Never judge a tea by its fame or buy it for its price. You must only judge tea by how much you like the taste.
You may be thinking brewing a cup of tea is pouring hot water over some tea leaves to extract their flavour and subsequently create a warm soothing drink. To infuse a good tea with a satisfying aroma, you still need to adopt the basic principles well.
So rather than being intimidated by the process, the art of brewing tea can be as varied as your imagination. You are unlikely to go through those technical lengths at home, even if I don’t. Just keep to the basics will do.
Warm-up routine: it is important to pre-warm your pot, pour pot and cups. It helps to get the tea aroma out quicker.
The right ratio: the good rule is around two grams of tea leaves per 150ml of water. Trust your kitchen scale, not your eyes ㋡.
Rinsing routine: rinse the tea leaves immediately with warm/hot water. Pour new water & left it to soak for 45 seconds to a minute. Different types of tea have different time windows.
Brewing tea: the brewing time is between three to five minutes, depending on your tea type. Simply adjust for your personal taste.
Common tea types :
- Black Tea – the leaf is allowed to fully oxidize during the process. Caffeine content is half of coffee. It tastes slightly bitter and more robust. For instance, Earl Grey, English Breakfast and Masala Chai.
- Green Tea – shortly after picking, the leaves are processed with rapid heating to prevent oxidation. Typical steeped for a shorter time at a temperature around 60°C. It also tastes light, fresh and a bit grassy. Popular ones are Jasmine, Mao Jian and Long Jing.
- Oolong Tea – tea leaves are left for around two to four hours before being heated up to halt the oxidization process. The tea is full of soft flavours such as Tie Kwan Yin.
- Pu’er Tea – mainly comes from Yunnan Province, China. Sheng Pu’er is a simple non-oxidized tea whose colour changes over time, meanwhile, Shu Pu’er goes through the post-fermentation process. The fermented tea tastes bitter with a natural sweet note.
Let’s get creative & start making your own.
茶饮是集文化、健康为一体的饮食习惯。不同的茶类有不同的饮用方法，因此每个人在品饮时，就有不一样的要求。总的说来，茶饮讲究 “醇”。
茶，一口甘甜，源于生活。只要用心去体会便可在泡茶、品茶中获得最美的体验。
让我们来简单了解茶类及其建议泡法。
- 绿茶 ：采取茶树的新叶，未经发酵，经烘干而制作，保持茶叶鲜绿的特点。产品有龙井、毛尖、庐山云雾。建议分量 2ｇ。一冲取 85度水洗去茶中浮尘，稍停 30秒就好，倒出弃之。再用60度左右温水二冲，冲泡时间 2-3分钟。饮后舌本回甘，余味无穷。一般上不建议三冲。
- 红茶：一种全发酵茶，色泽黑褐油润，香气浓郁带甜，滋味醇厚。建议分量为 5ｇ。高水温一冲洗尘，再用高温水浸泡，3-5分钟为佳。沙巴红茶为大马代表。
- 乌龙茶：具有绿茶的醇和甘爽，又有红茶的浓厚幽香。是一种半发酵茶，建议分量是同样 5ｇ。一定要用沸水（95度左右）。第一泡倒掉，再倒入冲泡，3-5分钟为宜。一般乌龙茶有台湾乌龙、武夷岩茶、安溪铁观音。
- 黑茶：一种后发酵茶，随着时间会自然陈化。越陈越香是其特点。一般茶体紧结，菌香四溢，茶汤色泽橙红透亮，口感顺滑，滋味醇厚回甘。建议取 5-8ｇ普洱茶叶。冲泡要用 100度沸水。第一泡用一分钟洗茶，把水倒掉，再倒入沸水，后续冲泡 3-5分钟。
~ 茶来一杯 享受生活 ~