What makes a great cup of tea

[fazer]

So being American I drink to much coffee.  The older I’ve gotten, I find I need to cut back on the acidic freshly ground coffee after breakfast.  I’m drinking teabag green tea.  How do you make a great cup of tea and what other teas are recommended?

 

[tony hunt]

Being British I must advise that for black tea the water must be boiling when you pour it on the tea leaves or teabag. That is the single most important thing. 

I prefer the assault of stronger black teas such as Assam. That comes from my days on construction sites. You may want something more refined, such as a Darjeeling.

 

[midwayfair]

There's a substance called tannin, which some people might have heard of in context with wine, present in all woods, including the woodier parts of a leaf like a tea leaf. It's acidic and bitter. (It ends up in wine because the wine is stored in wooden barrels and leaches it from the container.)

What happens if you chop up a leaf into small parts or, worse, dust? You end up with more tannin. So leaf size can be important. There is a standard rating system that gives you an idea of the leaf size, or you can simply buy whole leaf tea that you can see.

Darker teas are more oxidized, usually by roasting. They will usually be more bitter by design. My favorite black tea is Assam, specifically Ahmad's Khalami Assam, which I get regularly for like $12/pound on Amazon. It's probably underpriced; it's mostly full leaves and includes the tips, which have more aromatics. I can drink it black but I prefer it with milk.

Milk, in general, is a good way to reduce the bitterness of tea, but it doesn't work if you've got a floral tasting tea (I'm sure you can imagine that isn't very good) like most green teas. (I do like to make Kashmiri tea, though, which is green tea brewed for a very long time and then diluted with milk.)

If you like the green tea you're drinking and want something even milder on the bitterness/acid front, you can usually get some  good quality whole-leaf green or oolong teas at an east Asian market if there's one near you. Sensha is awesome if you can get it fresh (the leaves will be visibly shiny needles), but it's expensive, so obviously not a daily drinker. With pretty much any whole-leaf tea, about $0.50-1.00 per ounce you are getting something quite a bit better than a teabag. You won't necessarily get great tea, but even expensive tea is cheaper than coffee.

The trick with most Chinese teas is that you might be expected to prepare it Gong Fu style, which aside from helping you kick butts helps you make a good cup of tea:

First, the longer you steep the leaves, the more tannin you can leach out.
Second, the hotter the water, the more tannin you can leach out.
Both of these can be avoided by brewing at a lower temperature (about 90C is fine) with more tea leaves, and brewing small batches several times. (Think three or four pots of tea out of a single bunch of leaves.)

There's not a whole lot you can do with a teabag, but I do find that if you use a lower temperature and a short brewing time that you can get a bit more out of them.

If you are a former coffee drinker but you want something that reminds you of coffee, try Pu Ehr. It's called black tea in China, but it's aged. You buy it in cakes usually and break off a corner. You can't see through it and it can be very strong tasting, but it lacks the acidity of coffee and usually is low enough in bitterness that you can drink it black. Just be careful. It's like buying wine, there's some BS behind it and the prices don't necessarily reflect quality. Again, best place to go might be an east Asian supermarket.

I like tea, you might have guessed.

 

[JohnRoberts]

So being American I drink to much coffee.  The older I’ve gotten, I find I need to cut back on the acidic freshly ground coffee after breakfast.  I’m drinking teabag green tea.  How do you make a great cup of tea and what other teas are recommended?

#1 lose the tea bags and purchase some decent quality loose tea...  The japanese are big on green tea and I have an air tight container of Japanese "sencha" in my kitchen. The Chinese also harvest and sell lots of (unfermented) green tea.

#2 I also make oolong  tea (partially fermented). In fact I am drinking a cup of oolong right now. I was first exposed to oolong after spending a week in Hong Kong (coffee breaks there involved making cups of tea not coffee), and have yet to source the real deal, common everyman chinese oolong tea.

#3 you probably need to get a proper tea pot. I like the design of Japanese tea pots but they aren't as robust as my (cast iron) Chinese teapot that will easily outlive me, I haven't used it for over a year.

There are multiple sources for decent teas, but you will probably do ok buying some premium Japanese or Chinese green tea on the WWW. I like sencha green tea but there are numerous variants.

JR

PS: I first got into drinking black (fully fermented) tea while on a business trip to London, and the hotel in room coffee was utterly deplorable. The provided (cheap?) tea was a refreshing alternative compared to the undrinkable coffee.  :  Back in the day I would drink lots of Twinings (breakfast)  tea.  These days not so much.

PPS: Life is too short to consume inferior beverages.

 

[efinque]

If you've had enough of tea you should try try helba which is made by pouring hot water on small yellow seeds.

It's consumed mainly in Egypt. (edit : they say it's good for digestion)

 

[MagnetoSound]

If you're tired of tea, you are tired of life! 

 

[TwentyTrees]

If you're tired of tea, you are tired of life! 

This!

Being from the north of England, I’m also a fan of strong black tea (water boiling as it hits the PG teabag, as above, brewed - and mashed/dunked - for a good 4 or 5 minutes) with a decent amount of milk. I love some of the interesting fruit blends you get in the T2 shops that are popping up around the place these days (green tea, almond and honey!), but there’s nowt like a good builders’ brew to soothe the soul.

It never fails to tickle me how idiosyncratic the British cuppa seems to much of the rest of the world. Happy memories of ordering “a cup of tea with milk” in Hungary some years ago, and receiving a cup of piping hot lemon tea with a small pot of milk. Much ensuing confusion and hilarity.

Andy

 

[john12ax7]

There is low acid coffee you could also try.

With tea, time and water temperature is important.  Green tea tastes better with less,  black tea can tolerate more. But mostly using non boiling water made things better for me.

 

[MagnetoSound]

Andy,

As a northerner, I'd have expected you to say Tetley. I prefer it myself to PG, and I'm a namby-pamby southerner.

I keep a box of peppermint too, for when I fancy a change. It makes a good digestive.

If you've ever tried to order tea 'con leche' in Spain, you will have been seriously disappointed too. A tiny bag of nothing, floating in milky water ... even after ten minutes it looks the same - just grey! 

 

[nielsk]

I had some from a reputed 1,500 year old tree in Yunan that was wonderful, but as to your original issue, try a proper espresso from a good all stainless steel machine.  Drip coffee is very acidic, properly made espresso is not. If you use beans that are not roasted to death like most espresso beans (try Cuban types) you can get a very smooth flavor with very low acidity.

 

[ruffrecords]

When I was a kid we used to have Coop 99 tea. Since I got married in the 70s we have tried all sorts of tea ranging from PG to Tetley and Twinings. At the moment we have settled on MArks and Spencer's decaff.

Nobody has yet mentioned to water. This can make a tremendous difference to the taste of tea. Most of the UK has hard water which makes scummy tea. Up north where the rock (like the people) is harder, the water is softer and the tea definitely tastes better. Yorkshire tea in Yorkshire is one of the best cuppas I have ever tasted. In our last house we had a water softener and softened water definitely improved the flavour of almost any tea.

Cheers

Ian

 

[mjrippe]

If it is the acidity alone that bothers you, try cold brew coffee.  You can drink it cold/iced or heat it.  However if caffeine is the issue, cold brew can be like liquid crack if not diluted.

 

[user 37518]

I've never got used to drinking tea, I just cant quit drinking coffee.

 

[MagnetoSound]

Yorkshire tea in Yorkshire is one of the best cuppas I have ever tasted.

It is indeed a lovely brand, anywhere.

At the moment we have settled on MArks and Spencer's defaff.

Not sure if that's a typo but it's a lovely thought! 

 

[DaveP]

I have a small sack of Yorkshire tea delivered here to France every few months, it's probably the best tea in Britain.

Ideally the water should be fresh just to the boil and agitated with a tea spoon until it gets too dark to see through, then add milk and sugar to taste.

When tea is made like this it has the unique ability to cut a thirst, absolutely indispensable after egg and chips!

DaveP

 

[MagnetoSound]

A sack! 

 

[pucho812]

Tea,  is for when I put the coffee down and still need some kick. While I don't fancy myself a tea drinker I have had a few brands from what those across the pond call tea, talk about a jolt to the system.

 

[fazer]

I knew I could count on my diy frinends for some recommendations.  I plan to go to an Asian market and look up the following teas,  Assam Oolong Kashmiri Sensha pu ehr Darjeeling And Yorkshire tea. 

I’ve always poured boiling water into a teacup with a bag of tea but have found out that temperature is important for different tea.  I don’t plan on stopping my coffee just reducing my intake and replacing with a good cup of tea in the afternoon  made properly.   

Thank you for all your suggestions.  I’ll let you know what I find out.

 

[Rochey]

The best way to a decent cup of tea... and multiple of them...

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CPK-17-PerfecTemp-1-7-Liter-Stainless/dp/B003KYSLNQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515821055&sr=8-1&keywords=Cuisinart+CPK-17+PerfecTemp+1.7-Liter+Stainless+Steel+Cordless+Electric+Kettle

Seriously. This thing maintains whatever exact temperature of water you need for 30 minutes after the boil

I have a terrible habit of starting the kettle and wandering off and getting distracted. This Kettle solves that, for at least half an hour.

 

[ruffrecords]

It is indeed a lovely brand, anywhere.

Not sure if that's a typo but it's a lovely thought! 

Yes, it was a (fortunate) typo. Forgot to mention we also used to buy Betty's tea online.

Cheers

Ian