MORE Tea Tips for WATER!
Hot Water. You cant have a great cup of tea without it!
I touched on water quality back a few posts ago. If you missed it you can catch up HERE. Now that we know what to boil, lets talk a bit about HOW to boil. I know I know, we all know how to boil water, but wait! What is your kettle made of? How hot do you want your water? What kind of tea are you boiling for and why is it such a big deal?!
Lets start by setting a goal first. What kind of tea do we want to make here? We know that all true teas come from the came plant: Camellia Sinensis. But the way a tea is processed will greatly affect how it needs to be steeped to bring out its best features and subtle...teas...yeah I went there.
Here are the temperature goals for use with Variable temp Kettles and thermometer use, the cool down method with timers and the old fashioned traditional eyeballing of the bubbles for glass kettles and open pots.
TEA TEMPERATURES
White Tea: 170-175F OR 5 min off boiling OR “Crab Eyes”
Yellow Tea: 170-175F OR 5 min off boiling OR “Crab Eyes”
Green Tea: 165-170F OR 7 min off boiling OR “Shrimp Eyes”
Oolong Tea *light rolled: 180-185F OR 3 min off boiling OR “Fish Eyes”
Oolong Tea *dark un rolled: 185-190F OR 2-3 min off boiling OR somewhere between “Fish Eyes” and “Rope of Pearls”
Black Tea *Red Tea: 195-200F OR 1 min off boiling OR “Rope of Pearls” and “Raging Torrent”
Pu-erh Tea *Aged/Fermented Tea: 200-210F OR Straight off the boil OR “Old Man Water”
I've actually learned the sound that my kettle makes at different stages of boiling but we don’t all have to be total dorks.
As for Rooibos, Mate and other herbal blends, if there is no tea leaf present, just use boiling water!
Now that we have the knowledge, time to pick the right hardware! The way that we heat the water as well as the vessel that we heat it in is a big factor in the end result...good tea.
KETTLE TYPES
Alright, so I’ll keep this fairly simple because its more based on my personal preference but here are some options for kettle material and style.
Plastic Kettle (electric): I don't like these for the chemical leaching factors and frankly...THEY UGLY. You can look for BPA free kettles though and on the plus side, they can have auto shut off and variable temperature settings.
Metal Kettle (electric): I'm using one now and the only thing that bugs me is the sometimes metallic and mineral flavors that happen once deposits begin to stick to the inside of the kettle. These can be found in many styles with many features like cordless models and variable temperature settings. Some can even have UV purifying lights and programmable timers!
Metal Kettle (stove top whistlers): An oldie but a goody and fairly cheap t'boot! I wouldn't call this my first choice due to its tenancy to over boil and potential to boil dry if you happen to forget about it. I enjoy listening to the sound of the boiling process. You can really get to know a kettle's boiling temperature by sound!
Glass Kettle (stove top): These are beautiful and great for glass top stoves. You can learn to eyeball the temperature by bubble size and there is no risk for leeching chemicals or metallic flavors.
Glass Kettle (electric): Taking the best features from all the best methods, the glass kettle can be programmed, wireless and wont make your water taste funny. Top of the line models can boast tons of other features but even a simple electric glass kettle is my top pick.
Water Boiler or Zojirushi: These things are so cool and can often be found in your Asian market kitchen supply stores and obviously online. They are typically energy efficient and can hold way more water than your average kettle. They're fully programmable and just about the coolest thing to have around if you don't want to be boiling water a trillion times per day (assuming you drink as much tea as me)
Microwave: Just....just don't...I mean...if your stove doesn't work and you have no kettle...I'd rather go without tea frankly.
And there we have it. More water talk. I hope you all feel a little more prepared to prepare your next great cup of tea!
<3 - Tea















