Tea Basics

While iced tea is the preference in the United States, most teas are best served freshly brewed. If you are new to brewing tea, then this is the place to start.

The Tea

Tea leaves can vary greatly in quality, texture, and flavor profile. Typically, you want to serve loose-leaf tea to have the best chance of eliminating flavor contaminants. However, if you don't drink tea very often or you happen to be traveling and don't want to bring along a whole tea set you can easily use tea bags or a french press to separate your leaves from your tea. Some teas contain ingredients that retain moisture or oils that will quickly combine with hot water, such as lemon peel or gogi berries.

Preparation

Brew time varies by the contents in every particular tea blend. TWA teas are labeled with more specific instructions for consumption, but here is a general guide of preparing teas from any source:

• Brew times typically fall within 2 and 5 minutes.
• Lighter teas (green, herbal, chamomile) sit at the low end of this range while dark teas (black, chicory) need longer brew times to extract their flavor. You should remove the solids from tea once the brew is complete, otherwise your tea may brew too long and have a muddled, unpleasant flavor.
• For homemade iced teas, brew in large batches. For a quick iced tea, brew with a modified ratio so that the tea is stronger (i.e. if the recipe calls for 2 oz per serving, double it but use the same amount of water). Let the tea cool for a bit and add ice.
• If you are brewing tea to be consumed at a later time, leave the ratio the same, cool to room temperate and simply refrigerate for later use. Consume within 3 days.
• Serve with sugar, honey, syrup, or really any other additive you enjoy in your drinks - personally, I'm not a fond of milk in hot tea, but that is a topic for another day.

Tools

Metal strainers are great for brewing tea and have minimal impact on flavor. Tea bags are common in America for their convenience, but teas stored within them tend to hold more moisture and the bags themselves can contaminate the flavor of the teas to different degrees depending on their material. Many companies have tea bags made of bleached paper, plastic, or nylon which can release micro-plastics into your tea when brewed - Yikes! For this reason, traditional ceramic tea pots are ideal for brewing and will deliver the purest taste.