New to Tea
Hi everyone! I am brand new to drinking tea. My wife is a coffee lover and I like it somewhat and wanted to try something different. I stopped into Teavana yesterday and bought one of their Perfectea Tea Makers, the Holiday Tea Collection which was BOGO Free (total of 4 ounces each of White Chocolate Peppermint, Pumpkin Spice Brulee, Spiced Apple Cider and Coco Caramel Sea Salt) and some of their rock sugar to make sure mine tasted as good as their samples. Got home and thankfully my wife was the first to make it (I didn’t want to mess it up). We made 16 ounces of the Coco Caramel Sea Salt and my cup tasted much better and sweeter than my wife’s cup? Her cup tasted pretty flat and not flavorful. She tried making a 2nd cup and still didn’t taste that sweet. We boiled our water in the microwave and just guessed on the temperature since we don’t have a thermometer (probably our first mistake?). We put 3 teaspoons of the tea of the Coco Caramel Sea Salt (1 1/2 recommended per 8 oz) and then put the water over it and then put either 1 or 2 teaspoons of the sugar each. We didn’t know if we put the sugar in before we boil the water or after? We also put some sugar in our mug to make sure it is sweet. Mine was amazing but she was disappointed. The steep time also called for 5-6 and I believe we did either 5 1/2 or 6 minutes. It is hard to judge when it doesn’t give an exact number. Any suggestions? They tried to get me to buy the $250 fancy tea machine but I passed LOL.
First question is, did you taste your wife’s cup? Did she taste yours? Did each cup taste different to the same person? People tend to have very different tastes and preferences for flavours. If you look at tasting notes on here, people will have very different experiences with the same teas and same brewing parameters.
Admittedly, I totally gave up on trying to make a good cup of Coco Caramel Sea Salt, but if I recall correctly, this was a fairly chunky blend. It’s possible that when you made your first cup, you got a better balance of ingredients in your scoop of stuff than you did for subsequent cups. Try giving your container of dry tea a good shake before you scoop, maybe?
This is an herbal tisane, so boiling, or just, water should be fine. I don’t think there’s anything in this one that should be temperature sensitive (if you plan to be drinking actual tea, rather than herbals, temperature will become a lot more important.) Steep time for tisanes is also generally pretty forgiving.
Heat your water, steep your tea, pour, then add sugar to taste. And just experiment with making a single small cup until you figure out what works best for each of you. If she’s finding it bland, maybe try adding an extra half teaspoon per cup for brewing.
Hi. Yes I tried her tea as well and it tasted flat compared to mine. What is the best way to get the correct temperature for the other teas? Buy a thermometer and stick it in after heating the water in the microwave?
If you drink a lot of tea, a variable temp kettle is worth investing in. Otherwise, getting a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of your water is a nice, inexpensive way to go.
You can also roughly estimate temperature. I’ve found that if I boil water, let it sit till it’s no longer bubbling and then pour it into a cold cup or tea pot once, it’s usually a pretty good temperature for oolongs, twice and it’s pretty good for most greens and white teas. But of course this depends on a lot of factors like the volume of water and surface area of the container and all that.
Where is the best place to get a variable temp kettle? Is this something that I could adjust to get a certain temperature of water?
Even boiling in a pot on the stove is preferable to microwaving, and you should have something on hand that can do the job. Thermometer is helpful but not mandatory. I suggest holding off on any more purchases until you figure out whether you really like tea or not.
If the tea sat and cooled, it will taste different. If it didn’t get as hot in the first place, it will taste different. If there wasn’t the exact same amount of tea and water, it will taste different. There are many variables but in this situation, I suggest bringing water to a boil on the stove, then brewing your tea in a pot (if you have one) or your perfect tea maker. Try a taste of it after a few minutes. If you like it, that’s great. If it’s not strong enough, let it go a little longer. Repeat until it’s strong enough for you. For the sweetener, it will dissolve best if you put it in right away BUT you won’t know how much you really want if you do that. It’s another situation of trying out different ways. Try it with no sugar or a bit of sugar. If that isn’t to your taste, add more. You can also add milk or cream or non-dairy milk if you are interested in that sort of thing. All of these variables will change the taste, which is why Teavana and other places say things like 5 – 6 minutes. Everyone likes their tea differently so it’s really hard to have someone tell you exactly what to do. Good luck!
If you decide to buy a variable temp kettle, the Bonavita ones are on Amazon for a reasonable price. But Uniquity is right, don’t invest in more tea ware until you’re sure you love tea and will use it a lot. You can make perfectly good tea with the supplies you already have.
Also for the steep times if they have a range of 2 to 3 or 5 to 6, do you usually go in the middle?
I start with the lowest steep time (or sometimes shorter), and then sample the tea with a ceramic spoon (you can get them for <$1 each in most Chinatown stores that sell table wares.) If it tastes weak then I let it steep longer.
Many herbals are extremely forgiving and can be steeped for much longer than the recommended steep time, so I often don’t even bother timing them, and just let it keep steeping till I’m ready to drink it (or while I’m drinking it.)
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