I’d say a good tea depends more on the tea quality and preparation than the blend. Unfortunately, supermarket teas seem to range from bad to drinkable. None make it to good, let alone excellent.
The best tea I’ve found, by a large margin, is from Gillards of bath. I personally prefer their “Three Gardens Cylon” blend, but English breakfast, Darjeeling, and Earl Grey have their time and place.
With good tea, preparation matters a LOT more. Just throwing it in some water, and hoping for the best, will leave you disappointed. For black teas, you want a proper pot, warmed before use. You want the water around 85°C. True boiling will scold the leaves, while below 60 will stew the tea, rather than brew. You also don’t want to stir too much, or squeeze the leaves. This releases the oils, which give bad teas a bitter aftertaste. (There’s a reason “teabag squeezer” is an insult in some social circles)
You generally want around 1 teaspoon of tea per cup +1 for the pot. E.g. a 4 cup pot needs 5 teaspoons of tea. This can vary based on tastes and teas however. Brew time is generally 1-5 minutes depending on tea and preferences. It can get away with sitting once brewed, for a second cup, though it will start to stew over time.
If you’re doing loose leaf for the first time, don’t forget the tea strainer, a standard sieve is not fine enough. Also, if you want to drink posh tea in a posh style, drink it black, or use honey and lemon juice, rather than milk and sugar. It’s a pure preference for a lot of teas, but a few do not work well with milk.
I’d say a good tea depends more on the tea quality and preparation than the blend. Unfortunately, supermarket teas seem to range from bad to drinkable. None make it to good, let alone excellent.
The best tea I’ve found, by a large margin, is from Gillards of bath. I personally prefer their “Three Gardens Cylon” blend, but English breakfast, Darjeeling, and Earl Grey have their time and place.
With good tea, preparation matters a LOT more. Just throwing it in some water, and hoping for the best, will leave you disappointed. For black teas, you want a proper pot, warmed before use. You want the water around 85°C. True boiling will scold the leaves, while below 60 will stew the tea, rather than brew. You also don’t want to stir too much, or squeeze the leaves. This releases the oils, which give bad teas a bitter aftertaste. (There’s a reason “teabag squeezer” is an insult in some social circles)
You generally want around 1 teaspoon of tea per cup +1 for the pot. E.g. a 4 cup pot needs 5 teaspoons of tea. This can vary based on tastes and teas however. Brew time is generally 1-5 minutes depending on tea and preferences. It can get away with sitting once brewed, for a second cup, though it will start to stew over time.
If you’re doing loose leaf for the first time, don’t forget the tea strainer, a standard sieve is not fine enough. Also, if you want to drink posh tea in a posh style, drink it black, or use honey and lemon juice, rather than milk and sugar. It’s a pure preference for a lot of teas, but a few do not work well with milk.
And yes, I’m a bit of a tea snob. 😁
Never really considered the temperature before. What’s a good temp for Chai tea?