Black tea is the most widely drunk of the six main types of tea and nearly every tea producing country makes it, although many only produce CTC black teas (cut-tear-curl) for tea bags and blends. In fact I’m guessing if you’re anything like me, your main memory of tea from childhood was a box of Lipton black tea bags residing on the pantry shelf. |
It used to be the only choice we had to make was whether to buy a box of 20 or 100 black tea bags. Today, though, we have many more choices and styles of black tea than ever before to choose from, and while we may enjoy the variety it can also be confusing and hard to understand what exactly that variety encompass- es.What exactly should we be looking for when buying loose leaf black tea? How do we |
used for one cup or a teapot, and how long should it be steeped?
These are all really good questions which I’ll help you to answer. There are Loose leaf orthodox black teas are artisan made, usually in smaller batches Because there are no set labeling standards Using India as an example, some items you Country: India Year harvested: 2011 Because it is a spring plucked tea from Darjeeling you can further So, this label is actually giving you a lot of good information, especi- From the label you know it’s a spring 2011 made w/the So, now let’s move on to some tips on how to properly brew For brewing, the standard measure is 2 teaspoons of leafy or whole |
For brewing, the standard measure is 2 teaspoons of leafy or whole leaf styles or 1 teaspoon of broken orange pekoe, orange pekoe, (BOP/OP), or CTC teas per 6 ounces of water. So for an 8 oz. mug you would use 2 2/3 tsp. leafy or whole leaf teas OR 1 1/3 tsp. BOP, OP, or CTC grades. For a 24 oz. travel mug you’ll be brewing three times as much, so you would use 2 2/3 TBLSP. leafy black tea or 1 1/3 TBLSP BOP/OP/CTC teas (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons). To brew a pot of black tea multiply the 8 oz. cup amounts times the number of servings, i.e., For 32 oz. or four 8 oz. servings you would need 4 TBLSP leafy or whole leaf OR 2 TBLSP CTC/BOP/OP tea.The water temperature should be between 190-212F. For small leaf, BOP, OP, or CTC tea grades you should steep for 3 to 4 minutes and for orthodox leafy or whole leaf styles steep 4 to 5 min.. Normally black teas have only one infusion but sometimes you can get a second Always remember these are suggestions and your individual tastes may be different. Enjoy. |