…about tea preparation
I found through trial and error a few things that will impact the flavor of your tea. I admit some of these should have been obvious since I am also an avid coffee drinker but for whatever reason it wasn’t.
I found that water type, water temperature, tea bag material and ingredients can completely change your tea’s flavor.
Lets start with water type -I preface this by saying I haven’t done any scientific analysis- however I find I get the best flavors with well, spring and distilled waters. Why I don’t know, maybe its my preference, maybe it really does have to do with what compounds (trace minerals, purifiers and such) are in the water. However, the temperature of your steeping water maybe more important than the water type. The water temperature helps your flavors bloom, too hot and you scald the herbs – not a good taste, too cold and the herbs don’t release all their goodness. Again, I haven’t gotten scientific but, I use an old fashioned tea pot on the stove to heat my water so I know about how long to heat it and at what temp to get the results I want for a good cup of tea.
I’m not sure how many people pay attention to what the tea bag is made out of but I’ve found different materials flavor the tea blends differently. I believe that the tea bags aren’t supposed to contribute a flavor during the steeping process and I might be weird but I can taste it in my tea. I started out using various paper style tea bags (unbleached, natural, etc.) but could always detect a pulpy aftertaste in my brews. Weirdly something I didn’t experience with paper style coffee filters, though in general coffee has heavier flavors. Anyway, I moved to these woven cloth like tea bags that are made to meet European Standards. I thought who would know more about how to make a proper tea bag than the Europeans. I feel in love with these tea bags, no weird flavors to muddy the taste of my tea, sturdy and large enough to handle the amount of ingredients required for my blends without tearing. I love these bags so much I use them for myself at home and for Teal Creek Teas.
Last but certainly most important are the ingredients used to make up the blends. Their treatment in the growth cycle, their treatment in the harvest cycle and their treatment in the processing cycle will all impact the flavor of the ingredient. I work with suppliers whose processes and ingredients I trust. The suppliers I use now for Teal Creek Teas are the same suppliers I used when I was only making tea for myself and my family. I will not use ingredients for my business tea that I would not use for my personal tea.
You can trust that whatever materials and ingredients are being used for Teal Creek Teas are the same materials and ingredients that are being used in my home for my family and myself. I will not give you, my tea family, anything I wouldn’t give myself.
Note to self: find out what tea bags are made of before posting- need to be able to say whether or not they have microplastic in them
Teal Creek Teas 