Thoughts on brewing tea

If you're transitioning from tea bags to making tea with loose leaf tea, this guide is for you.

I’m still learning how to make tea. I began drinking herbal, fruity teas when I was pregnant with my first child. I’m not saying exactly how many years that is, but it’s safe to say it’s many!

It may be heartening for you to know that tea masters in some Asian cultures study for years to perfect the art of brewing tea. And there's a reason they study for a lifetime. Tea mastery is a revered art form.

But honestly, it won't take you a lifetime to learn how to make a perfect cup of tea from fresh tea leaves. You just need to know a few basics.

The Benefits of a Beginner’s Mind

Poor tea preparation techniques and preconceived notions of how to make tea properly are the most common causes of tea brewing disappointments.

I read about an ancient Chinese Zen saying that asserts to learn you must “first empty your cup.” The story is attributed to a conversation between a student and a Zen master.

The lesson begins with the master pouring tea into the student’s cup. But instead of stopping when the cup was full, he continued to pour as the tea spilled over the top of the teacup and all over the table.

The student shouted “Stop! The cup is full!”

“Exactly,” said the Zen master. “Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions. You ask for teaching, but your cup is full. Before I can teach you, first you must empty your cup.”

If you truly seek understanding, then first, empty your cup.

Brewing loose leaf tea is a completely different experience than brewing tea from tea bags. So even if you think you know how to brew tea, you may have something to learn when it comes to brewing loose leaf tea.

I have found the loose leaf tea from Pluck Tea is so very full of flavour, so muc hmore than a tea bag, I appreciate that there is no added sugar as some other complanies add sugar sprinkles and yogurt bits. I can’t have these due to allergies and dietary intolerances. I chose Pluck as our looseleaf tea supplier for this reason. It is just the tea, natural flavour and little added “stuff”.

How to Make Loose Leaf Tea

To begin, follow these basic steps for any tea brewing:

•          The amount of tea used is dependent on the style of tea brewing (Eastern vs Western) you select.

•          Always warm the teapot and cups first. Pour hot water in, swirl around and pour it off. This aids in keeping the finished brew hot.

•          Use freshly drawn filtered water.

•          Do not use re-heated water.

•          Pour hot water over the tea leaves to stir them up.

Water temperature, the volume of tea leaves and steeping time are all part of the art of brewing tea. Different compounds are extracted at different rates depending on water temperature and steeping time.

Gongfu (Eastern) Brewing vs English (Western) Brewing

Basically, gongfu brewing uses a large tea leaf to water ratio with short infusion times. Green and scented teas are not used in gongfu style brewing. This method is for brewing black and oolong teas.

The teaware used for the gongfu brewing is a small vessel such as this beautiful Gaiwan or a small teapot. The idea is to produce very short multiple infusions extracting different flavors from the leaf with each subsequent infusion. You will brew multiple tea infusions in one gongfu tea session.

Western-style tea brewing, or English style as some call it, uses much less leaf and more water with longer brewing times. Western tea brewing extracts as much flavor as possible all at once.

What are your teatime rituals?

How do you prepare your tea? Bags or loose?

Do you have a favourite teapot?