How to brew nice tea?
In order to brew a cup of good tea in excellent color, fragrance and taste, selecting high-quality tea leaves and good quaity water are essential, one must also master certain brewing skills. Tea brewing technique should not only be scientific, but also being artistry and ornamental, so that people can enjoy the beauty of tea.
In addition to mastering the skills of making tea with water temperature, amount of tea, and the dipping time, it is more important to make this tea with heart. You should have the mentality of doing your best to make good tea and entertain others and cherish every opportunity to drink tea with others.
The tea making steps of any kind of tea basically have the following steps:
- Wash teaware
Wash the pots and cups with boiling water. This is not only for cleaning, but also for warming the pots and cups, which is conducive to promoting the aroma of tea.
- Take tea
Use a tea spoon or tea scoop to take out the required amount of tea leaves. Avoid taking tea directly with your hands, as the smell of smoke, powder, and greasy sweat on your hands will contaminate the tea leaves.
- Smell dry tea
Put tea leaves in the tea holder and enjoy the color, fragrance and shape of the dry tea.
- Throw tea
Put the tea leaves from the tea holder into teapot or gaiwan.
- Wash tea
Inject a small amount of boiling water to infuse the tea leaves. When brewing thick old green tea, oolong tea, or Pu'er tea, washing the tea by discard the first round of tea water. If it is high-grade and tender bud tea, it is not necessary to wash the tea.
- Water injection
Pour water, up and down three times in a row, commonly known as "phoenix three nods", which can not only make the water toss up and down, easily produce flavor and aroma, but also express welcome to the guests. When filling water, be careful not to stop the water flow. There is also the method of rotating counterclockwise or quietly pouring water on one side, so that the aroma of the brewed tea will not be easily lost in the air, and the connotation of the tea soup will appear richer.
- Serve tea
Pour the tea into a fair cup or serving cup after brewing in a teapot. Generally, only fill 70% of the tea cup capacity. Pour tea low, that the spout is close to the rim of the cup. to prevent the tea soup from cooling down too quickly, and also to prevent the aroma from being lost and foaming. When pouring tea out of the teapot, must pour it all out , otherwise the remaining tea soup left will become bitter and astringent, affecting the color and aroma of the next brew.
- Smell and drink
Smell the fragrance of the brewed tea, from far to near, repeat several times. Smell "the fragrance before tasting the tea soup, and then taste it in the mouth. When tasting the tea soup, do not swallow it abruptly, but let the tea soup fully stay in the mouth, and taste it slowly. Tasting good tea will leave your teeth and cheeks fragrant and sweet for a long time. The skillfulness and experience of tasting tea needs to be practiced and cultivated slowly. There are four levels of tea tasting, "fragrant, clear, sweet and alive". Beginners can easily taste the floral and fruity aroma on the surface of the tea, and then they will feel the unique fragrance of tea, and those who are more advanced will feel the aftertaste of tea , and the highest level of tea tasting, the word "living" is something that can be encountered but not sought after. It not only requires tea drinkers to have a keen sense, but also to have good tea, good water, good utensils, and good atmosphere to match.
How to master the dipping time while making tea
If the tea soup comes out too quickly, the color, aroma, and taste will not be leached out in time, and the tea taste will be weak; if the soup comes out too slowly, the tea soup will become bitter and unpalatable. It is indeed difficult for beginners to master the dipping time of making tea soup well, and only by practicing more can they master it properly. The tea soup making time is related to the water temperature and the amount of tea added. Generally, it takes 10 seconds to 1 minute, and the time can be slightly increased for each brew in the future. If the tea is not washed (soaking) for the first brewing, the time should be the same as or even longer than the second brewing time. The second brewing is the most likely to produce flavor and should not be soaked for too long.
Some types of white tea and yellow tea are not rolled, so the tea-making time can be extended to 3-5 minutes, otherwise it is not easy to taste. No matter what kind of tea, it is recommended to use another cup to make tea soup. If there are many people drinking, the fair cup is very practical. Every time the tea soup is made, must fully pour out, otherwise the next brewing will have a bitter taste and lose its fragrance. Soaking tea leaves in water for long time will cause the tea soup to lose its color, fragrance, and taste, so the traditional method of making tea in a large cup and adding water is unscientific.
