Making the Perfect Cup of Tea Every Time

Making the perfect cup of tea. It is one of the first tests we ever face in the kitchen. The balance of a perfect cup of tea is so disputed the world over , that sometimes it is virtually impossible to please everyone.

We give you a few basic variations on how to produce a great cuppa every time.

The Water

A truly great cup of tea starts with water. Chlorine or sulphur if present in the water even in a tiny amount will make the taste go different. Always use only filtered water or fresh spring water. Never use distilled or previously boiled water. The more oxygen in the water, the better

Bring the water to a boil. Some teas are steeped in boiling water, while others require slightly cooled water. Experiment with different kinds of tea and look at package instructions to figure out which works best.

Steeping the Tea

The type, grade and texture of the tea that you are going to use is an important factor in determining how long you steep your tea for.

A fine dust tea disperses very easily and needs only a minute of steeping. These kinds of teas provide a bold strong flavour.

A larger size grade of tea will either require more steeping or you can even boil it for a few minutes along with the required quantity of milk and let the flavours gradually release. This method is very popular in the Northern part of India

Green Teas and  are minimally processed and need to be treated with a gentle hand. The water needs to heat up only till 80-90 degress celcius and the steeping time is never above 1 minute.

Oolong teas require 6-8 minutes of steeping for the right flavour.

An important tip is that if you want stronger tea, do not steep for longer, instead add more tea.

The Milk

Always  make sure that your milk is heated. Adding cold milk to the hot tea is a big no no. One way to ensure that this doesn’t happen is to add the milk to your pan before you add the tea. Purists will wag their fingers at you, but trust us, this works.

The best way of course is to heat your milk separately and pour it in to your teacup directly.

Sugar

This last ingredient is all up to taste, but we recommend that you do not add more than two teaspoons as this will ruin the magnificent flavour that you have just created.