Making an Impeccable Cup of Tea

There is more than one way to make tea.  You can use the old method of putting leaves directly into the pot.  This method yields the best overall cup of tea since the leaves will have plenty of room to uncurl inside the pot.  However, this method of making tea means that you will need to drink it right away since it will not last very long.

Many North American households make tea by using tea bags.  The tealeaves will be held inside the bags with much less room to draw flavor from.  Making tea this way will still produce a great-tasting beverage.  This is also the most convenient method of making tea, which is tone of the reason why it is so popular.

Instead of letting the leaves float around in the pot, you can contain them in tea balls.  This is a great way to contain the leaves, but it will also leave them with less room.  Using these stainless steel or aluminum balls is also convenient.

When using loose leaves or tea balls, you will always need to consider how many leaves to put into the water, as well as how much water to use.  Everyone has different tastes, but you will generally want to use one cup of water for each teaspoon of leaves.  The more leaves you put into the water, the stronger your tea will turn out.

The temperature of the water that you are steeping the tealeaves in will also determine whether it tastes good or not.  When making black tea, you will want to use boiling water.  Other types of tea, like green tea, should be prepared in slightly less hot water. 

When it comes to boiling water, you should not need detailed instructions.  However, it is important to note that oxygen is removed from the water as it boils.  Oxygen in the water helps the tea taste better.  Therefore, if you boil the water for too long, you will not end up having an impeccable cup of tea.  With this in mind, you should avoid reheating water that has already been boiled once.

The other main thing to consider when making tea is how long to steep the leaves.  The longer you steep the leaves, the stronger your brew will become.  Do not overdo it.  Anywhere between two and five minutes should be good enough depending on the type of tea you are making.  Black tea leaves need to be steeped for about three to five minutes, while white and green tea leaves should be fine between two and three minutes.