How to: The Perfect Brew

Brewing times. It’s something the majority of us don’t usually consider when making a steamy cup of tea. Boil water, pour it over the tea bag in the cup, drink. It sounds like the world’s most simple recipe. But there seems to be an art to brewing the perfect cup of tea. You, lucky reader, get to have the secret to becoming a tea-brewing master. 

Green and White Tea:

These delicate teas get special treatment when it comes to brewing. To get the perfect flavors here you should heat the water to just before the boiling point. Water that’s too hot can “cook” your tea leaves(which is not our goal here). Let the green tea steep for 1 minute or less and the white tea for 1-3 minutes. (Matcha tea has the same heating instructions, but no steeping time of course!)

Black and Oolong Tea:

With these two, you can boil the water to your heart’s content before pouring it. Then let each of them steep for 5-7 minutes.

Herbal Tea:

As with black and oolong, Herbal tea can be made with boiling water. However, this time, you can let it steep for 5-7 minutes depending on your preference of flavor strength.

Here's a handy little chart that puts it all together

As for how to remove the tea bag, you can take a look at “The Great Squeeze Debate” to help you make your decision.

And for the very last step: Drink and enjoy! *But be careful not to burn yourself, it always ruins the experience*

-Elizabeth

The Great Squeeze Debate

Tea.

It's the world's most popular drink (excluding water), [Source] and it is simple enough to make that anyone can enjoy it. Additionally, it can be relatively cheap, especially when compared to coffee.

        

So obviously, the majority of the world can agree that tea is a spectacular beverage, but what seems to be the cause for debate in this area is the matter of whether or not tea bags should be squeezed subsequent to brewing.

It makes sense to squeeze tea bags. After all, the liquid absorbed by the bag is usually the most flavorful, and by wringing out the bag, the issue of that tea-puddle disappears.

However, many argue that in squeezing the tea bag, the previously perfect cup of tea takes on a bitter taste.

Which side has a more valid argument?

As it turns out, tea leaves have oils in them, called tannins. These oils are what can cause a cup of tea to turn bitter. When one squeezes their tea bag post-brewing, they are releasing the bitter tannins into their beverage. The bitterness is rather subtle. Enough so, in fact, that many do not notice a difference in flavor!

Typically, black, white, and green teas have the highest amount of tannins in them, while herbal teas have little to no tannins.

So really the choice is yours, whether or not to squeeze the tea bag. If the flavor of your tea seems kind of off, then maybe try not to squeeze the bag or don't let it brew as long. If that tea puddle really bothers you, squeezing the bag will not make such a huge difference on the taste.

Or do it like I do: don't remove the bag at all.

-Liesl