For conventional loose brewing, all you need is a method of heating the water, a brewing container (eg a teapot or just a drinking cup) and a tea strainer to remove the leaves from the water at the end of the brewing process. The most practical screen model is open, body-shaped and as spacious as possible. No strainer is needed in the bowl tea (see related tip).
If your tea pack does not have proper brewing instructions, below are relatively general instructions for different tea categories.
Green and yellow tea: water 70-80 ° C, simmer for 1-3 minutes.
White tea: water 70-90 ° C, simmer for 2-5 minutes.
Black tea, oolong tea, dark tea and herbs: water 90-100 ° C, simmer for 2-4 minutes; herbs can be stewed for longer.
Dosage per 2 deciliters: 1 bag of tea, or loose tea about 2 grams, usually 2 teaspoons. Some teas are more voluminous in composition (e.g., most white teas) or denser (e.g., rolled oolong and Japanese green teas). Fortunately, the dosage of tea leaves is not a millimeter, and the amount can be adjusted with experience with subsequent brewing times. Herbs can be dosed more vigorously.
Gongfu brewing is also worth exploring, as it brings new dimensions to tea taste, especially for oolong tea and dark tea. At TeeMaa, you will find an Introduction to Gongfu Tea Guide to that need.
GENERAL TIPS
• The easiest way to get 70-80 degrees water is to pour a quarter of the cold water and the rest of the boiling hot water into the brewing vessel. The water can be poured over the leaves, so they sink and start to give flavor faster. Water temperature is of great importance, especially when making green tea, which has a reputation for being over-bitter because it is often brewed in too hot for too long.
• When brewing tea, do not move the leaves or squeeze liquids out of them. This will avoid unnecessarily bitter taste.
• The same tea leaves, especially loose leaves, can be used for several stews. For new stews, you can add the brewing time or the water temperature to keep the taste strong. Once braised, the leaves are good to use up within a day.
• Even the most expensive tea has a very low price per liter. If additional brewings are calculated, then, for example, € 20/100 g of tea costs about 70 cents per liter. It is in the same price range as the cheapest meats, and significantly cheaper than basic beers and wines. Still, a good tea can be a much more varied flavor and a more pleasant mood effect drink.
• Teas with the same name may be different. Price differences are often explained by differences in quality, which can be seen in the composition of the leaves and the taste of the tea. Especially in China and Taiwan, a lot of “same” tea is made in many different grades and from different regions.
• A bowl of tea is the simplest way to drink tea.
The bowl tea does not need a sieve or other special accessories, but a drink container, loose leaves and hot water. Put the tea leaves on the bottom of the container; a good dosage is about half the number of leaves in a standard sieve stew. Then pour hot water (which can be boiling) into a container, preferably by force, so that the leaves mix with the water and sink more securely. Wait until the tea cools to a potable temperature. Leaves left on the surface can be blown aside when drinking.
In a bowl, the best type of container is specifically a bowl or other flat cup. The hot water in it cools faster, so you don't have time to release too much bitter or dry taste from the leaves. An unflavoured tea made up of large, whole leaves works best as a bowl because the taste stays soft and the leaves don’t swim in your mouth. Chinese and Taiwanese black teas are excellent bowl teas.
PREPARATION OF ICE TEA
The easiest and usually the most effective way to make a tasty iced tea is by cold brewing. Dispense leaves and cool water in the usual 1 g / 1 dl ratio or slightly stronger. Then leave the container in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours. The tea can be left to simmer for much longer, for example overnight. Cold brewed tea leaves can still be brewed again in hot water.
The taste of cold brewed tea emphasizes light, fresh and soft elements with less bitterness and dryness.
Iced tea brewed from good quality loose leaves is good for power even without sweetening. However, if you want to sweeten the tea, boil a small amount of water and mix it with sugar or honey, and when this is dissolved, add that water to the iced tea.
Particularly good teas for iced tea include jasmine tea, kukicha (green stick tea), houjicha (roasted green tea), flower herbs, and many green teas and light oolongs in general. If the oolong tea is wrapped in balls, rinse the leaves quickly with boiling water so they start to open and are able to give flavors better.
Iced tea is a nice fresh drink in the summer heat, but in fact hot tea is also a good cooler because it tricks the body into cooling itself more efficiently than normal, where cold drinks can momentarily stop the body’s own heat control.