How to make the perfect cuppa
We Brits are known the world over for our love of Rosie Lee (aka tea). It’s no real surprise.
After all, we drink 20 Olympic swimming pools of the stuff a day. That’s 165 million cups a day in ordinary money, which means that each of us drinks on average over 800 cups a year each.
Sadly the fact remains not many of us really know that much about the humble brew or even how to make the perfect cuppa properly so let’s try and set that straight.
Here at Farrer’s we’re going to walk you through how to make the perfect cuppa.
Over the 2,000 of known years of history the art of preparing and drinking tea has undergone a great deal of change but the principles are still the same though the origin of the ingredients may have changed.
Until the 18th century we drank tea from China; green tea, yellow tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea (red tea in China), dark tea or fermented tea and Pu’er tea. In all its forms it was a valuable commodity. In some cases more expensive than gold!
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT CUPPA
Where to start when making the perfect cup of tea? Let us begin brewing at the very beginning.
As with most things in life the key to doing something well is to use the best available resources. In reality why would you want to use anything else but the best?
(Image by @ashkfor121 on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/kfPioOq9mKM)
Speaking of the best tea. We would recommend our signature brew, Lakeland Special® Tea.
TEA LEAVES
Use poor quality tea and you will get a poor-quality brew. For the tea itself lets go with loose leaves over bags as the as the pieces are larger and give more flavour.
Yes, tea bags are convenient, but they really only colour the water and provide you with a dull tasting cuppa.
Now don’t think for one minute that because you are considering using tea leaves that you need to get the pot out. You don’t simply get your mitts on an individual infuser basket and Bob’s your uncle… (he may be anyway) you’ve now got the gear to make an individual cup or mug.
(Image by @rashidrashid on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/New8EgKnSds)
WATER
Now let’s talk water… yes oddly water plays probably the most important role in all of this… if you live in a hard water area ideally you need to get yourself a water filter because of the higher mineral content. If you don’t you’ll be wading through a mineral oil slick on top of your brew!
So now we’re using the correct water. We need to think temperature. Black and darker oolong teas need hotter water, about 100ºC, (remember your gran always said warm the pot before brewing up. You might have thought she was totally dotty about most things but not when it came to making a brew).
White and yellow teas, being more delicate little things, are better enjoyed at lower temperatures, around 60-80ºC and green teas love a little soak at 60ºC.
WHAT’S THE PERFECT TEA TO WATER RATIO?
Then there’s how much tea to add.
Well that’s reasonably simple, just like coffee, tea is a ratio game roughly two grams of tea per 150 millilitres of water.
Don’t trust your eye though as both green and white teas can be sneaky and are generally lighter than others to feel free to rummage about for your kitchen scales and do a weigh in just to check they are playing fair.
HOW MUCH MILK SHOULD I HAVE IN MY CUP OF TEA?
The amount of milk you add is really down to personal preference, but strong black teas like English Breakfast should be drunk with milk, as they’re big enough to take it!
According to a study back in 2018, the average person adds 5ml of milk to their cup of tea.
Don’t forget, only add milk once the tea has been poured and allowed to settle. Adding cold milk to a boiling cup can cause the milk proteins to de-nature. This causes a skin to form on top of the cup (gross, we know!)
(Image by @sarah_elizabeth on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/XEwsH1VUHTg)
SHOULD I ADD SUGAR TO MY TEA?
As for sugar… YOU’RE FIRED!!! Chai tea only FOLKS… the rest really don’t need it.
But as with all things it ultimately down to what you like…
NEW IN – SPICED CHAI LATTE
(Image by @billykwok on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/vfiA7rRtjWo)
The perfect drink to warm up with in front of the fire. Spice up your Christmas with Drink me Chai. The coffee shop inspired Chai Latte. A great alternative to tea or coffee, spiced chai latte is an aromatic blend of black tea, skimmed milk powder and spices.