Test Your Tea Knowledge.
Tea is not complicated but there is a lot misinformation out there. If you follow our instructions you will have a perfect cup of tea every time,
Use Loose Leaf Tea
Tea bags might be simple but would you drink instant coffee? No, I don’t think so. It’s time to step up to premium loose leaf teas and explore a whole new world in taste. So let’s get started. Read this to learn why we not keen on some tea bags.
Steeping Times
Don’t let things get bitter. Teas have different steeping times. Too short and your tea will be weak and insipid, too long and it becomes bitter. It sounds like tea making is complicated but how hard can it be when it’s the second most popular drink in the world, after water. If the rest of the world can figure it out, I’m sure you can too. Just read here, I guarantee you will get it.
Wrong Water Temperature
Most Americans believe that tea needs boiling water to brew, but this is simply not true. Some teas need to steep at lower temperatures. Black teas can tolerate boiling water but can be steeped at lower temps. A good rule to remember is that lower temps allow longer steeping times. It’s not complicated- read this to learn the nuances. You’ll discover that tea can taste so much better.
Yucky Water
Your tea deserves good clean water. Most tap water works fine, but sometimes it has too much chlorine and minerals. Learn how to bring out the best flavor from your loose teas. Read this to learn more.
Ditch the Tea Ball
A relic from the stone age, the tea ball still lives on. Tea technology doesn’t change much, but a good modern infuser is a game changer like the car was to the horse and buggy. If you want the modern way to brew tea, read on and enjoy the wonders of modern technology.
I Like Strong Tea
Over steeping is not the answer here. If you like strong tea, add more tea leaves into your infuser. Remember what we learned a few paragraphs before - longer brewing time makes bitter tea. But if you’re talking about caffeine strength read this blog post to learn about how much caffeine there is in teas.
Not all Tea Is Actually Tea
We tend to call every dried herb, flower and fruit that we make in a cup of hot water tea. But true tea is actually the leaf from a specific tree. We sell all varieties of loose “teas”. We little care what you call your infusions or Tisane (if you want to use the adopted French terminology.) If you want to get to the bottom of this discussion read this blog article.
Is Green Tea Is The Best For Your Health?
This is a popular misnomer and is not entirely true. All true teas comes from the same plant. Different processing methods result in green tea or black tea. Processing does not make one style healthier than another. Read this blog post to learn how and why Buddhist monks drink green tea to improve spirituality. Bonus: you’ll also learn about the a rare amino acid in tea that helps with focus.
What’s The Difference Between a Tea Pot and a Tea Kettle?
They are both part of the tea making process but do different things. It’s like the word affect and effect. In casual conversation you can probably slur it and cover up your momentary lapse of the correct use of the English language. Then you will be thinking you were such an ignoramus for getting those two words confused. The difference between a Tea Pot and Tea Kettle are like the words affect and effect. This short primer with the infographic will help you remember and will spare you some embarrassment at your next social engagement where, this subject will surely arise. Read this refresher and be prepared and and spare yourself the social embarrassment.
Decaf V. Caffeine Free
Similar to the above example. These 2 are similar yet different, It’s more like the difference between bald and shaven heads. One guy had hair and removed it and one guy just doesn’t have hair. If you’re totally confused now, read this blog post for clarification.
Orange Pekoe Is Not A Flavor Of Tea
Tea is graded like everything else. Unlike colleges grades there is no failing in tea. But tea bag teas get the equivalent of a D grade. D is for Dust or Fannings and this low ranking tea goes into tea bags. So stay away from most tea bag teas.
Orange Pekoe is one of the arcane grades assigned to tea leaves. As it refers to a grading of a tea leaves, it has nothing to do with a particular flavor. Some plain black tea bag teas say Orange Pekoe which is the source of confusion. if you're looking for a black tea ask for a straight black tea and we would be glad to show you our selection of top grades black teas.
If you made any of these rookie mistakes or if you think I missed something, please comment below. I will add them to the article. Thanks for reading.
Below are a couple links to some of our products that help with making the perfect cup of tea!