Making the perfect cup of tea is not just about making the tea itself, but also learning tips and tricks to enhance the flavor of the tea. This post is all about how to make tea taste better.
As time goes by, you learn many things about yourself – your strong suits and weak points, likes and dislikes, and even your preferred beverage. For a long time, tea has been my go-to beverage, and I don’t see that changing any time soon!
I think I probably first tried tea as a child–probably a bag of Lipton tea and after that, there was no turning back. Since then I’ve tried pretty much any kind of tea I could find, including herbal teas, black teas, green teas, milk tea–you get the picture.
This led to my goal of learning to make the best tasting cup of tea. After many unsuccessful attempts, I have a few tried and true techniques that will help make your tea taste better, not bitter; so that every cup you brew will suit your own personal taste perfectly. Keep reading to find out how to make tea taste better.
My favorite tips for how to make tea taste better
Before you read on to the tips and tricks, the following are a few things to keep in mind about the quality of tea and the don’ts of making tea taste better.
Choosing Between Tea Bags, Tea Sachets, and Loose Tea
If you’re new to the world of tea, it can be a little overwhelming to choose a flavor or blend since there are so many options available. From the different brands to the variety of flavors and the choice between tea bags, tea sachets, and loose tea, how do you know which one to pick?
Use tea bags if you must–but know that this method typically isn’t the highest quality!
Listen, I really enjoy tea in all forms so I’m gonna admit right now that I have no problem making tea from tea bags. But many tea enthusiasts avoid them entirely because tea bags are the typically lowest quality teas available in the market. They contain tea dust and broken tea leaves that have no complex flavor left in them since most of their essential oils are lost in processing and packaging. The highest quality tea brands don’t even produce tea bags. But I don’t know…maybe it’s because the first tea I tried as a child came from a tea bag, but I have found lots of flavors of tea that come in a bag that I really enjoy, even as I’ve branched out into exploring sachets and loose leaf teas.
Tea Sachets have Better Quality Tea.
Since tea sachets contain a mixture of both whole and broken tea leaves, they produce a better flavor than tea bags. There are still some essential oils left in the tea, making this type of tea a bit more fragrant and flavorsome. Additionally, the pyramid-shaped sachets allow for leaves to expand and steep properly. You can use tea sachets for convenience and still get quite nice flavor.
Loose Tea Makes the Best Tea
Since all of the flavor in tea is extracted from essential oils that are present in its leaves, loose tea will give you the best-tasting tea. Once steeped in water, whole leaves have enough room to expand and release the essential oils to produce a top quality cup of fragrant tea with great flavor.
Don’t Leave the Tea in Water for Too Long.
A typical mistake many people make is letting the leaves sit in the water after their steeping time is over. This technically ruins the flavor of the tea because the leaves continue to release a compound called tannin, which according to Wikipedia, gives the tea its bitter taste.
The other thing that could lead to bitter-tasting tea is water that is too hot. This I learned after a lot of trial and error. Tea leaves don’t really require boiling hot water. While different kinds of tea require different temperatures of water, none of them need extremely hot boiling temperatures to be steeped in.
Now let’s move on to the step-by-step guide.
Steps to Make the Perfect Cup of Tea
Although all teas are different, and each requires a specific steep time and specific temperature of the water, the basic method to make the perfect cup of tea are the same for all. Because different types of tea should steep for different amounts of time, the most crucial step here is to pay close attention to the recommendations on the packaging to adjust the time and temperature according to the type of tea you use
Things You Will Need:
- Tea: Any loose tea (green tea, black tea, yellow tea, or oolong tea)
- Water: Filtered water is ideal because it helps to make consistent tea without any additional unwanted flavors but you can use regular water as well.
- Something to heat the water: This could be a pot on the stove, electric kettle or tea pot or a mug you can microwave (Microwaving the water isn’t really recommended but have I done this? Absolutely!) For the sake of the step by step directions below, I’m going to talk about how to do this with a teapot.
- Something to hold the tea: This can range from a tea bag (we discussed the pros and cons earlier), a sachet or some type of infuser for loose leaf tea.
Instructions
Step 1
Heat the water in your teapot to the recommended temperature. The temperature will vary according to the type of tea you use. If you use an electric kettle with a temperature setting on it, your life will be much easier.
Step 2
Hardly anyone ever does this step, but for anyone learning how to make the perfect cup of tea, this part is a must.
Fill your teapot with the boiling water, give it a little swirl, and then drain it before adding the tea leaves. This is the magic that warms up your teapot from inside and gets it ready for the warm tea. Since the teapot has warmed from the inside, it won’t bring down the water temperature too quickly, giving you a better-tasting tea.
Step 3
Now that your teapot is ready add your tea leaves to it, followed by the hot water.
Step 4
Cover the teapot leaving the tea leaves to steep in hot water for a few minutes. The time will depend on the directions mentioned on the packaging. Keep in mind that steep time for any kind of tea should not exceed more than 5 minutes.
Step 5
Strain the tea into your cups. Next, remove the leaves from the teapot if any water is still left, otherwise, the remaining tea will become bitter.
This will produce the perfect cup of tea.
After you’ve mastered the art of preparing the ultimate cup of tea, you can take it up a notch by spicing it up with some fun flavors.
Make Your Tea Taste Even Better
While there is nothing wrong with basic tea (remember I LOVE a plain cup of tea), sometimes you just need something extra to make your tea even more exciting and add to its flavor profile. Here are a few ideas for a few regular items you probably have in your kitchen right now that you can add to a fresh cup of tea that will make it taste even better:
Cinnamon
The perfect companion for those rainy days or snowy nights. A cinnamon stick steeped along with tea leaves can give you the perfect addition of spice, warmth, and fragrance. Plus, it just looks elegant, especially if you’re serving your tea in double walled clear glass mugs.
Mint
Mint is really perfect for those mornings when you need a little extra kick. It will give you a cooling sensation and mint is notoriously soothing for the digestive system.
Berries
If you haven’t tried this before, try it soon! Adding fresh strawberries, blueberries or even raspberries during the spring and summer months adds both a little sweetness and well seasonal freshness to a cup of tea (especially iced) that is energizing and refreshing.
Lemon
You pretty much can’t go wrong with lemon, either squeezed for the juice itself or just sliced and dropped into the mug, especially in green teas. It adds a citrus-y freshness and sweetness to any beverage, not to mention that lemon seems to be a pretty beneficial food in general. But lime and orange are pretty decent too. Pro Tip: In a pinch if there’s no fresh lemon around, I’ll stir in a couple of packets of crystallized lemon juice.
Ginger
Ginger is excellent for the sinuses and digestive system, and it also adds spice and zest to your tea. It is perfect for those gloomy days when you need extra soothing and comfort. Just like lemon, if I don’t have fresh ginger around, crystallized ginger or even a good quality powdered ginger can be a good substitute.
Honey
This is probably one of the most common addition to teas. (Tea with lemon and honey is usually one of the first things I gravitate to when I’m feeling a bit under the weather.) Honey has plenty of health benefits but it also adds a comforting, silky-smooth sweet flavor.
Cream
This one really depends on your own personal taste–not everyone enjoys cream in tea. I typically add cream to my own tea during the colder parts of the year because this combo just feels more cozy to me in the winter. I also think folks who are making the switch from coffee to tea may be a little more likely to add cream to tea as they get used to the flavor of tea vs. coffee. And I’m not too choosy here either–one day I might add half and half, another day heavy whipping cream and honestly, during the last 3 months of the year, I will dabble in some of the seasonal coffee creamers that are available at the grocery store. (That’s a whole other topic I might talk about in a future post!)
I hope these ideas have given you some inspiration for how to make tea taste better. Let me know on Instagram if you’ve tried any of the steps to make the perfect cup of tea and experimented with the different flavor additions I suggested and tell me which one is your favorite.