Ron."There are two reasons. First, the teabag constrains the tea leaves — keeps them in a tight clump, which affects brewing. Second, and probably even more important, you can often find higher quality teas for less money when you go with loose tea. You stand a better chance finding teas you love by experimenting with loose teas."
Janet: "Brewing tea is simple. When I was growing up, my mother tossed a few spoonfuls of tea leaves into a teapot and added boiling water — a technique that's been around for upwards of a thousand years."
Ron. "The only thing wrong with the age-old approach is that bits of tea leaf invariably end up in the bottom your cup. Brits don't seem to mind, but Americans do. The solution is a teapot with a large filter basket that hold the tea leaves and also provides a large brewing volume."
Janet. "We like the English-designed Chatsford teapots. They are spherical — a shape that helps to keep heat inside the pot — and have an easy-to-clean, fine-mesh "infuser" that provides plenty of room for the tea leaves to move around during brewing. Our everyday teapot, the largest Chatsford we could find, holds 60-ounces."
Ron. "That represents 10 traditional teacups, about seven standard measuring 'cups,' but only five 12-ounce mugs. We usually brew two pots a day."
Janet. "We use an English-made electric kettle to boil water. It's faster than heating water on the stove and it switches off automatically when the water reaches a rolling boil. The two chief ingredients in tea are tea leaves and water-water quality is as important as tea quality. Use a filter to remove minerals if you have 'hard' water. Otherwise boil freshly drawn water from the tap."
Ron. "There are three simple decisions you have to make when you brew tea. First, the temperature of the water. Second, how much tea to use. Third, how long to steep the tea leaves."
Janet. "Water temperature is the easiest. Most teas brew best with water brought to a rolling boil, because boiling water extracts more flavor from the tea leaves. Some — many green teas and oolongs, for example — prefer slightly cooler water. We follow the recommendations of the merchants who sell us tea."
Ron. "One final word about teabags. If you have to use them, brew the bags in a teapot. We've found it produces a much better cup of tea than brewing in individual teacups. The chief reason is that boiling water loses heat quickly when poured into a teacup."
Janet. "Should you preheat the teapot by some swirling boiling water in it? Some tea experts believe that a warmed teapot helps to keep water temperature high throughout the steeping process, while others claim the slight temperature decrease caused by an initially cool teapot has no effect. We tend to agree with the 'don't bother' crowd. We've experimented preheating our teapot and frankly we can't tell the difference in the brewed tea."
Ron. "We've found that the amount of tea is the most important factor to control. It took us awhile to realize that the standard formula — one teaspoon of tea per six-ounce cup of water plus one extra for the pot — required lots of interpretation to avoid an impossibly strong brew. For starters, the teaspoons in our silverware set were much larger than true measuring spoons. Secondly, we typically buy faster-brewing "broken leaf" teas that "pack" lots more tea per spoonful than whole leaf teas. After some experimenting, we settled on two tablespoons of tea — six true teaspoons — for a full 60 ounce teapot when we brew our favorite Assam and Ceylon teas."
Janet. "Some tea experts suggest measuring tea leaves by weight. That seems too much like work. Our plastic measuring spoon works fine. We simply add half a tablespoon more when we brew whole leaf teas."
Ron. "The third factor is brewing time, typically three or four minutes. Tea merchants usually provide recommendations here, too. We often reduce the time a bit for our broken leaf teas, because they brew quickly. Incidentally, the color of the brew is not a good indication of whether the tea is ready or not. Green teas, oolongs, even some black teas are pale when fully brewed. Use a timer, not your eye."
Janet. "We're often asked about putting sugar and milk in tea. Some purists — George Orwell, the author of 1984, is an example — consider the practice abominable. In fact, the tradition of using either or both dates back hundreds of years because both milk and sugar soften the natural bitterness and astringency of tea. I put milk in my tea and Ron puts sugar in his. Experiment — then do what your taste dictates."
Ron. "If you do use milk, keep in mind that recent scientific research showed that you should put cold milk into the cup first then add hot tea, rather than the other way around. The milk heats more slowly and uniformly when the tea is added last. The tea reputedly tastes better because the chemistry of the brew is different."
