) is recomended, as they're supposed to use whole leaves and not powder. I like Republic of Tea - their Chai and Blosom are good.
Jumbo Cup & Infuser
And I've heard Adagio Teas, The Republic of Tea, Harney and Sons Tea, Might Leaf Tea, Highland Tea Company, Revolution Tea and Tea Forte are all quite good. I intend to try all of them eventually because they all look damn good. Except Tea Forte is crazy expensive. I'm not so sure about that one.
I drink plain darjeeling and oolong sometimes. I usually drink green tea with orange though.
However, when I really want a good cup of tea, I spend some more time. The methods outlined previously all work fine, but I'd like to add yet anothe rmethod that (unless I missed it) works quite well. It's the Russian way to make tea. A good friend of mine had made it this way for me and it turned out very well.
As far as types, Earl Grey and Irish Breakfast are both nice. I like to mix it up a bit with Jasmine, Green, and Chai. Mint tea is a special treat
1.) Black Tea should brew for exactly five minutes in near boiling water.
2.) The water used should start cold, never warm or hot. Filtered is preferable, but not always necessary.
3.) Tea bags are nice, but loose tea is better. Get one of those awesome double sided spoons with little holes in them if you don't brew a pot.
4.) You need to heat the vessel the tea is going into (pot or cup) before serving. Need to.
My favorite teas are Celestial Seasonings (big fan of the zingers, and they have some good rooibos flavors as well). I'm kind of a girl when it comes to tea, and really enjoy the berry flavors.
Yogi Tea is also damn good, but I'm not sure if they're local or not. They have a redbush chai (rooibos and chai with a hint of vanilla) that I love.
Also, a little bit of honey in the tea goes a long way sometimes. I do it off and on when I feel like something a little extra sweet, and not only does it sweeten but it helps to bring out the flavor a bit too.
I guess I just got too used to the taste after coming in during the summer as a kid and chugging it down to cool off.