That’s an interesting advanced perspective. I’m not as much of a tea nerd yet, I just sometimes buy them in stores in tea bags during the winter. Perhaps I should consider some of your tips for next winter. But I want to to share my observations (i.e., unqualified opinions) as well.
My current favorite is peppermint tea. It’s not from the proper tea plant (unlike black/green/white tea), so it doesn’t contain caffeine. The special thing about it is that is contains menthol, which feels cool when you breathe in after drinking, which contrasts with the tea being hot, and produces a unique taste. I recommend brewing it for longer than the official instructions suggests, or to use more tea (see also below).
Black/green/white tea comes from the same type of plant, the tea plant. The difference in taste comes (in my opinion) mostly from the fact that black tea tastes stronger, and green/white tea progressively milder. But a similar effect can be achieved by simply brewing the tea for longer or shorter. So black tea can be made to taste approximately like green tea or the other way round.
Proper tea (especially black tea) has a very strong taste compared to other teas, so it is important to not let it brew for long. Most other (non-proper) teas have a much weaker taste and should be brewed for longer. The instructions on the tea bags often don’t properly reflect this difference in strength. If your tea just tastes like hot water, you just need to brew it for longer, or use more tea.
There is no such thing as “herbal tea”. It’s like speaking of “fruit juice”. What fruit!? Apple? Banana? Elderberry? The taste will be totally different depending on what the main ingredient (“herb”) is. Most herbs don’t taste similar to each other, so there is no reason to equate them under the category “herbal”. You have to look at the list of ingredients to determine what type of tea it is.
Many fancy sounding but cheap tea types are actually just some sort of basic tea with added flavoring. Again, the list of ingredients tells us what tea it actually is.
Tea pots can be kept warm for quite some time with teapot warmers that consume tealights (small flat candles). But candles are known to be quite toxic for air quality, so I plan to stop using them.
Electric kettles are useful for quickly heating water, but if you just make one average sized cup of tea, using a microwave is sufficient. Then you also don’t need a teapot warmer.
I don’t think water temperature makes a noticeable difference in taste, though it does affect the brewing time (cooler=longer).
That’s an interesting advanced perspective. I’m not as much of a tea nerd yet, I just sometimes buy them in stores in tea bags during the winter. Perhaps I should consider some of your tips for next winter. But I want to to share my observations (i.e., unqualified opinions) as well.
My current favorite is peppermint tea. It’s not from the proper tea plant (unlike black/green/white tea), so it doesn’t contain caffeine. The special thing about it is that is contains menthol, which feels cool when you breathe in after drinking, which contrasts with the tea being hot, and produces a unique taste. I recommend brewing it for longer than the official instructions suggests, or to use more tea (see also below).
Black/green/white tea comes from the same type of plant, the tea plant. The difference in taste comes (in my opinion) mostly from the fact that black tea tastes stronger, and green/white tea progressively milder. But a similar effect can be achieved by simply brewing the tea for longer or shorter. So black tea can be made to taste approximately like green tea or the other way round.
Proper tea (especially black tea) has a very strong taste compared to other teas, so it is important to not let it brew for long. Most other (non-proper) teas have a much weaker taste and should be brewed for longer. The instructions on the tea bags often don’t properly reflect this difference in strength. If your tea just tastes like hot water, you just need to brew it for longer, or use more tea.
There is no such thing as “herbal tea”. It’s like speaking of “fruit juice”. What fruit!? Apple? Banana? Elderberry? The taste will be totally different depending on what the main ingredient (“herb”) is. Most herbs don’t taste similar to each other, so there is no reason to equate them under the category “herbal”. You have to look at the list of ingredients to determine what type of tea it is.
Many fancy sounding but cheap tea types are actually just some sort of basic tea with added flavoring. Again, the list of ingredients tells us what tea it actually is.
Tea pots can be kept warm for quite some time with teapot warmers that consume tealights (small flat candles). But candles are known to be quite toxic for air quality, so I plan to stop using them.
Electric kettles are useful for quickly heating water, but if you just make one average sized cup of tea, using a microwave is sufficient. Then you also don’t need a teapot warmer.
I don’t think water temperature makes a noticeable difference in taste, though it does affect the brewing time (cooler=longer).