The Perfect Tea

I've been a tea aficionado for quite some time now, and there is always a search for that great cup of tea. As a child it was Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Tea, however my path's been leading me further along the line of loose teas. Along the way I learned several distinctions between actual tea and herbal infusions, something that people generally confuse. A tea made of herbs with no caffeine is not real. I'll dispell that notion now. The tea leaf naturally has caffeine and therefore black teas and green teas naturally do. Red teas are made with the rooibos plant and therefore are not caffeinated. So you have herbal infusions, black teas, green teas, and white teas, a large assortment to choose from, where do you start? Herbal infusions are great for any sort of headaches, back pains, a comforting tea. Black teas are a wonderful way to start a morning, and green teas tend to be a gentle and refreshing way to wake up. I've found myself enamored with Tazo Green Ginger tea as of recently, it has been amazing help in getting over a cold.

The best way to brew tea is if you have loose leaf tea, however, filter bag tea is fine. The main concern when brewing teas is how to keep them from becoming bitter. The bitterness occurs if the water is too hot for some teas, or if you steep them for too long. Rooibos teas do not tend to get bitter if you steep them for longer than you're supposed to. For smaller leaves, brew them for two to three minutes and for medium teas, three to five minutes. Large leaves should be left for six minutes, however if you brew them longer than six they run the risk of becoming bitter. If using a tea bag, don't let it steep for too long, as the leaves are cut finely in the smaller tea bags. Boiling tends to disintegrate the leaves, therefore it is best to leave the water sit for a minute or two so that it is still hot, but not boiling. It will also cause a bitter taste from some tea leaves if they are placed in boiling water.

When many people think of tea, two divergent thoughts come to mind. The herbal infusions or a cup of breakfast tea with milk. Everyone has their own traditions, but there are some teas where milk is not acceptable. For example if you have a lemon citrus tea, the milk will curdle. In many of the herbal infusions, there is too much acidity for the milk and like a lemon citrus black tea, and some of the more bitter berry infusions, it will curdle and end up ruining your cup. Honey is always a safe addition to teas, as it smoothly accompanies any cup, although many of the herbal infusions are sweet enough that sugar isn't even necessary. With black tea though, such as Earl Grey or an Irish Breakfast Tea, many people have milk as a satisfying addition to their cup. Traditional Irish Breakfast Tea tends to have milk and meade or whiskey as a special addition.

Tea is a great way to enjoy a drink or soothe frazzled nerves and can be a wholly enjoyable experience. However when you're waking up, the last thing you want to be sipping is overly brewed bitter tea leaves or curdled milk at the top of your cup of tea.