How To Brew The Perfect Cup Of Tea
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Hey yall!! I learned so much when visiting the Bigelow Tea Factory and today I wanted to share some of that knowledge with you!
There is nothing better than sitting down with the perfect cup of tea, whether it’s to start your day or end it, a great cup of tea can be heavenly.
But how do you get that perfect cup of tea? Well Bigelow has done a lot of the work for you! Not only do they use high quality ingredients, they make sure your tea bags stay super fresh by sealing them in foil packets. This ensures that not only does your tea stay fresh and flavorful, but it also ensures that your tea won’t absorb any other outside flavors. So Bigelow tea already starts out delicious!
Now onto the brewing process, while different teas steep at different times they all need to start with fresh, cold water. Did you know it is the oxygen in the water that really opens a tea leaf unlocking it’s full flavor? So let your tap water run for about 30 seconds before filling your kettle. If you are using bottled water just shake that bottle around and aerate it a bit.
Fill your kettle. Now for your black, oolong, herb and rooibos tea you always want to bring your water to a full rolling boil and immediately pour over your tea.
However, if you are brewing green or white tea, you want to be a little more gentle and bring your water just to the point where tiny bubbles begin to form and then pour over your tea.
Each Bigelow package will list a recommended steeping time for that particular flavor but usually the norm is black steeped 2-4 minutes, green teas 1-3 minutes and herb teas for 4 minutes.
There you have it! You have now brewed and a perfect cup of tea!
But now that it is brewed do you stop there? Some people do, some people add cream and sugar. I myself am usually a cream and sugar girl.
There we go! Now I have the perfect cup of tea for me.
How do you take your tea?
I am a complete and utter tea snob, I admit it. I have collected tea from around the world since I was a little girl, and I use high-grade, loose leaf as much as possible. This is an interesting take, but definitely look more into it! Proper steeping is actually between 2-4 minutes, and as you’ve indicated – dependent upon the type of tea. You’ll find much better flavor if using a loose leaf tea steeper instead of bags in a mug. I am a purist, too. Definitely no sugar or cream. AHH that’s a sin! LOL ;) I followed you over from #SITSBlogging. Glad to see more attention on tea! Please do seek out loose leaf and let us know what you think (try Tea Gallerie, not Teavana because they source from places using pesticides)!
Wow, I have to admit I am not a tea drinker and had no idea there was different timing for different kinds! I’m afraid I’ve been offending my tea-drinking friends’ tastebuds for a very long time. :) Thanks for the info and for linking up with Found & Foraged!!
Lol!!! Thanks for stopping by!!
I love a good cup of tea! It is the first thing I do each morning when I sit down to work. Thanks for sharing at our linky party! I hope you will stop by the Found & Foraged Linky Party next week too! (Saturday @ 8PM CST) Hope to see you there http://www.thebigrevealblog.com!
This chart is super handy – I can never remember which teas are supposed to brew for how long.
So glad you liked it!! Thanks doe stopping by :)
I never knew there was so much to know about steeping tea! This is great information and now I’m craving a cup of hot tea! #client
There is nothing better than a cup warm soothing tea. I enjoy organic teas everyday, sweetened with a little raw honey. So healthy, calming, and delicious! ;)
What a neat outing the Bigelow factory must have been. It’s always neat to get a behind the scenes look .;)
#SITSBlogging today. Have a wonderful day, and a great week ahead. ;)
As an English, 6 – 7 mugs of tea per day kind of girl I was interested to see what you recommend! When I was little I learnt at Brownies to make tea in a pot – warm the pot first with a splash of hot water is the only thing I can remember.
I am surprised you said add cream though, do you really add cream or is this one of those across the pond miscommunications?
Here we add milk, never cream. Cream is for coffee and even then only in posh restaurants, or for whipping and putting on top of your hot chocolate.
Sounds like a fun day! We have the Celestial Seasons tea factory in Boulder but I’ve never done the tour and don’t know if they wrap their tea bags in foil. This is such great info and I can’t wait to share it with my husband who loves a good cup of tea!
If it’s black tea, I take milk and sugar. If it’s herbal I take it straight or with honey and lemon. A great rundown on how to make a good cup of tea. Sometimes I rush through the process and don’t pay attention to the details (like brewing time etc.). The tea is always better if you do it right. Funny, my Irish mother drank a lot of tea. Even if she was making just one cup, she’d fill the kettle…just in case someone else stopped over. LOL!
Better safe than sorry huh, I like your mom’s thinking!! Thanks for stopping by, hope you get to enjoy a great cup of tea today!
have a dear friend from England who has taught me much about tea. I loved reading your post it was very interesting
come see what I shared at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
I brew tea all the time and never knew you had to be so gentle with it! Makes complete sense. Thank you so much for linking up at Found & Foraged! Pinned! Hope to see you again Saturday night at 8PM!
I too am a tea snob – love the info. Nothing like a nice cup of tea to soothe the soul!
We have the same cup! I have not seen the peppermint bark one around here. I’ll be on the lookout now that I know it exists.
It’s my favorite cup!!
I’m a tea lover too, and have a handy little chart hanging beside my kettle listing steeping times for all kinds of teas. I use bagged tea some, but loose is my absolute favorite.
Thank you for sharing at Wake Up Wednesday.
Really interesting about the oxygen in the water… pinned. Thanks for bringing this to Weekend Bite and Happy Thanksgiving.