What is the 'correct' way to brew English Breakfast tea?!
What is the 'correct' way to brew English Breakfast tea?
Answers:
By the pot:
If loose tea, use strainer and 1 tsp loose tea per cup.
"hot the pot" by filling teapot with hot water. Let hot water heat the pot.
Use teakettle to heat water, even if for just a cup. Microwaved water cannot reach a high temperature without posing risk to tea drinker. When kettle whistles, empty teapot of hot water. Set strainer in teapot. Slowly pour water over tea leaves in strainer. Let steep for 2 minutes, with lid on.
(Do the same with bags) Remove leaves, unless you like it stronger.
Use china cups. If you like milk (not cream), pour preferred amount of milk into cup first. Then add hot tea which heats the milk. Adding milk at the end of pouring tea, cools tea.
Add sugar if you like. Best in cube form.
Pre-heat the pot by pouring boiling water into it. This will raise the temperature of the pot. Discard the water and add tea to the pot. This water has served its purpose: now use fresh boiling water. Pour boiling water over the tea. This saturates the tea making for perfect extraction of flavor. Taking hot water to the table and then pouring it over tea will lower the water temperature too much and result in poor tea. For black teas steep a full five minutes, three for green teas. Good tea needs at least this much time to develop its full flavor. Decant the tea.
I drink English breakfast tea every day.. I put the tea bag in the pot or cup, let it brew for a while (depending on desired strength). Add your milk n sugar as required.
I do remember a bit of a debate on TV once, based on, should you put the milk in first... I say NO!
There is a very simple principle to the making of tea and it's this - to get the proper flavour of tea, the water has to be boiling (not boiled) when it hits the tea leaves. If it's merely hot then the tea will be insipid. That's why we English have these odd rituals, such as warming the teapot first (so as not to cause the boiling water to cool down too fast as it hits the pot).
We have tea a variety of ways most of them are a quick way of drinking, a tea bag seeped in a hot water for a few minutes and done. He says the Americans are mystified when they see the English way of making tea and the tea ceremony, because that is the best way to get a good cup of tea. He says neither Americans and many British don't know how to make a good tea. He recommends the following:
1. First boil water in a Kettle, bring the water to boil.
2. Pour this boiled water in a tea pot, just a little to keep the cup hot, swirl it around and throw it away.
3. Bring back the kettle and resume the boiling again.
4. Place the Earl Grey tea bags (or loose tea leaves) in the tea pot and pour the boiled water on top of this tea pot.
5. Let the tea brew for two to three minutes and then drink this tea.
You can add other milk, honey, lemon etc., depending on preferred tastes, but once you drink tea this way, he says you will under the British Way of making proper tea. Also you can add Cardamom pods to this tea, adds significant flavor to the tea.
I try a similar way, I have an Assam Bodum Tea pot, it does something similar, pour hot water over the tea leaves placed at the bottom and let it brew for 3 minutes.