Brewing Tea

 

Brewing tea is an art involving good coordination, precise timing and a keen sense of observation. For serious tea drinkers it is very important to know how to brew tea well. The reason is simple. You can have the best tea leaves and use the best water in the world and end up with the worst cup of tea. Each individual tea has its own ideal brewing parameters to bring out its best characteristics and personality.

The tea to water ratio plays an important part in determining the strength of your tea. An overtly strong brew will keep the more subtle characters of the tea hidden, whilst a thin and weak tea will make for an underwhelming experience. It should be noted that the different size, thickness in the layers of leaves and tightness in compression all affects the rate of release in essence and character of the tea when brewed

Understanding the many factors that affect tea preparation and knowing how to find the ideal brewing parameters for each tea – that is fulfilling to you - takes time. Nevertheless it is a short term investment for a longer term gain that will last you a lifetime. Whilst following a set of instructions and rules can achieve a certain level of success it does not provide the kind of expansive understanding that allows the brewing of tea to reach the level of fulfillment that resonates deeply within the soul that can be repeated time and time again when faced with a different set of conditions.

A cup of tea is 99% water. Choosing your water well and maintaining the ideal temperature for brewing tea is of key importance. Water temperature determines the difference between cooking your tea leaves and carefully steeping and drawing out its delicate essence to be enjoyed.

Brewing tea well starts with liberating yourself and allowing your natural curiosity and desire to experiment and test ideas come to the fore. These experiments over time will create a deep understanding and appreciation that will empower you with practical and time tested knowledge. This proven skill set will change and drastically improve the way you brew. Equally important the experimental process will open up a range of possibilities that will allow you to get to know and understand your own preferences. At the same time training your senses to recognize and become familiar with the subtleties and wide ranging characteristics found in tea that can be influenced by the brewing of tea.