Have you ever gotten blank stares from friends when you gift them a tin of loose leave tea? Well, we have.
This is why we have decided to dedicate a post to guide your friends and you on how to make great loose leaf tea at home. It's simple, we promise. You won't need any fancy equipment.
Here's what you need to make a great cup of tea:
1. Loose leaf tea
2. Kettle
3. A tea infuser and a cup or teapot with internal infuser or disposable tea bag
Step 1 - Boil water
Boil water in a kettle. We won't recommend heating water in the microwave as you have no control over the temperature
If you're a tea aficionado you would know that different types of teas will require different temperature and steeping time. Here's a guide to steeping temperature and brewing times.
White tea - 75° ~ 85°; 3 - 5mins
Green tea - 70° ~ 80°; 2 - 3mins
Oolong - 80° ~ 95°; 3 - 5mins
Black tea - 85° ~ 95°; 3 - 4mins
Pu'erh - 90° ~ 95° Herbal - 100°; 4mins
You might be wondering how would you bring water temperature down to exactly 80° for your green tea if your kettle only boils to 100°. Don't worry, here's what we always do - let water boil to 100° in our kettle, pour water into our cup or teapot and let it sit for about a minute or two to cool down before putting our tea in.
Step 2 - Put tea in the cup or teapot
The recommended quantity is 1g of tea to 100ml of water. Your mileage may vary, depending on the type of tea and how strong you like it.
As a guide, we'll recommend 1 teaspoon full per standard 8oz. cup (236.6ml). However, do note that teaspoons are not precise measurements since one teaspoon can fit 1g of white tea or 3g of oolong. Thankfully, tea is an art rather than a science so you can judge for yourself how much tea is enough for your favourite cup.
You can use a tea infuser similar to this one, disposable tea bag, teapot with internal infuser like this or our personal favorite: BREW Bottle. Whatever tool you decide to use, remember to allow space for the tea leaves to expand.
Step 3 - Pour the water and brew
Fill your cup or tea pot with hot water and put your tea leaves in. Brewing time goes from 2-5 minutes depending on the type of tea and your personal taste. You may refer to the guide above as reference.
You can usually find brewing temperature, steeping time and other instructions on tea tins / tea packagings.
Step 4 - Enjoy your tea
Once brewing time is up, remove the tea leaves and enjoy your tea. We like our tea with no lemon, milk (unless it's a breakfast tea), or sugar added!
We hope this brief guide puts an ease to mind and motivates your friends and you to try brewing loose leaf teas.
If you're still not convinced, we also package our tea in practical tea bags. Our teabags use the exact same loose leaf tea and we use the best materials to package it. Check them out here: https://amuseprojects.com/products/brew-teabag
If you have questions for us, simply click on the "Message Us" button on the bottom right of this page and we'll be happy to help you!