If tea is brewed incorrectly it will taste different and may not be as enjoyable. The main things that can impair your tea are:
Water: The quality of the water you use can impair the final flavor of your tea. If your water is hard and mineral rich, this could bring a harsher tasting brew as it will extract more astringency from your tea. If the water used is too soft however, the opposite can happen, and your tea may result weak due to its less astringent properties. To ensure the perfect cuppa, we advise you use filtered water that can be created by using a simple carbon filter.
Water Temperature. Depending on the type of tea you are drinking, different water temperatures are recommended. For more delicate teas such as green, white and oolongs, we recommend using water off the boil that has been cooled down slightly. If you use water at 100c, this may burn the leaves and leave you with a very bitter cup. For black, herbal and dark oolong teas, the ideal temperature is 100C, this allows for the flavours and properties to be released. We never recommend using water below 80C as this will leave you with a weak cup and does not allow for all the lovely properties to be released. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can leave the freshly boiled water in the kettle for 3 to 4 minutes, this should bring the temperature down to 80c.
Brewing Time: These also vary according to the tea you are brewing. For most black teas, the optimal brewing times are 3 minutes for a weaker cup to 5 minutes for a strong brew. If you leave it any longer it may be too bitter. For white tea, the brewing times can vary from 2 minutes for a light brew to 7 minutes for a stronger cup. For Japanese green teas the optimum times are much shorter and range from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Green tea can be reused so the less you brew it for the more times it can be re-brewed. Chinese green teas are best when brewed between 2 and 3 minutes. Herbal tea brewing times vary accordingly, please refer to individual product page.
Quantity: The amount of tea you use per cup is important as this will change the strength and flavor of your brew. If you use too little tea, you will get a weak cup and by using too much you may end up with a cup that is too bitter and strong. Generally, we recommend 1 teaspoon of tea per cup, which is approximately 4-5g. Please note that some teas are heavier or lighter than others so do bare that in mind when deciding what quantity to use.
As an additional note, it’s important for the tea to have enough space in your brewing vessel as tea tends to unfurl and grow when in contact with hot water. The more space it has to brew, the better the cup!
Of course, everyone’s palate is different, so these are general guidelines to be used according to preference.