Amanda Roberts

    aroberts42@live.com

    I’VE always hated tea. I don’t know why. I grew up in the American south and every time I turned my nose up at a glass of sweet tea, people looked at me as if I had grown an extra head. However, I like the idea of tea. I enjoy the variety to choose from, the smells, and the ritual of creating the perfect cup. When I moved to China, one of my goals was to find a tea I liked.

    One major problem I had, though, was that I didn’t know the first thing about brewing tea! I knew that not all teas are created equal, and each type would require a different amount of tea and different steeping times. Considering that there are hundreds of kinds of teas available in China, it all seemed a bit overwhelming. So I put off learning how to steep my own tea for far too long. I recently found a brilliant little tea company when I was in Changsha and spent time at a teashop with my friend, and I found the drive to learn how to steep tea for myself. It really isn’t that hard with a little bit of knowhow.

    1. It all starts with the water. Never use tap water for your tea. You want to use some kind of filtered, purified or bottled water. The purer the water is, the purer the taste will be from your tea.

    2. Decide what kind of tea you will brew. The kind of tea you brew will determine the temperature of the water you use and the steeping time. While there are hundreds of varieties of teas, they generally fall into five categories: black tea, white tea, green tea, oolong tea and herbal/flower tea.

    For black tea and oolong tea, you will want the water you use to be boiling. For all others, your water will be “short of boiling.” That means to remove it from heat just before it begins to boil or remove it from the heat after it boils and let it cool for 30 seconds before pouring it over your tea. You will also want to figure out the benefits and side effects of the teas you are thinking of trying. Some have caffeine, but some will make you drowsy. Make sure you know what you are getting!

    3. Figure out how you will filter your tea out of the water. You don’t want your tealeaves floating freely in your cup for a few reasons. No one wants to eat tealeaves. They might get stuck in your teeth. You can use them to steep several cups of tea. Most people use some kind of basket system for their teas. I use a slotted glass insert in a glass mug. Tea ball diffusers are more common in the West. There are also pots that will filter the tea out as it is poured, but these can be hard to clean and you can’t remove the leaves when they have steeped long enough.

    4. Measure your tea. You only need 1-2 teaspoons, or 5-10 grams, of tea for 180 ml of water. This is for a teacup-sized serving. If you are using a mug or making a whole pot, you will need to measure accordingly. Start with one teaspoon the first time. If it isn’t strong enough, you can try using more next time. Place the tea in the basket, diffuser, or teapot.

    5. Steeping times. For black, red, and oolong teas, you will have a longer steeping time, as much as 3-5 minutes; but for white, green and herbal teas, you will have a very short steeping time, as little as 30 seconds. Depending on the herbs or fruits in your tea, you might need to steep it longer, as much as two minutes, but better to be understeeped than over. Start with a short amount of time, have a taste, and then steep a little longer. Be sure to save your tealeaves. This is where a basket system or a ball diffuser come in handy. You can usually get 4-5 cups of tea from one ounce of loose tealeaves.

    6. Be flexible and willing to fail. Everyone has different tastes. If you don’t like the tea you prepared the first time, try a few variations before you give up. Even then, don’t give up on tea altogether! Keep trying, and you find the right one for you. You can also add honey or milk for different flavor combinations. Relaxing or energizing, Chinese teas in decorative tins make amazing gifts.