Okay! Ready? To make tea, you boil tap water, pour, steep and sip. Right? Worse, nuke a mug of tap
water. Right? Nope and nope. Trust me. The type of water and how it's
heated does affect the taste. I'll skip the parts about what temperature and bringing to a boil or just before a boil and all that that some say are necessary for certain teas. I boil and follow the steeping directions for each individual tea.
My electric Black and Decker tea kettle quickly brings a wee or a lot of
filtered water (or anything but tap) to a boil. If I'm using loose herbs, I prefer to
spoon them into a basket for steeping. I use the baskets that come in the vessels I mention below or you can purchase one, such as this. Then I set a timer for the
precise time recommended on the box, which varies according to the of tea. I
don't dump the pot every time I make a spot, but I do fill the pot with
fresh filtered water for each new day that I serve up a cup.
Remember to steep according to directions. This is probably the key reason people don't like hot tea and find it bitter. It took me years to realize this.
Grace insists on an infusion of honey for her mugs while I drink all
of mine plain but Earl Grey and sometimes a fruity blend. I've recently,
signed up for Weight Watchers meetings again. I'm a "lifetime member."
I'm ready to lose the next 10 from my 25 pound relationship gain
2007-11. Sometimes one spoonful of honey doesn't get it and each serving of the
golden delicious costs me two Weight Watchers points. I'm experimenting
with less honey for those blends that just scream HONEY! and a little stevia. I'm working on getting the amount of stevia down but seems when I get close, it accentuates the warm, yum, medicinal-healing taste & healing properties of honey.
Black, green, fruity herbal or just herbal, savoring my cuppa at just
the right temp is key to enjoyment. If I'm road tripping I take this
along, by Teavana. Absolutely the best for keeping tea piping hot for hours.
I mean 3/4 of the way from Nashville to upstate South Carolina. Nearly a
day's length. Great to pack for a bundle of errands or a day writing at
the library (sssshhhh!). I was unable to verify if Franklin Tea still sells a tall steel mug that is perfect for shorter jaunts as it's not as uber insulated as the Teavana mug. When I want just a mug
to perch arms length away on my desk while I work at home, I found a steel large (not tall) mug
by Starbucks, which is my fave. (I didn't pay this much for mine.) Ceramic only works for me if it's a cup sipped
in a cushy chair face-to-face with a friend. No distractions. I'd love
to hear your favorite varieties for cermic mugs that keep tea warm. I'm interested in local handmade pottery
varieties and those with lids. Remember the wider the mouth, the more
air will swoosh in and cool your hot tea. Go smaller.
If it's more than just me enjoying a spot of tea, especially if there's more than two and/or we'll be sipping more than one cup, I'll heat my large cast iron Japanese Tsetubin, which can be kept on a tea light warmer, or thought not advised, I sometimes keep it on a special warmer eye on my flat top stove. I recommend Teavana for larger Tsetubins. The materials used to construct the pot are important. Some less expensive models can chip ceramic paint. Franklin Tea has an array of fun pots for serving up small, or individual batches to a guest. Remember to heat up any serving vessel first before adding the water in which you plan to steep the tea. My Canadian friend used to do this each time I visited her during the colder months. This was before I became more tea savvy. I thought the warming up of the pot, the tea cozy and all a bit overkill, but she always served the perfect pot. Now I get it.(You warm it up by boiling tap water and then pouring it into the pot and letting it heat up the pot before dumping and putting in the fresh, pure, heated water for steeping the tea.)
If you've read this far you're gawking at my geekness or your
resonating and you totally get it and/or maybe learned something new,
maybe you'll even venture to try tea again anew. You'll either get me or
not. I hope you do. If not, go ahead. Laugh at my expense. I'll enjoy my
tea and never would I spit it in your face. ;)
The rest of the series:
Tea Time with Leisa, Part I
Tea Time with Leisa, Part II
