Recently I happened to read a recipe for sweet tea that raised my Irish hackles to a fare-thee-well. Those of you who know me well can raise your eyebrows and chuckle because you know what is coming. The rest of you might want to duck and cover for the duration of the tea rant unless you, too, are a fanatic about properly brewed tea. We’ll get to what that is in a moment.
What was it, you may ask, that occasioned this rant? On a perfectly lovely blog by a polite Canadian writer who makes beautiful cakes decorated with white roses, festoons her posts with poetry and takes professional photographs, I read a recipe for sweetened ice tea (aka “sweet tea”) that called for a pinch of baking soda. Baking soda! I started screaming. I even began my comment with Aieeee! Because, my friends, baking soda does not belong in iced tea: nothing belongs in iced tea but tea leaves steeped in boiling water (and then strained out), cold water and ice. Sugar is optional — I will get to that later.
Properly made tea is part of my cultural inheritance, the one thing that has survived generations in the United States (Well, we bake bread, too, so perhaps there are two things left). I have terrified my best friend by talking about the minimal requirements for a proper cup of tea, which are:
1) a tea kettle
2) a tea pot
3) boiling water — full, rolling boil, if you please, but started from cold water from the tap.
4) loose black tea leaves
and
5) a teaspoon with which to measure the tea leaves
This is how we begin. If you are not familiar with your tea pot (or have just acquired it to meet my requirements), measure cold tap water into your tea pot until it is nearly full, perhaps seven-eighths. Experienced tea drinkers may skip this step since you will already know how many proper cups of tea your teapot makes. Then pour the water, cupful by cupful into your cold tea kettle, counting as you go to see how many cups of tea your pot is meant to hold, allowing a little head room so that the brewed tea does not slop out of the spout when you lift the tea pot. Once you know how many cups of tea fit in your pot you can memorize the amount of water to put in your kettle. You need to add a little extra to allow for water loss from steam and to provide extra water for scalding the pot. If you don’t know what I am talking about, don’t worry: all will be revealed.
Put your cold kettle onto a hot burner at highest heat. While you wait for it to boil you may prepare a tea tray with a cup and saucer (extra points for fine china), or a mug if you must, along with anything you take in your tea. The classic accompaniments are lemon slices, a pitcher of milk, sugar lumps (kudos if you have sugar tongs), or loose sugar. Some people use honey and many people like to include an extra pitcher of hot water to dilute tea that gets too strong or warm up the pot — we will not be bothering with the water. If your tea tray is large enough and you are strong from consuming proper black tea all your life you may want to include acceptable tea snacks such as a plate of biscuits, scones, or buttered toast, crumpets or tea sandwiches.
When your kettle comes to a full rolling boil (large bubbles rolling across the surface of the water), you bring your tea pot alongside the kettle and pour a few inches of water into the pot. This is called “scalding the pot.” Cover the pot with its lid while you reach down the loose tea, properly stored in tin or glass canisters within easy reach. Before adding tea leaves to your tea pot, be sure to dump out the scalding water. In the interest of ecology I have been known to return this water to the kettle, but you can dump it into your dishpan or utility bowl if you’d rather, or pour it down the sink to clear the drain — don’t say I never give you any choices, With your teaspoon, carefully measure one teaspoon of tea leaves for each cup of tea your tea pot holds. Some people add one additional teaspoon “for the pot.” We find that our tea is strong enough to walk on its own without this tradition. Pour boiling water over the tea leaves until the pot is nearly full and put the lid on pronto. Now you let it sit for awhile, otherwise known as steeping.
Now, what kind of tea should you use? I specified black tea because that is the tea I know best and it is actual tea made from tea plants. There are many kinds of black tea grown in different places in the world. There are pure teas of one type, such as “Ceylon” or “Assam” and there are tea blends, such as “English Breakfast” and “Irish Breakfast.” Assam happens to be my favorite. A certain species of mutants (surely it is part of their gene pool) like Earl Grey Tea. a black tea scented with oil of bergamot — to my ilk this tea tastes like tea cut with perfumed bath water, but I will not chastise them for their choice as long as they don’t serve it when I am coming over. There are other flavored black teas as well, featuring black currant or lemon. I say stick with the basics until you learn what you like: if you were born an American, you may never have had a proper cup of tea in your entire life.
If you have bought your tea leaves in a tin, the tin will likely include guidelines for how long to steep your tea. If you have bought it from a bulk bin or a jar at Country Cheese you will be on your own for the timing. We let our tea steep for about seven minutes before pouring the first cup. If it looks too light, we pour it back and let it steep some more.
Strictly speaking, what you are supposed to do is decant the steeped tea into another clean scalded pot once it reaches the intensity you want. Decanting your tea rids you of the leaves, making it impossible for your perfect tea to acquire bitterness from the sitting leaves. This is entirely proper, but we have a few lazy Philistine habits and one of them is not decanting our tea. During the steeping process, the tea leaves will sink to the bottom of the pot and during the sipping process any that got in there will sink to the bottom of your cup where you can avoid them or read your fortunes if you are good at that sort of thing. In any case, we generally drink our tea so fast and brew it so perfectly that it does not get bitter in the pot. All of us drink our tea with milk (never cream). My brother Bryan drinks his with milk and sugar. We put the tea in the cup before the additions so that we can check the tea’s color.
To make iced tea, all you do is make your largest pot of black tea as described above. After steeping, this time you decant it immediately into a serving pitcher and dilute it with cool water. If you are going to drink it immediately you will want to add ice — if not, it can now sit in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it — since you have decanted it, it cannot get bitter and you will not need to add any baking soda. Sheesh.
If you want sweet tea, I recommend making a pitcher of simple syrup. Take a saucepan and add equal amounts of sugar and water, 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water. Boil this, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Decant syrup into a nice pitcher and provide guests with spoons. Simple syrup combines with tea better than grainy, granulated sugar, which sinks to the bottom repeatedly, leaving your last swallow of tea much sweeter than your first. You will have to stir your tea a few times to diffuse the syrup evenly even so. Each guest can sweeten her tea to her liking and your mother can have hers unsweetened as she prefers.
While you are practicing making proper tea or rejoicing in the fact that you already know how to make it, I will be putting on my red dress and my back-up singer hat to sing with Johnny Harper and the Hard Times Choir at Railroad Square in Santa Rosa. If you read this early enough in the morning, come on out and look for us at The Grand Coulee Stage at 12:50. We’ll be singing Woody Guthrie songs to celebrate his hundredth birthday.
As soon as I finish typing this comment, I’m making a pot of tea…following your steps exactly! You’ve inspired me 🙂 Have a wonderful day!
Thanks, Linda!
I love your rants, Sharyn. You are passionate about all your pursuits, including making a proper tea! My Scottish grandmother taught me well, too, and with each important step I think of how I loved having my afternoon tea with her. I must be sure to brew a pot today! I hope you have a wonderful time with your singing, and if I lived anywhere close I’d be right there! I’ve been enjoying Woody’s songs all month in honor of his birthday…I must admit to being shocked when an NPR story alerted me to his 100th birthday! That didn’t seem possible. Enjoy…you are a multi-faceed artist! Debra
Thank you, Debra. Rants-R-Us. The gig should be fun — it’s a bigger band than I’ve ever sung with — and really nice people. I get to sing a few duets and solos on “Deportees” and on “Union Maid” (my nemesis) and a lot of melody chorus parts. Union Maid, be good to me today.
Enjoyed the rant and the instructions. I have been advised that water for green tea should never be boiled and the tea should steep no longer than 3 minutes–quite different than black. When I’m in the mood for sweet tea, I buy a chai tea mix and serve it iced.
Have fun at your gig!
Thanks, Maura. I did not want to tackle the subject of green tea or herbal infusions. The gig was fun: beautiful weather, cooperative musicians, nice crowds. One man said we made him cry when we sang “Deportees.” Since I had solos and duets in that I was extremely pleased.
Sharyn, thanks for the rant. In the age of multiple tea choices, it’s almost impossible to find tea that’s brewed properly regardless of what kind of tea it is. Some people don’t even understand the differences in black teas like Prince of Wales, Assam, Orange Pekoe, and others. The difference are like those among the various kinds of coffee. At least we have tea houses in our area that serve tea prepared at the right water temperatures.
Hope your gig went well. Sorry to miss it.
Oh, Bob, it was so much fun! And I still f****d up “Union Maid,” although I sang it perfectly several times in the car. Johnny’s not ready to kick me out of the band, so it’s all good.
I love your post about brewing tea Sharyn! I have lots of loose teas (and tea bags) around, but usually only prepare a single serving in a mug for myself. I can’t wait to make myself a properly brewed tea.
I hope you enjoy it, Amber. We drink tea every afternoon here.
You make tea drinking so awesome 😀
I hate the taste but now I want to drink some your style!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Well, CCU. It is not for everyone — I wouldn’t worry about it.
Wonderful rant! You know how to make a proper cup of tea. **Dreams wistfully of sugar tongs**
Thanks, Susan. Sometimes something just sets me off…
Thanks for the lesson. Interestingly enough, I like black coffee without sugar but I don’t care for tea without sugar. I am trying to cut out sugar from day to day, so I’m off drinking tea. My Mom was a huge tea drinker.
The only coffee I’ll drink black is (properly made) espresso, sometimes with sugar, sometimes without. We drink both coffee and tea, coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon.
[…] Sharyn from thekalechronicles (a blog I follow regularly) posted about how to properly brew tea and iced tea. It’s a very interesting and informative step-by-step instruction for brewing tea. My tea […]
I love tea! Unfortunately even since I found out I was pregnant I haven’t had any. I am going through withdrawal! 😉
Yes, I suppose all of the temporary restrictions make pregnancy tough, But you can drink milkshakes!
Well now I want tea!
Well, make yourself some!
Tea is such a staple from my English past that I find it hard to believe that people don’t know how to make it and need instruction. I love coffee but can’t drink it anymore so have replaced it with Irish Breakfast tea that seems to do the job just as well. Matte is another possible substitute for getting one going in the morning. Afternoon tea is another realm of joy with another ritual purpose – a more relaxing experience accompanied by small goodies such as simple sandwiches and sweet pastries. In Vancouver tea shops are beginning to pop up all over, competing with Starbucks – all power to them I say…
Trust me, John. In most American homes you will be served tea made in a cold mug with a tea bag, perhaps heated in the microwave or with water that has not come to the boil. In restaurants, the tea water has often come from the coffee maker and tastes like it.
A fabulous post Sharyn! But I think you take your tea much stronger than I do – I’m such a wimp these days 🙂
Thanks, Claire. I’ve been waiting for my English friends to weigh in on the subject. We do drink our tea strong with plenty of milk.
Tea is so personal, but I’ve almost given up drinking it outside the home, in cafes it’s just so tasteless so I stick to Espressos.
The one thing I can’t take is milk – which I do miss. I sometimes have soya milk, but you have to be careful with which brand as they add apple juice as a sweetener, can you believe adding apple juice to milk and then to tea? No, neither can I 🙂
Not my cup of tea, that’s for sure!
Oh my mum will love this post!
She makes tea the exact same way that you have described here and always complains that she can never enjoy a cup of tea anywhere outside her kitchen 🙂 People make colored water not tea ..that is what she always says 🙂
Your mother is right, Sawsan,
Haha, hilarious 😀 Coincidentally I’m supping on a big mug of Ceylon right now. I’m actually a big fan of Earl Grey – can you get Lady Grey there? I find that truly delicious as well… lighter and more lemony. My absolute favourites are Keemun and another one called Rose Pouchong… you don’t see those very often, and perhaps you wouldn’t enjoy them if you’re not a fan of heavily scented teas.
I used to like Twinings Lemon-Scented Tea and I can tolerate Constant Comment (with orange) and limited Black Currant. I don’t like either Keemun or Rose tea — different people like different things, which is why I suspect genetic markers like the one that makes some people like cilantro (moi!) and others aversive to it.
Baking soda is indeed a bizarre thing to add to tea! I think we did this when playing a trick on a future cousin in law. I love the Orange Pekoe tea in it’s iced form. Yummy
I don’t understand baking soda either — Barbara said it was to cut the bitterness, but properly made tea is not bitter…
Fabulous Sharyn – I respect and applaud your right to rant to rant about such an important topic! Tea is so dear to the hearts of many and thus should be made properly or not at all – totally agree! 🙂
Thanks, Shira. It’s wonderful when you can rant and people chime in.
Well, Sharyn, your title said a rant was coming and you didn’t disappoint. I’m not a tea drinker at all but I do know a few and will pass this along. 🙂
Thanks, John! I can rant with the best of them. Let’s just hope your friends don’t drink Earl Grey…
I can never reach this level of Tea-perfection, but I love to take Tea with you and Madge, where I know it is well-made. You looked lovely in your Red Dress and Accessories for the Woody Guthrie festival! Fun to see the red dress as an artpiece as well.
Thank you, Suzanne. It was nice to see you there. I can always make the tea at your house, which makes us both happier.
I knew whose blog you were about to mention the moment I began reading this post. Ha! I thought, here goes Sharyn making sure we dot our “I’s” and cross our “T’s”… and I chuckled, because, of course, I knew you would have a solid argument and that you would convey it with great passion and humor. I am certain the author was not offended in the least, being the creative person that she is herself. But you do surprise us sometimes. I mean this kindly. Great post. You might want to share it with The Tea Blog.
Sorry, Granny — this one got caught in my spam filter and I didn’t see it until tonight. I hope Barbara is not offended — I told her I was going to do it and I included a link to her post.
I am positive she is not offended. Your occasional rants (and you always kindly provide a forewarning) are a pleasure to read. They are like a new dish with surprising flavors. 🙂
[…] the delightful Enthused Lavender Shortbread I suggest you consult with Sharyn and make yourself a proper cup of tea, not just any old cup of tea hastily made with a dry and dusty tea bag in a mug, no I mean PROPER […]