loose tea

There is nothing hardcore about over-brewing tea - you just get all the tannin coming out and your tea is bitter. Same thing as using tea-bags so why bother buying good tea?

Brew the tea for three minutes max. Heat the pot. Heat the cup. Brew using water just before the boil when it is still oxygenated. Strength of your tea is determined by the quantity of leaf you use - I suggest starting low and working up. Do not leave the tea sitting on the leaves. Try without milk. Try without sweetening (I prefer a little of both with Pettiagalla Estate). Always add the milk to the tea. Always drink tea from bone china. Always set aside time for tea drinking. Taking tea is a lot like our sort of shaving and the experience is improved by taking time, having a ritual, being conscious of your actions - making it a meditation.

For all else, a tea bag and an earthen ware mug will suffice but I know nothing of such ways beyond what I observe everywhere with perpetual astonishment.
 
I think, unfortunately, my tea tastes have been ruined by years of teabags. I really like a mug of 'builders tea'.

I tried some of the Rare Tea Co RAF tea, and brewed it exactly as the instructions said (and as Carl mentions above).

Well, after three minutes I got an infusion of what can only be described as gnats piss! And as for a second brew, that was like camomile tea but with less flavour!

It does make me wonder, as has been mentioned earlier, whether expensive teas would be a waste of time for someone with my unrefined tastes!

I think I'm going to get some Tea Pigs Chai and go from there. Although I do like the Miles loose leaf tea very much.

Count of Undolpho said:
Another vote for Russian Caravan - a very pleasant drink which I've not found a truly bad blend of. I am very fond of a good Assam and I think Keemun and Kenyan are vastly under-rated, the former goes very well with Lapsang and the latter I prefer to most Ceylon's.
Mostly these days I drink bog standard Morrisons Strong tea bags and save the loose for an occasional treat.
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I've only had Twinings Keemun tea bags, but they were absolutely delicious.
 
Tall_Paul said:
Well, after three minutes I got an infusion of what can only be described as gnats piss! And as for a second brew, that was like camomile tea but with less flavour!
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That RAF blend is supposed to be quite strong! How much dry tea did you use in how much water? The Royal We recommend measuring your water - one cup; two mugs? - so you have a constant and then vary the quantity of leaf to suit your taste.

Sounds like you used insufficient leaf in a large teapot!
 
Bechet45 said:
That RAF blend is supposed to be quite strong! How much dry tea did you use in how much water? The Royal We recommend measuring your water - one cup; two mugs? - so you have a constant and then vary the quantity of leaf to suit your taste.

Sounds like you used insufficient leaf in a large teapot!
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Two hefty teaspoonfuls then about a pint and a half of water. Enough to give me about a pint of tea when brewed.

I was expecting it to be strong too. To give an idea of what I like this gives a really nice cup of tea using the method you mentioned above.

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The cup you drink from has no effect on the taste, other than a placebo effect, unless it is porous. Disposable cups or plastic beakers are the only thing you're likely to drink tea from that's porous.

As for "over" brewing your tea.. enjoy it the way you like it. For an ideal cup of tea I'll use two assam teabags per mug, and I'll brew it for around 2 minutes poking and stirring constantly. When I want a nearly perfect one I'll brew a single bag for about 4 minutes. That's the way I like it and while it may not be to other people's tastes it is not wrong. As I did say, I'd suggest brewing for less time as a starting point.
 
Tall_Paul said:
Bechet45 said:
That RAF blend is supposed to be quite strong! How much dry tea did you use in how much water? The Royal We recommend measuring your water - one cup; two mugs? - so you have a constant and then vary the quantity of leaf to suit your taste.

Sounds like you used insufficient leaf in a large teapot!
Click to expand...

Two hefty teaspoonfuls then about a pint and a half of water. Enough to give me about a pint of tea when brewed.

I was expecting it to be strong too. To give an idea of what I like this gives a really nice cup of tea using the method you mentioned above.

prodzoomimg798.jpg
Click to expand...

I didn't like the RAF tea too much, I didn't find it that strong either. The miles tea however is one of my favorite but I find it has a very small 'sweet' spot before it gets bitter, just shame it's not a leaf but powder like in tea bags.
 
For me a good, proper English pot is a necessity but I'm quite happy drinking from fine porcelain, ironstone or the chunky earthenware or whatever our English Cornishware mugs are made from. What I personally cannot stand are these modern fancy pants Bodum plastic and glass pots.

For the two us, I immediately pour the freshly drawn, just boiled water into a dry, warmed Burleigh or Brown Betty pot containing two teaspoons of leaf and brew for around 4 to 5 minutes with the pot under the protection of a cosy. This brewing time suits both our preferences and for us, yields a wonderful cup of tea. I then lift the lid and give the pot a light stir, replace it, pour and pop said cosy back on. I find that we always drink two mugs in quick succession thus the second, which is 'lying on leaves' in the pot, hasn't noticeably deteriorated. As I do not stir the pot after the first two cups are done then little extra bitterness is released and we enjoy the second cup almost as much as the first, sometimes more. And whilst I like to relax and enjoy my tea for the most part, I will happily take a cup from the pot whilst wandering rounding the green postage stamp. Occasionally we will use tea bags of which we keep a back up stock and although not quite up to the same mark as the leaf, it is none-the-less enjoyable and refreshing.

Oh and I like a biscuit or two but ideally cake with my tea. Best of all is my Granny's iced currant slice - heaven!
 
I get the feeling that many people on this site are far more OCD than I am!
@Tall-Paul glad to find another Keemun fan, I've never tried the Twinings bags I'll be sure to look out for them.
 
Until a year or so ago I put up with crap shaving. Then I found out about DE.
A few months ago I found out about ground coffee in a Bialetti stove top pot.
Now I'm reading about loose tea and getting the urge to try it...
 
balidey said:
Until a year or so ago I put up with crap shaving. Then I found out about DE.
A few months ago I found out about ground coffee in a Bialetti stove top pot.
Now I'm reading about loose tea and getting the urge to try it...
Click to expand...

Welcome home!
 
balidey said:
Until a year or so ago I put up with crap shaving. Then I found out about DE.
A few months ago I found out about ground coffee in a Bialetti stove top pot.
Now I'm reading about loose tea and getting the urge to try it...
Click to expand...

Whatever you do, DON'T read the pipe smoker threads!!

I did, but I appear to have (just) got away with it.

Ian
 
The pipe smoker threads are very tempting. I'm even considering getting the teapot out with some nice leaf tea.

I am a Tea bag person at work, Twinings Assam and English Breakfast Tea, but we do have a few teapots at home and used to use loose tea.
 
Have you tried (I'm not joking) Asda or Sainsburys assam tea? I find it better than Twinnings, and there's a little more in the bags. Tesco isn't any good though.

Tonight I used my tea ball for the first time, a bit of dust got out even though the holes are tiny, not sure if that's just inevitable no matter what the quality. The Fornum and Mason assam was a very nice cup of tea.

Also ordered a tin of Imperial Spice and a tin of English Rose from Whittard of Chelsea when I was putting an order into House of Fraser.
 
Gladys, you be keeping away from these n-nasty supermarkets and remember Ark-Ark-Ark-Ark, my shop for the b-b-best b-b-bargains!
 
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