10 WAYS TO STEP UP YOUR TEA GAME

1.Ditch the tea bag

In today's world convenience is king, but in the tea world that’s not always the case. In most cases, tea bags use the lowest grade tea, known as the dust or fannings. Loose leaf gives the customer a chance to see the dried leaf, colour, and smell. By making a loose leaf tea, it only adds on average a three minutes to prepare, and makes a world of difference to your brew.

Controlling the amount of tea for your cup is crucial, which tea bags don’t give us, bringing us to tip number 2.

2. Don't Over do It

For tea beginners one of their first mistakes is to use too much leaf. LESS IS MORE. Follow the instructions each tea company places for their loose leaf. If you can’t find that we say a heaped teaspoon is a perfect amount for a cup of tea.

Avoid packing your infuser or tea bag with dried leaf, it will give the opportunity for the leaf to expand in the hot water releasing the full flavour.

3. No Boiling Water for Tea

Wait, what?

Yes using hot water for tea helps extract the perfect flavours from the leaf, but one of the biggest mistakes is to pour full boiling water on the leaf. The tea leaf is fragile and can burn when under to hot of water resulting in very bitter, unattractive brews. There are herbal blends that can handle a full boil, but for tea, its a no-go.

The type of tea will tell you how hot the temperature should be.

Green 75- 85C

Black 85-95C

Oolong 75-85C

White 65-75C

Pu’erh 85-95C

Herbal 100C

Yellow 75-85C

If you don’t have a temperature gauge at home, don’t fret, we have your back.

White Tea - When you first see steam coming from your kettle, its ready

Green & Yellow & Oolong Tea - wait just after the first sight of steam for about 30-40 seconds

Black & Pu’erh Tea - when the kettle just begins to vibrate and bubble, its ready

Herbal - you can wait for full boil for herbal as they can take more heat

4. Remove the Leaves.

Try not to ‘over-steep’ your tea. The time to infuse the hot water is crucial to stepping up your tea game. It is incredible how different a cup can taste if you follow the teas instructions rather than just leaving the leaf in the water.

By leaving the leaf in the tea for more than needed the brew will be bitter and astringent. For a lot of people they believe green tea is bitter, this is most likely due to over steeping the leaf, because most greens should not be bitter, some can have a natural sweetness.

5. Got Milk? Brew the tea first.

If you are adding milk to your teas, typically only black teas, brew the tea first. By letting the leaves infuse the hot water first you will have a better extraction of flavour. If you were to add the milk first, it would lower the temperature of the water and make it difficult for the leaves to infuse to their full potential.

6. Buy Glass Tea-ware.

We are big fans of glass for tea. Though not necessary for a better cup, it does allow you to see the wonderful colours the infused brews can be. Not only will your guests be pleasantly surprised by the beautiful presentation, but glass is easy to clean the stubborn tea stains on the cups or kettle. Beautiful and practical? Count us in.

7. Use your Tea in other ways.

This plant is not just for drinking. In fact, we think it would be a dis-service to only use it for beverage consumption. There are a number of ways to use your teas for beauty products, food/baking, oil infusions, and bath bombs. There are a ton of resources to help you on infusing your tea into other products, but here is a simple one we love.

Earl Grey Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Loose leaf Earl Grey

1 Mason Jar Olive Oil

Mix Olive Oil and Earl grey together in a Mason Jar

and leave in your cupboard. Typically, a week is

a good amount of time to infuse the oil.

++Use this oil on salads or croutons for a bit of a different flare.++

8. Be a Tea Nerd.

Learning about tea and botanicals is a never ending journey, and we suggest consuming as much as you can about this product. Some great facts to get you started.

China was the first country to discover tea, and only centuries later other nations adopted this plant.
There are six categories of tea, White. Yellow. Green. Oolong. Black. Pu'erh/Dark.

All Tea comes from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis.

If it does not come from this plant we call it a Tisane. For example, Chamomile is a flower so this is considered a Tisane.

China was the first country to discover tea, and only centuries later other nations adopted this plant.

All tea has levels of caffeine, only tisanes can be decaf.

9. Explore Cold Brews

Cold brews are a wonderful way to explore tea in a new way. By making a cold steep the tea does not give off bitter tannins, and actually makes a more smooth less astringent tea. Having cold brew tea in your refrigerator is also a great way to have a healthy, delicious beverage ready for you.

Making a cold brew.

Using a pitcher, jug or large mason jar, fill with cold water and add

your preferred tea leaves. Simply pop it in the fridge overnight,

and strain the leaves out the next day. We recommend using 1-2

teaspoons of leaf per cup of water.

Our favourite types of tea to use is the Royal Oolong,

or Japanese Steamed Green for cold brews,

the light delicate flavours come out beautifully with this method.

++ Fill ice cube tray with hot brewed tea.

Use the tea cubes for smoothies, or cocktails ++

10. Make a Change for your Health

Tea can help improve your overall health. By simply switching your sugary sodas, or lattes over to a flavourful cup of tea your body will thank you. The essential oils found in tea make this a great healthy choice for you. Studies have found links with tea and reduced stress, improving metabolism, increasing focus, and enhancing immune systems. This is just a small list of benefits that tea can offer to your everyday life.

Now Step Up Your Game & Shop Grow Tea Company

https://growteacompany.ca/collections/all