Leaves that are fully fermented are called black tea. The color of the drink is brown, dark gray or burgundy. Proper brewing is one of the most important steps in preparing for a meal. Almost always already the finished product is poured with hot water, but how to do it without errors, read on.

The history of black tea

The first mention of black leaf tea appeared in the 17th century. If you believe the sources, then he was delivered to Romanov by Mikhail Fedorovich as a messenger from Mongolia.  At that time, they did not know how to brew the leaves correctly. The tsar liked the slightly strange taste, and his deposits quickly evaporated. They forgot about tea for almost 200 years, and only after 2 centuries he went to the masses, after which he was added to the army diet.

Composition

The chemical structure of tea leaves under the supervision of scientists throughout the entire 20-21 century, but there is still no exact set of components. At the moment, scientists count more than one hundred useful components.

The main ones are:

• Tannins  make up approximately 13 of the total composition of the leaves. One of them is tanninIt gives a tart and strong taste.
• Essential oils enhance aroma, but it is worth remembering that they dissolve with improper brewing.
• Alkaloids give the body a tonic effect, so some varieties of tea can act no worse than coffee.

The main vitamins that make up are: B, K, A, C, P.  Due to the large amount of vitamin P, it is produced industrially as a means of strengthening the cardiovascular system.

We brew black leaf tea:

Almost always, tea manufacturers do not write full information on the packaging. And she doesn’t always have to believe, for example, the same can be brewed with different water temperatures.

For maximum taste and aroma do not take iron dishes.  Porcelain is perfect. To get a drink without bitterness, it is worth pouring it before the procedure hot water for 3-5 minutes.After the container is warmed up, put 1-2 tablespoons of tea leaves there;

When your kettle boils, let it stand for 7-10 minutes so that the water temperature drops to 80 degrees

Pour in tea leaves and cover with a napkin, or a towel.
  After 5 minutes, your tea is ready.

When there is a mug, but no teapot.

Sometimes there is such a problem: there is tea, there is water, there is no place to brew, what should I do?  Revision 2tea found an original, and at the same time an easy way to solve this problem.

We will need a plastic cup or, for example, a yogurt box, tea itself and a mug.

We puncture holes as in the figure:

Then we lower it into the mug and put the tea leaves there. Be careful, 80 degrees are still a lot, the plastic will melt!

In a thermos:

The peculiarity of tea in a thermos is the fact that time  which is required for brewing lessbut the drink is much stronger. To slightly reduce astringency and bitterness, we recommend adding a spoonful of honey. The procedure is simple, take 2 tablespoons of leaves, throw in a thermos and fill with water. Brewing time approximately 1-2 minutes. Tea is ready.

In the teapot:

Initially, we remove all that may have a pungent odor.  Fish, perfume, pepper, etc. If you want a slightly citrus flavor, you can together with tea leaves put a slice of lime.  Put it down? Is tea already inside? Now fill it with hot water about 80 degrees, as we remember, if the temperature is higher, the drink will lose many of its beneficial properties. There is an important detail here, so that the tea leaves turn out to be as tasty as possible, first fill in 1/4 teapot. Let this mass infuse for 4-7 minutes, then fill in the remaining place with hot water.

To summarize:

In welding there is nothing complicated. The main thing to remember is only 3 rules:
  Good tea
  Optimal water temperature
  Proper utensils

We wish you good health!

Tea has its own traditions in the preparation and use of tea in almost all countries. In China and Japan it is a whole ritual, the observance of which is considered a real art. In England, tea drinking is full of stiffness and sophistication. distinguished by the presence on the table of a samovar. But the main thing at all tea parties is the proper preparation of tea. How is black tea? Many will answer that there is nothing complicated in this, that there is no need to look for a recipe for brewing black tea. But in fact, you need to know a lot of nuances so that the resulting drink is moderately saturated, strong, tasty, retains its aroma, leaves a long pleasant aftertaste.

Tea ceremony preparation

To make tea in accordance with all the rules, a number of conditions must be observed. Purchase high-quality, prepare water, special dishes.

What kind of water make tea

Water is of great importance in making the “right” tea. It is best if it is spring, soft and clean. Tap water should be passed through a filter. Do not use a boiler or an electric kettle to boil water. It is worth recalling the usual enameled kettle, which is boiled on a gas or electric stove.

The temperature of the heated water must be observed. There are three stages of boiling water, although Chinese gourmets believe that there are seven such stages. But inexperienced tea people should decide on three:

1. Initial stage. At this stage, the water begins to boil at the bottom, while the first bubbles appear, some of them rush up. Part settles on the walls of the kettle. You can hear a little noise.
2. Intermediate stage. Bubbles completely penetrate water. It is believed that water turns white, beats a white key. Such water is suitable for brewing almost all teas, including black. The noise at this moment becomes stronger.
3. The final stage. This is the stage of the big bubbles. If you open the lid, you can see active bubbling, strong steam comes from the kettle. At this time, water reaches 100 degrees, noise is reduced.

To brew black tea, you need a temperature of no more than 95 degrees. This corresponds to an intermediate stage. If the water overheats, you should wait a bit, after three minutes, when it cools down, you can start brewing.

Cooking utensils

How to brew black tea? It is brewed in earthenware, clay, porcelain, glass or ceramic dishes. It is more convenient to brew tea in a spherical teapot. First, the kettle is warmed up, do not fill in the tea leaves and pour water into the cold kettle. The water temperature immediately drops sharply, which will negatively affect the brewing.

In order to warm the kettle, you can use several methods. You can pour boiling water into the kettle, wait a bit, drain the water. You can place the teapot in a spacious container with boiling water. After two minutes, the kettle will be at the right temperature. Some place a teapot in which water boils. It will naturally heat up.

Tea Proportion

The brewing of black tea should be of high quality. This is very important, someone likes Indian tea, someone prefers Chinese or Ceylon. How to make tea? To make tea, take a teaspoon of tea leaves per cup of tea, add another one on top to the teapot. But it all depends on how much water will be poured into the kettle, whether the tea leaves will be diluted with something else.

• If hard water is used, a little more infusion is required. Since such water does not allow extractive substances to come out of the tea leaves as easily as when soft.
• The amount of black tea should be less than when brewing green tea.
• Large-leaf tea needs to be taken more than small-leaf tea.
• Fans of fatty foods, those who smoke a lot, need a stronger brew.
• Tea from a pack in a teapot needs to be poured quickly, it should not absorb the odors of the kitchen.
• The tea spoon should be clean and dry.
• Tea is distributed over a heated teapot by lightly shaking it.

How to fill the tea leaves with water

How to make tea? Imagine several methods for brewing black tea. You can first add hot water to the tea leaves per one third of the volume of the kettle. After two minutes, add water to the top. The drink is ready, you can enjoy tea.

In another way, the fill should be disposable. Hot water is poured into the teapot to the top, leaving only a few millimeters to the lid. So that the tea leaves are completely covered with water, the water is poured in a circle, warming the kettle evenly.

When pouring boiling water, you can check how high-quality tea was purchased. Tea should be stirred. If the tea leaves went to the bottom, a light brown foam appeared on the surface, the tea was magnificent.

If after stirring part of the tea leaves remains on the surface, there is no foam, the tea is bad. It is worth remembering that green tea is not recommended to be stirred when brewing, and black is better to mix.

Many people ask, is it possible to brew black tea twice? Tea brewing rules state that black tea is brewed no more than two times. Although the second tea leaves can not be called full. Tea is poured with hot water immediately after the first, while the brewing is still wet, before it has cooled. If a lot of time has passed, do not brew tea again.

How much tea to insist

Of course, in Russia, tea has long been drunk precisely during and after meals, accompanying tea drinking with a lot of sweets and pastries. Tea, lemon, honey, jam, sugar are served in our country. Tea is taken to drink in bite with lump sugar. How in England they drink tea with cream or milk. Some people prefer to drink black or rum.

The peculiarity of Russian tea drinking is that tea is brewed in a small teapot. The consistency is made very strong. Then the tea leaves are poured into cups, adding boiled water. So guests can adjust the strength of the drink.

For a cup of classic English tea you will need black tea, milk, and possibly sugar. Our instructions will tell you how to brew black tea.

How to make black tea at home

Black tea is one of the easiest to make. Here is what you need.

Tea

There is a huge variety of types of black tea. Try a few and choose your favorite.

Lipton® English Breakfast

English Breakfast is one of the most famous teas in the world. Our blend is strong and rich. It is ideal in combination with milk, sugar can be added to taste.

Lipton® Earl Gray

Lipton® Spicy Marakkesh

A balanced blend of black tea with spicy notes. Drink it hot, cold or with milk to enjoy a rich taste.

Water

If you use tap water, then let it drain a little before putting it into the kettle. So that tea can best reveal its taste, it needs oxygen, which is absent in the stagnant water in the pipes.

Teapot

Ceramic teapots are considered the best teapots, as they are suitable for brewing any type of tea and retain heat well. You can use a cast-iron kettle.

How to make black tea

1. Boil water

Black tea is brewed with boiling water, so wait for the appearance of large bursting bubbles. To brew other types of tea, for example green, boiling water with small bubbles is needed.

2. Add tea leaves

“Wake up” tea leaves, pouring boiling water over them. This will help them to fully reveal their aroma and taste.

3. Let the tea brew

Let the tea fully reveal its unique taste. And while you wait, why not sing the national anthem!

4. Remove the tea leaves

Remove any tea leaves remaining on the surface or pass the tea through a strainer. When using a tea bag, take it out with a teaspoon.

5. Tea is ready

Enjoy tea and get a boost of vigor and energy.

Do you want to cool? Learn how to make iced tea.

With milk or lemon?

Black tea can be drunk solo, or milk or lemon. Lemon is usually added to Earl Gray tea, as it helps to fully open the citrus notes of tea.

Black tea with milk is a classic English drink. Whether to add tea to milk or milk to tea is up to you.

Black tea brewing time

The brewing time depends on the type of tea.

• Darjeeling tea brewing time is three minutes.
• Earl Gray Tea Brew Time - Five Minutes
• English Breakfast Tea Brewing Time - Four Minutes

Now you know how to brew black tea. It's time to recharge!

Tea is a traditional drink in most modern countries. A wide variety of varieties allows you to discover its taste facets from different sides and each time re-enjoy a mug of fragrant invigorating potion. There are many general recommendations - how to make tea, but it is also important to follow the technology of disclosing the tea leaves of each variety separately.

What to look for

First you need to learn the general rules for brewing tea:

• Use only fresh tea leaves, since with long storage it loses both taste and its benefits. So, green, red and white varieties, as well as oolong, must be consumed within 3-6 months after harvest. and herbal preparations can be stored up to 1 year. But puer is a real long-liver and may not lose its properties for several years.
• Properly brew tea already during tea drinking, so as not to miss the moment of getting a rich, but not strong infusion, because the brewing time is only a couple of minutes.
• A delicious drink can only be obtained using soft water. Ideally, the stiffness should be no more than 1 mEq / L.

On the label of bottled water, these indicators are always written down. If the water is running or taken from a spring, then the hardness can be determined empirically - after boiling on the walls of the kettle there is no plaque, and you will not see sediment in the cup. Hard water can be softened at home. There are two ways to do this: freeze it - then the excess metals will precipitate or add a pinch of salt, sugar and baking soda to it. However, when using flowing, it is recommended to install special filters for cleaning.

Water temperature

To get a truly tasty drink, tea must be brewed at a certain temperature in the water. Professionals call this process - boil water to the "white key", that is, wait until it is filled with oxygen. As soon as the water in the kettle begins to boil and steam appears from the spout, immediately remove it from the heat. This is an ideal condition in which water resembles distilled water without salts and heavy metals.

Tea brewing rules are not a simple whim. Only with their observance can you get the maximum pleasure from the drink and activate the beneficial properties by awakening tea leaves.

Cookware

Making tea correctly is not an easy task. In addition to observing the cooking technology, the quality of the dishes used for this should also be taken into account. Different countries have their own traditions, but in any case, preference is given to dishes that retain heat longer and do not enter into a chemical reaction with water.

The best choice is a porcelain or earthenware teapot. Porcelain is considered a more advantageous option, as it is able to quickly warm through. The Chinese, for example, approach the issue very carefully and choose special “breathing” grades of clay.

The shape of the dishes should be cylindrical or spherical. A tight-fitting lid with a small opening is mandatory to allow air access and steam outflow. In the Russian tradition, teapots will certainly have a silver strainer, which prevents the tea leaves from getting into the drink.

The process of tea drinking will also require beautiful porcelain cups that perfectly preserve the temperature of the tea and have a beneficial effect on the senses. Real connoisseurs of the drink should certainly have in their arsenal a silver spoon and a linen napkin, which covers the kettle, while the infusion is infused.

In the east, elite Chinese tea is brewed in a special flask. This is not only very convenient and protects fingers from burns, but also allows you to make the infusion crystal clear

The flask is two cylindrical vessels that are placed one into the other. The inner vessel has small holes through which the finished infusion is poured into the outer cylinder. Thus, the tea leaves remain inside, and a clean drink gets into the cup.

So, it falls asleep inside the flask. It is optimal to take no more than 7 grams. tea leaves. Try to place the tea leaves in one direction, slightly tamping them with your fingers, but maintaining the integrity of the leaf. Then hot water is poured into the flask and after a couple of minutes the inner vessel must be carefully removed, allowing the infusion to flow into the external form. The first infusion necessarily merges, and in the second call the drink can already be consumed. Tea is brewed by fast straits, so the process should take several minutes. You can adjust the strength by increasing the exposure time after the second drain. But you can’t abuse it, otherwise bitterness will appear and drinking tea will not be delicious.

Step-by-step instruction

There are general rules for making a high-quality tea drink, regardless of which plant varieties are used:

1. Prepare the dishes - rinse the kettle, dry it, and then rinse it with boiling water to warm its walls.
2. Put the tea in the bowl.
3. Wait a few seconds for the tea leaves to swell a little.
4. Pour warm water into the kettle, leaving 1/3 of the space free.
5. Cover the teapot with a lid and warm on top with a linen napkin.
6. It is time to insist. Each variety has its own optimal time for saturating the water with the taste and aroma of tea. On average, the infusion time varies from 3 to 4 minutes.
7. A minute after the start of brewing, add more water to the kettle and again leave the tea under the lid and napkin.
8. At the end of the process, add water to the very top, thereby preventing the tea infusion from cooling.

If these conditions are observed, then a foam should form on the surface of the drink. You should not get rid of it, as it contains useful essential oils. Just stir the foam with a spoon and enjoy delicious tea.

How to make black tea

Brew black tea should be in strict compliance with the technology described above. To determine how much tea leaves you need, remember a simple rule - take a teaspoon of tea for one cup of water. To give greater strength, add another teaspoon of tea leaves to this volume.

Properly brew black tea in a large vessel with a volume of 300-500 ml. The exposure time to obtain an infusion of medium strength is from 5 to 7 minutes. If you apply the European method of preparing a drink, namely to brew tea in a mug or glass, then one serving of tea leaves can be infused up to 3 times.

Green and white grade

The technology for preparing green tea is no different from the previous one, with the exception of water temperature and brewing time. The green variety is tender, so the water should not be too hot, the optimum temperature is from 70 to 80 degrees. The infusion time varies from 8 to 10 minutes, with the first filling the tea leaves with a layer of 1 cm, after 2 minutes add half the teapot, and after a couple of minutes to the top edge.

White tea should be brewed in a Gaivan or a porcelain teapot so that the teas can completely give the infusion of essential oils and taste. At the same time, the infusion time is minimal - 3 minutes is enough to get a saturated drink. The water temperature should be average - 85 ° C. White variety can be brewed up to 4 times, while the taste of tea is enhanced, and each time it becomes more pleasant to drink.

Cooking Puer

Puers are a large group of Chinese teas. They have a different form of packaging - from loose to compressed into large washers.

There are two ways to prepare pueers:

• Traditional brewing in a teapot.
• Cooking.

The first method has already been studied in detail above, but it is worth paying attention to one caveat - the first infusion should be very short, and after 3 times the exposure time must be increased.

  Quality pueri can be brewed up to 20 times!

The second method will require any heat-resistant container, even a Turk will do. Compressed puer should be pre-crushed, pour cold water and after a couple of minutes drain it. Thus, the welding is cleaned of dust and unnecessary impurities. Pour water into the dishes and bring it to a boil over the fire. Using a spoon, make a small funnel and pour in it a puer tea leaves. Tea does not need to be brewed for long, just let the water boil again and you can pour the drink into cups.

Unusual Kalmyk tea

If you are bored with the usual varieties of the drink, you can cook at home, popular in Adygea. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the tea leaves are mixed with milk and a pinch of salt. Tea is prepared immediately in a cup, so take a larger container. To begin, pour a double portion of tea leaves and pour 2/3 cups of hot water on them. Add boiled milk and a small piece of butter to the tea. Do not forget to salt and pepper a little infusion, because this is the main highlight of this warming potion.

Mate recipe

Exotic mate drink is unique in its properties, but to appreciate the taste, you will have to purchase special dishes. It is customary to drink it from a wooden calabash in the shape of a pumpkin through a metal tube - a bombilla.

Before brewing, calabash must be cleaned with boiling water. After that, the vessel is filled with mate powder to 2/3 of its volume. Cover calabash with your palm and gently shake. Tilt the shape so that the powder is on one side, insert into an empty place with a bomb and return the vessel to its original position. Pour tea leaves with hot water at a temperature of 80 degrees to the place where the mate intersects with the bombilla. The infusion is infused for a couple of minutes, while it must completely absorb water. After that, fill the water to the top of the calabash. Mate can be brewed several times.

  They say that the most delicious infusion is obtained after the fourth brewing

Brewing yellow tea

It has one nuance of cooking - reduced brewing time. The finished drink is obtained 1 minute after serving hot water. But with each subsequent brewing, the cooking time increases by a minute.

Egyptian helba yellow tea is made by brewing. To do this, 2 teaspoons of tea are washed and filled with a glass of water. The cookware should be put on fire and boiled after boiling water for 5 minutes.

Herbal teas

Herbal drinks are used, as a rule, for medicinal purposes. The methods of preparing herbs are varied, but the main goal is to get the most out of them, so you should not brew them with boiling water, but it is better to prepare an infusion. Cooking times vary greatly. For example, ginkgo biloba or chubushnik should be insisted for 4 hours, and 5 minutes is enough for hawthorn to give all the beneficial substances to water.

How many countries, so many traditions of brewing and drinking tea. The whole art is the tea ceremony in Japan. Full of stiffness and sophistication English tea party. Against this background, our compatriots with distinctive pot-bellied samovars and a variety of confectionery did not look easier to bite. And the tea was - judging by the numerous literary evidence - very tasty. They knew how to brew.

And today, no one ask: “Do you know how to brew black tea?”, He will say with resentment: “What can you do? Pour boiling water in a cup and drink. " And really, it seems like nothing complicated. The process consists of several simple steps: boil water, pour teapot over boiling water, pour dry tea, pour boiled water, wait a bit and drink. Meanwhile, each of these actions also requires compliance with the rules.

Water

Cold water should be clean, soft, better than spring water, if tap water, then passed through a filter.

It must be boiled not with a boiler (this is also found), not in an electric kettle, but in an ordinary pot-bellied kettle on an electric or gas stove. The temperature of the heated water is very important. When brewing black tea, there are three stages of boiling water. (Chinese gourmets, brewing their elite varieties, especially green tea, emit as many as seven). The initial stage is when water boils at the very bottom of the teapot, the first bubbles appear, some of them rush up, but most settle on the walls of the teapot. A slight noise appears.

The second stage - the water is completely penetrated by the bubbles, there are so many of them that it seems that the water has turned white and has ceased to be transparent. This water, the so-called “white key,” is ideal for brewing many teas, including black tea. The kettle at this moment is noisier.

The third stage is the appearance of large bubbles, active seething, from the spout and, if you open the lid, strong steam escapes from the kettle. Water reaches a temperature of 100 degrees, and noise is reduced.

Such water is not suitable for brewing. If the water has overheated, the "white key" is no longer observed, let the boiling water cool for two to three minutes and only then brew it.

Black tea needs a temperature of 90-95 degrees Celsius, in contrast to green, which is content with a lower temperature.

Teapot

Note that black tea is traditionally brewed in porcelain, earthenware, and also ceramic and glassware.

It is better if the teapot is spherical. It must be preheated beforehand, because in cold water, which you have adjusted to the right temperature, it will immediately decrease, moreover, and this will affect the brewing negatively. You can warm the teapot by placing it completely in a spacious dish with poured boiling water and leaving it for a minute or two; you can pour boiling water into the kettle and wait until it gets warm; but you can put it on a teapot where the water is heated, and let it heat with it.

Welding

Usually, dry tea is put on a teaspoon per cup and one more is added - “on the teapot”. For example, if three guests are preparing for a tea party, then four teaspoons of tea leaves are poured. The question is how much water will be poured in this case, and whether the tea leaves will be diluted with something else.

Connoisseurs advise:

• black tea requires less tea leaves than green tea;
• hard water makes it difficult to get extractives out of the tea leaves, so in this case you can also put more tea leaves;
• tea from small leaves will cost a smaller dose, large leaf - a larger one;
• smokers and lovers of fatty foods also need a stronger brew, because their taste is weakened.

At this stage, too, there are their own "corporate gadgets":

• Pour tea from the pack into the teapot quickly so that it does not absorb odors.
• If you use a spoon, it should be dry, clean, wooden.
• Spread tea by shaking over a heated teapot.

Pour boiling water

And here it is not so simple. You can fill the brew with boiling water by one third, wait one or two minutes and add the kettle almost to the top, then insist until cooked.

Another way involves a one-time filling - immediately to the top (leave a little space). Pour water in a circle so that it covers the entire infusion evenly and warms the entire kettle.

If you purchased expensive tea, at this point you can check whether it is really high quality. Stir the tea. If all the tea leaves went to the bottom, and a light brown foam appeared on the surface of the water - tea of \u200b\u200bexcellent quality. If the tea is prevented, and some twigs and gulls are floating on top, the tea is either overdried or substandard. The absence of foam suggests that either the tea is bad or the water. Green varieties of tea are not accepted for stirring during brewing, while black varieties are not only possible, but even need to be mixed.

How many times can I make black tea?

Two times maximum, and then in a certain way. The second brewing will be quite full if it occurs no later than a quarter of an hour after the first, when the wet, but completely drained tea has not yet had time to cool.

Infusion

Steaming black tea should be 3-5 minutes. Sometimes - up to 12 minutes. This is if the tea is not of the best quality or the water let us down.

Why so many? Chemists, having studied at what time essential oils, caffeine and other useful substances come out of tea leaves, have proved that the best brewing time is just four minutes.

Use

Black tea is traditionally drunk either half an hour before a meal, or an hour after. It is considered correct to drink tea during breaks of working days, because it tones the body, even rejuvenates, counteracts stress and psychological stress, which each of us is more than enough for at work. Connoisseurs drink tea, even black, without sugar and confectionery. But at least do not combine both.

However, it is in Russia that black tea has long been drunk after meals and with baked goods. In addition, sugar, jam, honey, lemon are usually served at this time. We often, like in England, drink tea with milk or cream. And lovers add rum or brandy.

In each house there are sets of tea pairs for everyday use (however, they can use glasses and glasses), and necessarily - festive tea sets.

What is the difference between Russian tea drinking, a double-teapot brewing that has been preserved since ancient times: tea is made in a small teapot very strong, and then it is poured into cups and diluted with boiling water, according to the taste of each drinker. They can, as we have already said, immediately pour boiled water into the teapot again, and also drink it, and the taste in this case will be no worse than in the first.

Here is a recipe for tea in Russian

You will need: black tea, milk (you can cream), lemon, sugar. In a heated teapot, put eight teaspoons of high-quality tea leaves, pour water heated to 90 degrees, leave for 5 minutes. Pour the tea leaves into cups, add boiling water, and then milk with sugar or sugar with lemon. “In Russian” tea is drunk with bite - not even with refined sugar, but with lump sugar. Only it is still necessary to search.

To fully understand the process of brewing black tea, it is important to clearly see this procedure: