BREWING GUIDE Choosing Good Tea Needs Care
• Did you know that • Good tea is inexpensive but not cheap. For what it offers, tea is an affordable luxury but choosing good tea needs some care. Tea made in the traditional, artisanal way – called the orthodox method – retains the sophistication that natural soil, and climatic factors induce. Tea packed at source, retaining its freshness and in particular tea that maintains the purity of its origin – single origin, single region or single estate tea – is best.
Protect Your Tea Connoisseurs store their wines in climate controlled cellars and cigars in humidors. Tea is no different in requiring care in its storage. Tea is hygroscopic, absorbing moisture and similarly odours or fragrance. Protect your tea in an airtight container, and keep it away from moisture, heat, light and odours. Stored in a cool and dry place never warmer than 30 degrees centigrade. For medium term storage, keep your stocks of tea in an airtight foil pouch or ceramic container in the refrigerator.
Importance of Water A cup of tea is 99% water and good water is as important for a good brew as the tea itself. Water that contains high levels of minerals, especially calcium, or magnesium (hard water), water that is chlorinated, briny or desalinated sea water or has been boiled several times is not good enough for brewing tea in. Tea is delicate and the pleasure in fine tea comes from the combination of ragrance, brightness, strength, flavour, body and texture. A ontaminant like chlorine, or a poorly washed teapot can affect your enjoyment of good tea as much as using bad water can. Ideally good water means spring water but not if you live in Stockholm where the tap water is perfect, from glacier fed reservoirs. Water in London on the other hand is OK for drinking but not so for brewing tea. If the water is your area is ‘hard’ or mineral rich, ontains chlorine, fluoride or other chemicals, in particular calcium, you need a good activated carbon filter. These are commonly vailable for domestic or professional use.
Boiling Reboiling water is not good at any time as it can deplete dissolved gases and concentrate nitrates, fluoride and other undesirable elements, and for tea that is especially bad In a professional environment use a samovar with a good thermostat to minimize reboiling, whilst at home, use a kettle and fresh water every time.
Brewing Brewing is the extraction of the goodness nature has induced in the black, oolong, green or white tea leaves. Using the right amount of tea for the volume of tea you wish to brew is critical, as is the method of brewing. There are several ways of brewing tea with varying sizes of teapot, ratios of tea to water and traditions although the most convenient and efficient is this. Use 2.5g of tea per 220ml water. Using a clean and dry teaspoon, place the 2.5g tea in a clean, odour free and pre-heated teapot. Pre heat the teapot and cups by swirling around some hot water in them and pouring it out before brewing. Pour freshly, once boiled water onto the tea leaves using 220ml per 2.5g of tea. Poor preparation is the most common cause of tea that fails to please. The water temperature and volume must be as per Dilmah art of tea brewing.