Homemade Tea

I remember the time when the only reason I used to enjoy reading English classics was for their very colorful and detailed description of afternoon teas and high teas. In all these classics, afternoon tea was often accompanied with dainty pastries, scones with cream and jams and tiny sandwiches.

I loved the idea of enjoying an afternoon tea so much that I would purchase pastries and scones from the local delicatessen to recreate the same ambiance as described in the books. However I wanted to make the tea myself for recreating and enjoying an afternoon escapade.

Tea is quite easy to make and there are many variations of the basic recipe. You can have tea piping hot or cold teas for those hot and sultry afternoons.

There are also many varieties of tea leaves that can be used like black tea, green tea, oolong tea, earl grey and white tea. Moreover there are many tea varieties that are made from a blend of different tea leaves. Flavored teas are also available that contains flavor as different and varied as chocolate, coffee, mint or brandy.

Some of the most popular flavored teas are jasmine tea, lychee tea, orchid tea and mint tea. Teas are also classified according to place where they are cultivated and some of the most famous teas are Indian teas, Chinese teas, Japanese teas and Ceylon teas.

The way the tea leaves are harvested, dried and processed and the climate where it is cultivated effects the flavor of the brew. So Indian teas taste quite different from a Ceylon or Japanese tea.

There are regional variations in the taste for teas that are cultivated in the same country. So an Assam tea from India has a rich, strong, full-bodied, almost malty flavor whereas a Darjeeling tea is more subtle with a light and crisp flavor.

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups water
• 1 teaspoon tea leaves
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Method
Boil the water in a kettle and pour around ¼ cup of tea into a teapot. Swish the water in the teapot and throw it out. Add 1 teaspoon of tea leaves into the teapot and pour the rest of the boiling water into the teapot.

Cover the teapot with its lid and place a tea cozy over it. Allow the leaves to steep in the hot water for about 5 minutes. Pour out the tea into cups taking care to strain the leaves. Add a tablespoon of sugar in each cup and mix with a spoon. Your steaming cup of black tea is ready.

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups water
• 2 teaspoons green tea leaves
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 mint leaves

Method
Boil the water in a kettle and add the green tea leaves into the teapot. Crush the mint leaves and add it into the teapot along with the sugar.

Pour out the boiling water into the teapot and cover with the lid. Allow the tea leaves to steep for about 5 minutes and then strain the tea. Your green mint tea is ready.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 5 teaspoon green tea leaves

Method
Fill a kettle with water and then heat it to 80 to 85 ºC. Take care not to boil the water as boiling water will ruin the flavor of green tea. Place the green tea leaves in the tea strainer and then place the tea strainer over a teacup.

Pour the hot water through the strainer and keep the tea leaves soaked for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not let the green tea leaves soak for more than 2 minutes or the tea will have a burnt taste.

Ingredients

• ¼ teaspoon dried catnip
• ¼ teaspoon dried chamomile
• ¼ teaspoon lemongrass
• ¼ teaspoon lemon balm
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon tea leaves

Method
In a kettle, boil the water and in a teapot place the tea leaves, dried catsnip, dried chamomile, lemongrass and dried lemon balm.

Pour the boiling water in the teapot and cover the teapot with a lid. Let the tea leaves steep for some time and then strain the liquid to pour it out in tea cups. Your tea is ready. You can add some natural sweetener like honey if you do not like the taste of herbal tea.

So, these were some tea recipes that you can prepare at home. Always use the best quality leaves to get the most wonderful brew and store tea leaves in air tight containers. Now that you know how to make tea, you can savor its great taste and wonderful aroma.