Loose tea is on the rise, and replacing the traditional tea bag on a fast pace. However, the preparation of this 4000 year old beverage is too often approached with an attitude that people have when making coffee. With tea, you shouldn't try to aim to steep the 'perfect cup', applying optimal temperatures and steeping durations. And when you're just starting to discover about tea, you shouldn't invest in expensive tea hardware either. A simple glass can do the work, and if you do it right, you can prepare tea like a tea master.
A tea master approaches tea with their feeling.
In this post, I'll list a few things you should consider.
Choosing a glass
Any glass can work for steeping tea. The benefit of steeping in a glass is that you can appreciate the leaves when they're being steeped. To optimally benefit from this, get a glass that's as transparent as possible.
Amount of leaves
As said before, this isn't art. Simply start with a tablespoon of tea for tea that's consisting of broken or smaller leaves. When the tea consists of large leaves you'll need about 2 tablespoons. Don't worry if you've used too many or too few leaves, as you'll always be able to compensate for that by steeping it for a bit longer.
What you also want to take into account is how often you want to steep the same leaves. If you plan to have many brews, then increase the amount of leaves. In contrary when you just want one glass then go for less.
Temperature
When you're steeping green tea....to be continued soon...