Here's How To Make The Perfect Cup Of Tea

Here’s How To Make The Perfect Cup Of Tea

January 6, 2013 // 12:00 pm // By: Jennifer Lai

The perfect cup of tea is waiting for you, somewhere.

But first — you have to make it. And while making a hot cup of tea sounds relatively easy (just dump the teabag in some hot water, right?), this infographic has got it down to a SCIENCE.

No more guessing about how long to let your green tea, black tea, or white tea steep — this helpful chart of sorts has broken it down to the best temperatures and times for six common types of tea.

Things that we learned: Green tea only needs 1-2 minutes (since it can be so strong), and herbal tea needs boiling water (210 degrees) and a bit more time (3-6 minutes) to release that flavor. Makes sense!

H/T: Tumblr

Jennifer LaiTwitterFacebook

At the ripe age of three, Jennifer Lai sampled dishes as diverse as foie gras, jellyfish, and chicken feet. She was born Canadian, hails from Los Angeles, and lived in Berkeley and Chicago before moving to New York, where she now resides and writes. She spends at least one night a week compulsively roasting vegetables and re-watching episodes of Good Eats -- sometimes at the same time.

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Anonymous

I just love a perfect cup of tea, oh yeah!

http://www.AnonMix.tk
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=2603241 Faysal Akbik

Loose Leaf.

Shy

Loose leaf doesn’t refer to the type of tea. It just means it’s not in a nifty little mesh bag for steeping it.

http://twitter.com/nourishtea nourishtea

Very helpful! Digital tea kettles help getting the temperature down to the degree.

http://twitter.com/AndruC Andrew Ryan

Oddly enough, my digital kettle heats green tea water to a lower temperature (by about 10 deg F) than white tea.

http://twitter.com/music_bloggers musicblogger

Astonished that you state a perfect cup of tea comes from a tea bag, have you ever had real tea? Tea bags are great but y’know, perfect tea requires a lot more effort, as does your research for this article.
Tahira

But the question is, do you add milk at the same time as water, or add milk after leaving the tea bag to steep alone? Hubby and I always argue over this process and who is correct! Lol!
Shy

..First time I’ve ever heard of yellow tea. But, what about red tea?

Honey Pace

Red tea (Rooibos) is not really a tea … it comes from South Africa and grows caffeine free … it has so many health benefits and comes in such delicious flavors that the tea ‘people’ let it join the many wonderful other teas of the world … if you have not tried any I recommend that you do … my fav is: Hawaiian Colada … it reminds me of having a Hot Toddy which is a wayyy down South cold cure … a Hot Toddy has real bourbon in it … Hawaiian Colada does not but the fragrance is there … amazing. Enjoy …

Bob Jones

I know they’re not technically “teas” in the true sense, but I do like the variety that herbal teas bring.
Anonymous

Loose leaf is where it’s at. You’ll save a TON of money buying in bulk and it’ll be of higher quality usually than what you find from tea bag companies. Have a look at this site, they have great recommendations on tea brands and tea accessories: http://smartnaturalremedies.com/tea-and-accessories/
Anonymous

Loose leaf tea is fantastic and there are many benefits of green tea you can read about on the link as well as accessories. I prefer loose leaf over bags because you save money buying in bulk.