Tea experts

[Khamsin]

So, I have some looseleaf tea but no good means of using it.

I'm in the search for a kettle, ceramic teapot, and mesh teaballs as needed.

What's the best way to do this? Kettle with teaball inside, then pour into plain ceramic teapot? Plain kettle, then pour into ceramic teapot with teaball? Kettle with mesh basket or mesh over the spout? Tea infuser? Plug-in hotplate hotpot? I'm lost!

[Brien]

I use Walmart.com: Sunbeam Tea Drop Hot Tea Maker: Appliances, its cheep and its really easy!

[guartz]

I use Walmart.com: Sunbeam Tea Drop Hot Tea Maker: Appliances, its cheep and its really easy!

Always Wal-Mart, Always Low Prices!

[Khamsin]

Not sold within 100 miles of me. But maybe there's something similar.

Anyone know how it's supposed to work, conventionally? With a kettle, pot, etc. Neither of which are black, by the way.

[Kiro]

Boil the water. Pour the tea leaf(s) (leaves? lol I dunno) into a cup. Pour the hot water into the cup. Let it "brew". Put a lid / strainer over the top of the cup to get rid of the excess tea leaf bits. Drink!

You live in Seattle, geez. There's a Tea House @ Pike Place Market. They sell everything you'll need. :\


Edit : Or just drink the tea with the stuff in it, it's not like it's unhealthy or anything.

[MisterBob]

You probably need a chocolate teapot

[zoobernut]

Boil the water. Pour the tea leaf(s) (leaves? lol I dunno) into a cup. Pour the hot water into the cup. Let it "brew". Put a lid / strainer over the top of the cup to get rid of the excess tea leaf bits. Drink!

You live in Seattle, geez. There's a Tea House @ Pike Place Market. They sell everything you'll need. :\


Edit : Or just drink the tea with the stuff in it, it's not like it's unhealthy or anything.

This is the correct answer. Though if you really want to be a tea connoisseur then you do not drain the tea leaves out. They will eventually settle to the bottom anyway. Also be very careful about the temperature of your water with relation to the type of tea you are drinking as it can vary greatly. If your water is too hot then the tea will taste burnt and not be as good.

[quannum]

Boil the water. Pour the tea leaf(s) (leaves? lol I dunno) into a cup. Pour the hot water into the cup. Let it "brew". Put a lid / strainer over the top of the cup to get rid of the excess tea leaf bits. Drink!

You live in Seattle, geez. There's a Tea House @ Pike Place Market. They sell everything you'll need. :\


Edit : Or just drink the tea with the stuff in it, it's not like it's unhealthy or anything.

what he said, including the edit, well as long as it's whole-leaf and not that shredded stuff.

[sekaran]

I have this: IngenuiTEA Teapot from Adagio Teas

It's awesome. You can similar items elsewhere.

[Vuitton]

So, I have some looseleaf tea but no good means of using it.

I'm in the search for a kettle, ceramic teapot, and mesh teaballs as needed.

What's the best way to do this? Kettle with teaball inside, then pour into plain ceramic teapot? Plain kettle, then pour into ceramic teapot with teaball? Kettle with mesh basket or mesh over the spout? Tea infuser? Plug-in hotplate hotpot? I'm lost!

Uwajimaya.

Head on over to the ID and you can pick up a pack of 300 cloth tea bag pouches for about $3. They look like packaged tissues. I use them at work and love them!

The 'waj also has various other types of strainers that aren't disposable.

Edit:

Photos of product

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c...ce_2035_822631

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2032_25101834

[kuronosan]

Basically, for every looseleaf tea you buy you want to find the right temperature and steeping time. You also want to find the right additives (such as lemon, honey, sugar, etc) to use with it so that you don't change the taste.

Teavana has a lot of teas and people that know teas. I recommend getting a regular pot and just getting the temperature of the water right. Then pour the water in there and let it steep. From then on you can pour it into a cup and just pour boiling water into the cup. This preserves the original steeped water instead of using it all up.

Once you've dried out a kettle there's no sense in reusing the tea in there as all the flavor has already diffused out.

General rule of thumb as I remember:

White Tea - relaxation
Green Tea - health
Black Tea - relaxation
Herbal Tea - health

My girlfriend buy all sorts of different teas. Herbal teas help better with things like colds, health problems, and issues with relaxing.

[Vuitton]

Oh, I forgot to mention. If you ever head up to 15th Ave on Capitol Hill, you should check out Remedy.

Remedy Teas

You can get tea to go, as well as buy their various loose leaf blends (over 150!), but if you choose to sit down and stay (they have food and booze too), you can brew the loose leaf tea in your own tea pot.

Might be a fun experience if you want to learn how to brew it yourself.

[Fhqwghads]

Does nobody watch Good Eats anymore?

WTF?!

[kuronosan]

Yea, I forgot to mention... quality tea can cost as much as $150, or as little as $30 a pound.

[Khamsin]

I should carry a plastic baggy twisted around a small ball of looseleaf tea and tell my friend to meet me at a street corner by this gas station where a cop tends to wait for speeders, and sell it to him.

[zoobernut]

Does nobody watch Good Eats anymore?

WTF?!

I saw the tea episode it was very informative and really interesting. Alton Brown will teach you about tea!

[Acturus]

Also be very careful about the temperature of your water with relation to the type of tea you are drinking as it can vary greatly. If your water is too hot then the tea will taste burnt and not be as good.

Black tea, which are dried leaves, pour water just at boiling.

Green tea, which are undried leaves, water should be no hotter than 160 degrees F.

Oolong teas, which are partiall dried leaves, can be brewed at either, but are acknowledged as tasting better the closer you are to 160 degrees F.

Red teas are not made from the tea leaf. They are made using an African Rooibos bush's roots.

White teas, contrary to what Lipton's commercials will tell you, are defined usually by the fact that they tend to have underdeveloped tea leaves as well as flower petals.

Tisanes are not teas either. They are brewed using dried fruit bits, flower, other leaves, etc. etc. Most of your store-bought "relaxing teas" are actually Tisanes that use mint leaves, chamomile flowers, or the like.

[Shuemue]

For English style tea you will need:

Teapot
Tea Strainer
Cup
Tea Cosy

First boil some water, put it in the pot, swill it around a bit and get the teapot nice and warm. Now empty this water out, toss it.

Now put your tea leaves into the pot, one teaspoonful per person, heaped, and one for the pot.

Next pour BOILING WATER directly onto the leaves. It's very important that it's boiling or the tea won't infuse correctly. Now put the tea cosy over the pot to keep it warm.

Leave for 4-8 minutes depending on your strength preference. Stirring the pot is optional, some people simply rotate the pot 360 degrees halfway through the brewing process to gently stimulate the contents.

Now, seeing as we're having English Tea, put a little milk into your cup, not as much as you'd have in coffee, just quarter of an inch in the bottom of the cup is fine.

Finally, we pour the tea through the tea strainer into our cup, and stir well. Add sugar to taste.

[Kiro]

Oh, I forgot to mention. If you ever head up to 15th Ave on Capitol Hill, you should check out Remedy.

Remedy Teas

You can get tea to go, as well as buy their various loose leaf blends (over 150!), but if you choose to sit down and stay (they have food and booze too), you can brew the loose leaf tea in your own tea pot.

Might be a fun experience if you want to learn how to brew it yourself.

Yesssssssss, I love that place. ; ;

[Demosthenes]

adiago.com fools.