Content

• Advice
• Warning
• What you need

• The wooden stick will prevent the water from overheating and possibly exploding.

Pour a little water into a teapot or cup to preheat. If you pour hot water into a kettle or cold cup, the temperature of the water will drop significantly and the tea will not soak up properly. Rinse the teapot by filling 1/4 or 1/2 full of hot water teapot or cup. Let stand for 30 seconds, then pour out.

• If you're in a hurry, you can skip this step, but the tea will be hotter and more delicious if you rinse the teapot with hot water.

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Part 2 of 4: Making tea

1. 

   
   
   Place tea leaves or tea bags in a cup or teapot. If making tea bags, you need to use 1 tea bag for each cup of tea brewed in the kettle, or put 1 tea bag in a separate cup of tea. For loose leaf tea, you should use 1 tablespoon (2 grams) of tea for each cup of tea you want to make.
   • Feel free to add more tea if you prefer a darker tea.

2. 

   Brew the tea at the correct time needed for each type of tea. If the tea is loose, the tea leaves will expand when absorbed with water. If you are using tea bags, you should see the water start to change color unless you are using white tea. Tea incubation time for each type is as follows:
   • 1 - 3 minutes for green tea
   • 2 - 5 minutes for white tea
   • 2 - 3 minutes for oolong tea
   • 4 minutes for black tea
   • 3 - 6 minutes for herbal tea

   Do you know? The longer the tea is brewed, the darker it is. You can use a spoon to tasting the tea to avoid brewing for too long, making the tea taste worse than desired.

   
   

3. 

   Strain away tea grounds or take out tea bags. If you are using a tea bag, lift the tea bag and wait for the tea to drip into the cup or teapot. If you are using loose leaf tea, you can either take out the tea mesh bag or place the sieve over the top of the cup and pour the tea into the sieve. Leave the tea grounds to brew again or throw away.
   • Bring tea bags or tea grounds to compost after you are done making the tea.
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Part 3 of 4: Drink tea

1. 

   Add milk to black tea for a fatty taste. Traditionally, milk was only added to black tea, such as tea for breakfast. There is no right or wrong way to drink tea with milk, so you can pour milk into a cup before or after pouring tea. Stir gently and place the spoon on the plate next to the tea.
   • You may be asked if you want to add ice cream to your tea, but avoid skim or half-and-half (a mix of whole milk and whipped cream). The high fat content dries out the flavor of the tea.

2. 

   
   
   Stir honey or sugar into the tea to make it sweet. If you don't like the taste of pure tea, you can add a bit of sugar, honey or your favorite sweetener to the tea. For example, you can use stevia sweetener, agave syrup or flavored syrup, such as vanilla syrup.
   • Indian bottled tea (masala chai) is usually sweetened with diameter or brown sugar.
   • Honey is a great choice to sweeten green or white tea.

3. 

   Add lemon, ginger or mint if you like a tea that adds a refreshing taste. Try squeezing some fresh lemon juice or fresh mint sprigs into the tea. If you like the slightly spicy taste, you can add a thin slice of fresh ginger.
   • If you want a strong flavor, add a cinnamon stick to your tea.

   Advice: Since citrus can cause curdling, you should avoid adding lemons to your tea if you add milk.

4. 

   Freeze tea to make iced tea. If you like cold tea, refrigerate it until it's really cold, then put ice cubes in a cup and pour the tea in. Enjoy the iced tea before the ice melts.
   • You can make iced tea with any type of tea. Try making sweet iced tea with black tea or herbal tea hibiscus (hibiscus flower).
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Part 4 of 4: Choosing tea to brew

1. 

   Choose black tea for a rich drink that won't be overwhelmed by the taste of milk or sweeteners. With smoky black tea, you should buy Chanh Son Tieu Chung tea (Lapsang Souchong). For rich malt flavor, choose Assam tea. If you want to drink tea with milk or sugar, you can buy tea for breakfast or daily drink.
   • Look for flavored black teas like Earl Gray (Earl Gray tea), Lady Gray tea, or Indian bottled tea for floral, citrus, or spicy flavors.

2. 

   Choose green tea if you like its mild, rustic flavor. Green tea contains less caffeine than black tea and has a more subtle flavor. If you like tea without added milk or sweeteners, try drinking green tea to discover its elegant taste.
   • If you are interested in green tea, you can learn how to make matcha tea. Matcha is a pureed green tea commonly used in Japanese tea ceremony.

   Advice: If you like black or green tea, try oolong tea. This tea has been oxidized like black tea, but has not been processed so it retains its grassy flavor.

3. 

   Choose white tea for a mild taste and low caffeine. White tea is the least oxidized and contains very little caffeine. Choose this tea if you like a mellow tea that is easy to drink without adding any sweeteners or other flavors.
   • White tea is only minimally processed, so it is usually sold only as leaves instead of filter bags.

4. 

   Look for herbal teas if you want to avoid caffeine. If you are interested in caffeine or just want to try a mild tea, choose some herbal teas to try. Traditional peppermint tea keeps you strong and alert whether it's served hot or cold; Chamomile tea is famous for its soothing properties.
   • South African black tea (Rooibos) is also a popular tea, often blended with dried fruit or vanilla.

5. 

   Decide whether to choose loose leaf tea or tea bags. Choose loose leaf tea if you love high quality tea that can be made over and over again. The tea leaves its leaves on when dried, and the leaves expand when brewed in hot water. If you want more convenience, you can buy tea is chopped and divided into parts in a filter bag. However, tea bags can only be made once.
   • If you want to have a high quality filter bag tea, choose a pyramid-shaped tea bag for the tea leaves to expand when brewing. If you can't find this tea, you can find a round filter bag for chopped tea.

   Do you know? The most popular filter bag tea is square shaped attached to a string with a label. Although easy to buy, tea bags usually only contain low quality tea and powdered tea.

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Advice

• Clean the teapot and kettle regularly to prevent minerals from forming deposits.
• Store tea tightly sealed to minimize exposure to oxygen, light and moisture. You should choose a can that does not affect the taste of the tea.
• In high altitudes, the low boiling point of water makes it difficult to make teas that require high temperatures, such as black tea. You may need to boil the water for longer.

Warning

• Always be careful when boiling and pouring water, avoid splashing water on people causing burns.

What you need

• Measuring spoon or electronic scale
• Teapot
• Teacup
• Timing clock
• Spoon
• Sieve filter, optional