Traditional Teas

One way to spruce up a party or gathering - even just a nice afternoon reading, is to brew up some nice loose leaf teas.


The really cool thing about loose leaf tea, is that in a lot of cases you have specific things you can leave in the tea while you drink it.

This is Chinese Rosebud Tea, and when it is finished steeping you can leave in some rosebuds for decoration. 

A friend of mine, Steve, introduced me to Genmaicha, a delicious black rice tea.

For any geek, tea is a special task. Teas are rich with culture and flavor, each representing an era and place on earth. 

The best way, I've found, to make tea is as following:

1) Poor cold fresh water into a kettle or pot on the stove. 

2) Bring water to a boil, turn off heat.

    

- While you are boiling your water, fill your Teapot with hot tap water. This helps keep the heat at a level temperature, so the boiling water you are about to add doesn't need to heat up the pot as well. Empty the Teapot when you are ready to poor in your boiled water.

3) Poor water into Teapot 

Now, if you are just using a loose leaf bag of tea, drop that into the water. If you are using actually using loose tea, make sure you have a filter. 

4) Steep times:

Green Teas: 2-3 mins

Black Teas: 3-5 mins

Herbal Teas: 5+ mins 

5) Pour your tea into a cup. Then drink it. 

If you are like me, take out some of the loose leaf and put it in your teacup for decoration!