Today I received a DM from my good friend Jonathan. It inspired this post:
Hey Matt, I want to get into tea! Where’s the best place to start?
I sat back and I thought about it. I have learned a lot about tea over the past 6 months, from a lot of different people. But what’s the best place to start? That’s a good question, and not one to be answered in 140 characters. I’ve broken it down into sections to quickly answer questions. Like learning about tea it’s much more simple than it looks. There is a lot to say, but it’s honestly really simple and if you leave knowing anything know that.
Do I need to prepare?
I think it’s important not to dull your senses. I was fortunate when I started drinking tea to have just given up coffee and smoking; my senses were primed and ready. Still, it’s a shock and you have to bear with it a while. I’d advise not drinking excessive amounts of coffee, or tea to begin with. Try drinking a cup or 2 a day and stick to a small amount of coffee because as coffee drinkers we appreciate a raw hit, real pungency and not the subtlety or beauty that comes with tea.
I still revel in the beauty that is a good latté, but don’t drink workers coffee by the gallon all day - that’s all I’d advise here.
What about stuff?
In terms of things to get that’s simple. You need tea and water. If you want to be practical I’d say you really need a good tea cup. This doesn’t have to be special or expensive, but for me it signifies something. Try to find a cup without a handle and not too big. I got mine from Leaf (
www.leafshop.co.uk/) but you can find them anywhere. You will also need an infuser if you want to try loose tea (which is my recommendation and assumption here). This is simply a strainer that you put the leaves in so you can easily pull them back out - the smaller the holes the better. I got a bunch from a ton of different places, the best being from Samovar (
www.samovarlife.com).
A pitcher is useful if you want to share the experience or savour more than a single cup at a time. I like the ones from Samovar (though they appear to be available at Adagio (
www.adagio.com) in their milk/sugar set).
Other useful luxuries include a kettle with temperature control saves much hassle of learning how a kettle boils. Many teas are better steeped at lower temperatures than boiling point and as such you need to learn how a kettle either heats or cools to learn the right temperature. This takes practice and patience and is much easier after you know how the tea should taste. You can, as a general rule allow 1-2 minutes of cooling after boiling if you want to use something you already have.
Good water is also quite important. If you really want to enjoy tea then you need good water. If your tap water is as good as mine you will be okay, but I wouldn’t count on it. Hard or soft water is not good. Bottled water often lacks flavour after boiling and gets expensive. You don’t want overpowering flavour, but you want good tasting water. Britas make a great range of products for this, check them out if you can. Bad tap water can ruin even favourite teas.
So where do I get the tea from?
So… the bit that may start to answer the question then… I started at Adagio, and I’m glad I did. Adagio make some brilliant samplers. I would recommend them all, but don’t rely on them. Try different teas, and different kinds of tea, from different countries and build a profile for yourself. It’s surprisingly easy and fun to do.
I personally enjoyed the teas from Adagio, but found that they were best suited as tasters, to get your pallette used to the flavour (and no, I’m not that kind of flowery guy, but it’s true) or as daily teas. They aren’t gourmet, but they are enjoyable. Start here for good, cheap teas until you begin to realise you like one tea or another, but don’t hold predudices. I quickly liked black tea, but then learned to adore green tea. I thought I liked Chinese greens only, but later found a passion for Japanese also. I hated the Pu-erh from Adagio, but savoured others I have tried.
Don’t try pu-erh tea early, but don’t forget it if you like coffee or chocolate.
As you progress I have found two staple places to order tea, and no longer order much from Adagio. Silk Road Teas (
www.silkroadteas.com) are fantastic for buying by the 1/4lbs or more and sell an amazing range of high quality, affordable teas for enjoying every day. These teas are usually pure, meaning they are the tea equivalent of single malt whiskey.
My favourite source of blended tea (which is a true art, don’t try it yourself) has to be Samovar. These guys offer an astounding but relatively small range. Check out their starter set at
www.samovarlife.com/kevin and be prepared to buy larger quantities of all those teas, and also for buying some more of their amazing teaware.
What kinds of tea are there then?
There are thousands, perhaps millions of different teas. They come from different countries, continents, landscapes and peoples. They all have their own taste, subtleties and preparations, yet they all come from the same leaf.
The classic tea range is as follows, from lightest to strongest taste (and amount of caffeine while reverse order [generally speaking] for antioxidants and “goodness” - generally speaking):
- White tea
- Green tea
- Oolong tea
- Black tea
Then of course you have your odd-balls such as flavoured tea (often there is very little tea here), chai (which means tea by the way), blends (which, like whiskey can often be very very bad, but when done right are most delicious) and herbal. Herbal teas are not really teas as they don’t use the Camellia sinensis plant which all tea comes from. A famous example of this kind of tea substitute is the African Rooibos (“Roy-boss”) which tastes little like tea but is enjoyed by many as if it were in fact a tea.
You will likely prefer one kind of tea or another. I began preferring the rich, dark black teas, but quickly began to appreciate the green teas subtle flavour and light, crisp taste to quench a thirst. Be open to enjoy these differences; subtle and otherwise. You’ll be amazed how quickly you will be able to tell which country a tea is from, perhaps even which company.
How do I make it now I have some?
Try to appreciate all you can, though it’s quite an overload at first. It seems there is so much to learn. Smell and see the leaves; what colour are they? Are they broad or stringy? Long or short? Are they woody, green, dark, bronzed, mixed? A good tea is usually best made with consistent tea leaves; remember that. You will soon guess which teas you will like simply by looking at them.
Simply put:
- Tea leaves into infuser
- Infuser into teapot/cup/pitcher
- Add hot water
- Wait the designated period of time
- Remove the infuser (and thus the leaves) from the water
- Drink what’s left - known as tea
Unless you want chai or something, in which case follow the instructions.
You will struggle with the mix of the main factors of making tea to begin with; water temperature, amount of tea, length of steep. With no one there to show me I had no idea what to do or what the results were supposed to be; you will learn the best way and that’s by pleasing yourself. It’s all about how it tastes to you. That said, a basic rule I follow with new teas is:
- White tea - 80ºC for 1.5-2 minutes
- Green tea - 80ºC for 2.5 minutes
- Oolong tea - Read the container as they change dramatically, but take 30 seconds off the suggested time
- Black tea - Boiling water for 4.5 minutes
Be warned that waiting too long will return bitter results, but it’s not something which is effected by 5-10 seconds. Check out the instructions, start with shorter times to make lighter tea and add time as desired to strengthen the flavour and body.
Everyone says to use 2 teaspoons of tea leaves for a cup. This is impossible I thought, because different kinds of tea leaves won’t sit the same amount on a teaspoon, and also all cups are different. We are talking small cups here, not coffee mugs or grande latté cups. Also, this is a guestimate, you will learn how much to use but the balance everyone differs on is this:
The more tea you use, the less time it needs, and vice versa.
What I am saying is that I struggled with a lack of direction and definition. Everyone says different things and none of it can be measured to scientific satisfaction. This is art, not science though and you will learn quickly. I didn’t steep the same leaves more than once for a long time, and still only do so with some teas. This I find is another art in itself but feel free to frolic - it’s kinda fun. Just don’t be afraid to experiment.
This sounds complicated… Isn’t it just a drink?
It sounds insane right? It’s not, it’s massively simple. No two people make tea quite the same way, and no two people produce the same results. Learn it, deal with it and enjoy the beauty in it. I enjoy the meditation-like qualities of making tea, and love how the feeling transcends religion. Tea comes from all religions and is consumed by all religions. Still, there is something spiritual about the process, about using such natural resources in such a simple way.
Take your time, enjoy, savour and don’t get too wrapped up in getting it right or learning it; your palette will do that at it’s own pace and there is nothing you can do about that. If you have any questions then please feel free to ask. I am by no means any more than a newbie to this endless world of learning, but am happy to answer questions as my experience has taught me (just as this was written).
