In general, for the best tea flavor, loose tea is recommended for making hot tea, although there are some companies who sell very high-quality tea bags. Traditionally, however, tea bags contain tiny bits of tea leaves (not tea dust from the floor!), which infuse much quicker than whole tea leaves, but also get bitter much quicker. To make the best pot of tea, the tea leaves should be whole, and given plenty of room to swell when the water is added. You can put the tea leaves directly into the teapot, where they will have plenty of room, but they will grow bitter unless removed from the teapot before serving.
For ease in removing the tea leaves, you can use a tea ball, wire mesh strainer, or one of my favorite tea accessories, tea filter bags. You can buy disposable ones at Peet's Coffee & Tea, Teavana, Lupicia Tea, and other San Jose area specialty tea shops, or you can make or buy reusable, washable cloth bags. Whether you use a tea ball or tea filter bag to contain your tea leaves, only fill it about 1/3 full, to make sure the tea has enough room to swell and release its flavor.
Tea absorbs other flavors really well, so you should steep your tea in something that won’t transfer its scent or flavor to the tea; traditionally, glazed pottery has been the favored material, but a tempered glass bowl will do the job, too. You can transfer the tea to your preferred container for serving, once it’s made.
Once you've prepared your water and your teapot, add one spoonful of loose tea to the teapot, for each cup of water that you’ll be using, plus an extra spoonful “for the pot.” If using a tea ball or filter bag, measure the tea into that first, and then close and place it into the warmed pot. Immediately after adding the tea, bring the tea pot to the kettle on the stove, pour the boiling water into the pot, put the lid on, and let it steep for 3 to 5 minutes. When ready to serve, remove the tea ball or T-sac from the pot, or pour the tea through the strainer into another serving container, or directly into the cups. For more tea tips, click here and here.
Copyright 2010, Elizabeth Urbach.
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For more information:
"What you need to make a good pot of hot tea"
"Iced tea and how to make it"
"The top 10 ways to recycle your tea and used tea leaves"
"The top 10 tea myths: don't be fooled by any of them!"
"Can you really decaffeinate your tea in 30 seconds?"
Twinings’ World of Tea
"Making the perfect cup of tea"
Comments
You write lovely articles, Elizabeth. I like the part about keeping the tea sealed up. I recently accidentally failed to reseal an packet of heavily minted tea and now everything in that draw smells like peppermint. Luckily all the other tea is tightly sealed.
I actually tend to make my tea one cup at a time. I use the Tuffy steeper from The Tea Spot. I only use my teapots when I want to feel fancy.
About the tea in teabags, I find there is a lot of variety in the teabags. Some have tiny leaves. Some have really big pieces. Some loose tea does not have whole leaves, either, just large pieces. I think some people sort of move up the ladder from teabags to good loose-leaf tea.
The Zealong had not only whole leaves, but leaves still attached to the stem. That was the first time I had ever seen that. The best thing about tea with big leaves is that you can often steep it several times.
I also think you can make a decent cup of tea with teabags if you watch your steeping time and do not let it steep more than about a minute. It is not ideal, but it is better than no tea at all.
Wow, a mint-scented drawer! I came close to having a lapsang souchong scented cabinet when I discovered that just because the box of tea is still wrapped in plastic, that doesn't mean that the scent will stay inside. I ran to the store and got an airtight plastic food storage box and transferred the tea into it. I can never use the container to store anything else, but it took care of the tea!
I also agree with you about the variation in teabag quality. Most teabags make a drinkable cup of hot tea, if not a great cup. While I carry a few teabags in my purse or work tote all the time (as well as a few teaspoons of loose tea and tea filter bags) I actually use more teabags for making cold-brew iced tea. I put a teabag into my water bottle in the morning and then fill it up with fresh water for the day. The tea flavors the water within an hour and stays good all day. Then I can save my better tea for when I have more time to infuse and drink it.
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