Brewing the Perfect Cup of Tea

I have known the health benefits of tea for a long, long time.  Never cared for it.  I would occasionally do it, but never made it a habit.  That has started to change.  Who knew you could mess up tea?

Turns out, there are rules, and they matter!

Gone are my days of boiling water, throwing a tea bag in a cup and leaving it in there as I try to slurp it down.

Water: Filtered water, just like for espresso, makes a difference.

Temperature: Green tea and White tea, you don't want to let the water start to boil.  Boiling water for these two is to hot.  For Black tea, Oolong tea and Rooibos tea, boiling water works.

Steep Time: Green is 2-3 minutes.  White and Black is 3-5 minutes.  Oolong for 5-7 minutes, Herbal teas 10 minutes, Herbal teas that have some sort of Medicinal properties 15-20 minutes Rooibos ideally is 20 minutes, although can be drank after 15 minutes.

Dosage:  1 teaspoon for every 8oz.  If you want stronger tea, don't steep longer, add more tea leaves.

Loose leaf tea trumps tea bags in terms of quality of taste.

Following these steps has improved the taste of tea for me dramatically.  I don't look forward to it like I do espresso in the morning, but it is becoming a strong habit for me at night.