How to prepare your tea ?

How to prepare you tea ?

A quality leaf tea is in fact no longer to prepare than an "infusette" however the result will be quite incomparable...

How much tea is necessary for a cup ?

It is necessary to count 2 grams of tea per cup or about for 10 to 12 cl of water. There are dosing spoons not to be mistaken!

The more you brew your tea, the more likely it is to be bitter, but the less teas it contains. It’s up to you to find the right balance according to your tastes and infused tea.

How do you de-tease your own tea ?

Tea is less exciting than coffee but contains theine (same molecule as caffeine). At Tea&Cie we advise you to carefully avoid teas already deitheinated! To remove theine, these teas undergo a large chemical treatment. Prefer very light teas in theine, as Keemun, smoked tea, or infusions without theine as Rooibos.

Or nothing beats a simple trick to reproduce at home: The theine is released in the first seconds. Simply infuse your tea for the first time (about 30 seconds to a maximum of 1 minute) then discard the first water obtained. It works with any type of green, black, white, tea, tea, tea...

Then re-infuse your tea and voila, you succeeded!

In which container can I prepare my tea ?

Ideally one will try to prepare his tea in a ... teapot ! 

More seriously, there are many types of teapots, each with its own advantages...

• The terracotta teapots, and especially the Yixing teapot, have the particularity, thanks to their porosity, to keep in memory the perfumes of previous teas. Wonderful, when it comes to tasting the same tea and showing off all the nuances. As you can imagine, this becomes a big inconvenience if you prepare very different teas in this same terracotta teapot. Imagine (and just imagine eh!) for a moment what a great Darjeeling could give in a teapot used to prepare a smoked tea or a citrus tea. Discerning lovers usually have a teapot according to the type of tea consumed to avoid such disappointments.
• Ceramic teapots have one advantage: their versatility. These teapots are sometimes very original by their contents as well as by their multiple forms. In any case, one should avoid using low-end ceramics that are often very porous despite appearances.
• The glass teapots are very pleasant, because they allow to appreciate the color of the liquor and to make your guests enjoy. We think in particular of the Carcadet d'Hibiscus whose scarlet liquor will impress your guests. They are recommended especially in the preparation of precious tea flowers. However, these teapots retain rather poorly the heat and tea cools rather quickly.
• Metal teapots are almost all to be avoided, except those that are enamelled inside. Indeed, alloys containing iron will have a strong tendency to strengthen the bitterness of your tea and will also give a very unpleasant taste to your tea.
• Cast iron teapots are often an excellent compromise. Very solid, they keep the infusion warm, are equipped with an infusion basket, are enamelled (guarantee of quality) and offer a great versatility to prepare any tea or infusion. From a simple maintenance, simply rinse them with clear water and wipe them carefully to keep them for years or even bequeath them to your grateful descendants of such a relevant choice...
• Alternatives to teapots are possible, for example by infusing directly into your cup or mug with paper filters, or even better, ideal in your workplace or during your travels, in a thermos of good quality.

The infusion

To make your tea a success, you will bring a special care to the quality of the infusion, that is to say to the temperature of the water as well as to the duration of infusion.

Contrary to what we often see, it is criminal to pour boiling water on your tea leaves! This totally alters the quality and flavor of tea.

Each tea having its own character, it is quite difficult to make generalities about the rules of infusion.

As such, you will find on each package of our teas, infusions and other plants, the preparation tips that correspond to it and that will obviously adapt to your taste.

However, you will find below the basic rules regarding the temperature of the water to succeed your tea or rooibos.

For the duration of the infusion (with exceptions), a difference will be applied depending on the nature of the tea:

• Green Tea: 2 to 3 minutes for 70°C-75°C water;
• Black tea: 4 to 5 minutes for water at 80°C-90°C;
• Oolong and Pu Erh tea: 5 to 7 minutes (or several successive infusions with the same leaves, as practiced in the Chinese ceremony of Gun Fu Cha) for a water at 95°C;
• White tea: 5 to 8 minutes for 70°C water;
• Rooibos and infusions: 4 to 5 minutes for 90°C water;
• Tea mixes: take the most fragile. (example, Green and Black mix: 3 min water at 70°C)

To be sure to make your infusion every time, you can equip yourself with Tea Timer and thermometers suitable for tea infusion.

Believe us, these accessories are not reserved for experts on the contrary!

Water quality

Primordial, the quality of the water to prepare its tea aroused the interest of the great Masters of tea very early on. It is said that Lu Yu, the famous first Chinese Master, knew how to recognize the water of such source or such river, and even if this water had been drawn in the center or at the edge of the basin.

Without going to such an expertise, we advise you to avoid tap water that is often loaded with chlorine or nitrates and that can heavily influence the flavor. You can use filtered water with simple systems like pitchers or carafes.

It is also possible to use bottled water, whether mineral or spring, but you will choose it as neutral as possible so that it respects the natural liquor of your tea.

You will also find all our preparation tips on the sheet of each of our teas...