Making A Cup Of Tea...
Tea plantation workers picking the tea leaves, to be processed into the tea we drink....
A simple pleasure....
Drinking a cup of tea is without a doubt, one of lifes simple pleasures....
When we're in need of a pick me up, a quick break for a cup of tea can work wonders. We know that stopping for a cuppa whilst in the midst of some retail therapy isn't going to break the bank and there isn't anything better than coming home from a hard day at work and unwinding with a nice hot cup of tea - that always tastes better when someone else makes it for us....
Tea leaves before they are dried and processed for use....
How do you brew your tea....
Making a cup of tea....
How to make a brew....
Making tea these days isn't like it was a hundred years ago, even though the humble teabag was first invented way back in 1903, when they were handsewn bags made of silk, it wasn't until that the paper tea bag was patented by a William Hermanson who then sold the patent to the Salada Tea Company.
Tea bags come in a variety of shapes - rectangular, circular and even shaped like a pyramid - some of the producers of these bags claim that the shape of their bags improve the taste and brewing ability of the tea. Making a cup of tea using a teabag is so much more convenient than using tea leaves, but the taste tends to be inferior due to the fact that the tea used to make cheaper tea bags is what is referred to as the fannings, which is the broken bits of the main part of the tea leaves that go into producing tea leaves for brewing. Although tea bags made from the whole leaf are a better quality tea bag.
The taste of tea made with tea leaves is on the whole better tasting as the quality of the tea is better. The main part of the whole tea leaf is used. Tea leaves are less commonly used as they once were, as our life styles have become geared towards the more quick and convenient ways of doing things. It's easier to sling a teabag in a cup or a mug and add water than to go through the rigmarole of using tea leaves.
Do you brew your tea in a teapot?....
Brewing Tea....
Brewing tea leaves using a teapot....
Tea leaves aren't as widely used as they once were, I can remember my Grandma using them. She would heat her teapot by pouring some warm water into it, which she would swirl around the teapot whilst waiting for the water in the kettle to boil. When the water was boiled, she would empty the teapot of the warm water and then add one heaped spoon of tea leaves per person having a cup of tea and one extra spoonful 'for the pot', which was a common thing to do, before adding the boiling water. She would then cover the pot with a hand knitted tea cosy to help keep the tea hot - a tea cosy is a usually a knitted cover that slips over the top of the teapot with holes for the handle and spout to stick out. After a few minutes, no less than five, but also depending on how strong you like to drink your tea, my grandma would put the milk and sugar into the cups before pouring the tea from the teapot through a strainer placed over the cup to catch any straying tea leaves and into the cup. Back in those days it was more usual to serve tea in finer teacups and saucers rather than a heavy coffee mug and add the milk to the cup before the tea, rather than the other way round.
Infusers can be used to brew tea leaves in a cup and come in various shapes....
Brewing tea leaves using an infuser....
Tea leaves can also be brewed in a cup or mug using something called an infuser. Infusers come in different shapes - see picture. To use the ball shaped infusers, you would put a heaped spoonful of your tea leaves and hang the ball into your cup or mug, letting the chain dangle over the edge of the cup or mug to aid with removing the infuser when the tea is brewed. You would then pour boiling water over the infuser ball and leave to brew as you would for a teabag, usually five minutes or more, depending on how strong you like to drink your tea. When your tea has brewed to the strength you like, remove the infuser and add your milk and sugar, if you require.
Brewing tea using teabags....
Teabags are the more popular choice to make tea with these days, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, some with strings attached making them easier to remove from you cup or mug. You can brew teabags in a teapot as with a tea leaves, not forgetting to add an extra one 'for the pot' or in a cup or mug. If you are brewing tea for a few people then making it in a pot maybe easier than in a cup or mug. To make tea from a teabag in a cup you would put your teabag into your cup or mug and add boiling water, allowing it to brew for a few minutes before removing in, giving it a good squeeze with a couple of spoons over the cup to get the last drops of tea out, then you can add milk and sugar if you use them.
You can even make your own teabags!....
Types of tea....
There are many different types of tea on the market, although there are only four different basic tea types, these all come from the exact same type of tea bush - Camellia sinensis - what makes each tea different is the process the leaf goes through to produce the final tea.
The four basic types of tea are:
- Black tea.
- Green tea.
- Oolong.
- White.
All teas are full of antioxidants that are excellent for our health, each tea has it's own unique types of antioxidants, offering different health benefits, so the next time you stop for a brew take comfort in knowing that you are being good to your body. For the full health benefits tea, it is thought best to drink your tea without milk.
Red tea and herbal teas aren't true teas, they are infusions of the flowers, bark, roots and leaves of other plants and not the tea bush.
Copyright © 2012 Debbie Roberts
