Tea lovers? What’s the right way to make tea?
I’m asking this because there is a video of a guy making tea that has gone viral, and left tea lovers screaming.
A week ago, a Twitter account by the name @hollharl shared a forty-eight second video with the caption: “My boyfriend has made the worst video in the world” that left Twitter users mad.
The video shows the “boyfriend” putting a few spoons of sugar into a mug, followed by some hot water, followed by a splash of milk, then a tea bag that is only soaked for a few seconds, and tweeps seem to be disturbed by the whole method.
My boyfriend has made the worst video in the world pic.twitter.com/FAsacuW86R
— Holly Harley (@hollharl) August 17, 2019
Twitter user, @francesweetman said: “Everything about this is wrong and it is causing intense anxiety.”
Everything about this is wrong and it is causing intense anxiety
— Frances Weetman (@francesweetman) August 18, 2019
@dvwhat said, “Why does it loop? No one should ever see have to see this more than once. And once hurts to watch!”
WHY DOES IT LOOP?!?!?!?! NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE TO SEE THIS MORE THAN ONCE.....AND EVEN ONCE HURTS TO WATCH!!!!!
— Jon Jones (@dvwhat) August 18, 2019
Another user, @wserepeat said, “I don't know you, lady, but you need to throw the whole boyfriend away and that cup of whatever that is.”
I don't know you, lady, but you need to throw the whole boyfriend away and that cup of whatever that is.
— Carmen (@iamafieldonfire) August 17, 2019
But, @Armstrongmsith came to his defense, and said he allows it because he didn’t put the milk in first.
This is how to make the perfect tea
Jessica Bonin of Lady Bonin's Tea Parlour on how to make the perfect cup of tea.
Water is key
The best water for tea is spring water, or at the least filtered water. Tea is a chemistry and the leaf interacts with the chemistry in the water. The smoother the water, the smoother the tea.
Choose loose leaf or full leaf tea over tea bags
Conventional tea bags such as your bog standard boxed tea has broken leaves the industry refers to as fannings, they are the bottom of the barrel, swept off the floor bits of tea. They can be likened to instant coffee and full leaf to roasted beans.
If a leaf is broken it doesn’t have its chemical potential to interact with the water, therefore the flavour released is often stale and requires additives and flavourings to compensate.
Steep time
Steeping time is there for a reason. It ensures the leaves don’t get burned and the flavour is sweet. Green teas are often steeped too long, resulting in bitter beverages. Black tea also has this potential. Green tea should take 2 minute, a black tea 3 to 4 and a rooibos 3 to 5.
Take time for tea, it is an opportunity to reconnect with yourself and step outside of the chaos of the world and find the present moment by catching your breath. This was the ancient purpose of tea after all.
Water temperature
Green tea does not like boiling water. This is the main reason it is bitter. let the water cool down for at least 5 minutes or don’t let the water reach boiling.
Water to tea, never tea to water. Because the flavour is released through a rehydration, pouring water over leaves allows this to happen more organically, the other way around jumbles the message and results in a less complex and flatter flavour.