TEA: A Guide to Steeping & Brewing Methods

Methods of preparing tea are a matter of personal choice and preference.?There is no "right" way to prepare and serve tea, however, there are many customs and rituals that are associated with drinking tea that have stemmed from many cultures primarily China, Japan, UK, India and Middle East Countries.?Those who wish to follow these customs and rituals, can often discover new experiences associated with the long history of drinking tea.

To?brew tea, one should steep the tea in hot water. Steeping is the process of extracting the flavour and health-promoting compounds from the solids used to make tea. Steeping is the final step in the lives of tea leaves. And in their final act, they slowly unfold and unravel, creating a beverage that tells the story of where they came from. Every time we drink liquor from the steeped leaves, it tells us what the weather was like before they were plucked and how they were handled, processed, and stored before they reached our cup. ?

The difference between?steeping?and?brewing?is as?easy?as whether or not there is continual heat applied to the immersed tea leaves.?Steeping involves the soaking of an item in a liquid, in this case, tea leaves in water, and that liquid can start out to be either cold, or hot. Brewing involves the continual application of heat from an outside source, like from a flame or burner. That is why beer and whiskey are "brewed" beverages, while tea is in fact, steeped.?And that's why brewing involves steeping, but steeping doesn't involve brewing. Brewing is the act of making tea, while Steeping is the process involved. Brewing the perfect cup of tea requires carefully steeping loose tea leaves in fresh water that's heated correctly.?

But what actually happens during steeping? When tea leaves are added to water, they absorb some of it and become rehydrated. This absorption of water into the tea leaves allows for the initiation of steeping, the process of extracting the soluble compounds from the tea leaves and dissolving them in water. The driving force of the steeping process is the difference in concentrations of dissolved compounds in the leaves and the water. Compounds in the leaves move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until equilibrium is achieved, a process called diffusion. Chemically speaking, steeping refers to the act of infusing tea leaves in a solvent (water) to make a solution that is on average 98% water and 2% compounds from within the tea leaves.?

Steeping the tea allows you to impart the nutrients found in the tea leaves to the water or liquid you are steeping the leaves in; however, over-steeping imparts more nutrients and flavours from the tea leaves. When you add hot water to tea leaves to steep, it triggers the nutrient compounds in the tea to diffuse and release into the water, seeking equilibrium. For the nutrients to be fully transferred, however, a cup of tea must be?really?over steeped. When tea is normally steeped, the enticing aroma escapes first. Then, the caffeine, nutrients, and antioxidants are extracted until finally the tannins are released. The steeping process usually takes 3-5 minutes. However, when you over steep tea beyond this time more tannins are released into your cup, so the colour turns darker and the flavour becomes bitter from the extra tannins, especially when steeping black tea.?

The type of tea being steeped is the most important determinant when it comes to the types and amounts of soluble compounds within tea leaves. Tea types are defined by the processing steps the leaves go through, and thus the resulting chemical components are similar for all styles of finished tea within a type. Across all tea types, the major chemical components in tea leaves fall into the following categories: polyphenols, amino acids, enzymes, pigments, carbohydrates, alkaloids, minerals and volatiles. Individual chemical components lend themselves to a portion of the cup in the form of taste, colour or body. The chemical composition of a cup of tea depends not only on the chemical compounds found within the leaves, but also the chemical properties of the water, the surface area of the leaves, the ratio of leaves to water, steeping temperature, and the length of time the leaves are in contact with water.?

Polyphenols comprise a grouping of different plant compounds, like flavanols, that contribute body and structure as well as the general blueprint for a tea's flavour profile. They're also responsible for a tea's bitterness. Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, contribute texture and savoury qualities, and essential oils produce aromas and more delicate, complex flavours. Polyphenols dissolve and are extracted fairly quickly, while amino acids take more time, but essential oils don't actually dissolve into a tea easily, because oils aren't soluble in liquid. We need enough time during the steeping process for the water to break down the cellular structure of the leaf. This is what allows the essential oils to be released into the brewed tea, where they'll exist as an integral part of the tasting experience—even though they're mostly just floating on the surface.

The temperature of the water decides how quickly flavour and structure is released. The higher the temperature, the quicker the release. A cup of tea made with boiling water will look darker, taste stronger and have more structure than a cup of tea made with 80-degree water that has infused for the same amount of time.

Brewing Methods: ?

1. Gong Fu Cha:

Gong Fu Cha is the traditional Chinese tea ceremony. It consists of using a small teapot or Gaiwan and infusing whole leaf tea multiple times in short durations.?Depending on the style of leaf, 1/4 to 1/3 of the tea vessel is filled with dry leaves and after brewing, the tea is usually drunk in smaller cups with no added ingredients. Depending on the tea, the same tea leaves is re-steeped over ten times. No cup of tea is the same, each consecutive infusion reveals distinct flavour. With each brew, we experience new tastes and aromas, a phenomenon especially evident when brewing higher quality teas. Gong Fu Cha is a slow journey filled with discovery and tranquillity, giving tea drinkers a great opportunity to relax in peace by oneself or enjoy the company of others.?Literally translated, Gong Fu Cha means "making tea with skill". Tea masters in China and other Asian tea cultures study for years to perfect this method.

When buying Chinese teas or visiting a traditional Chinese tea house, the tea masters?usually offers tea prepared in this style. With the right tea ware, one can readily enjoy it anywhere: at home, work, or even?outdoors.?

2. Western Style:?

The Western style of brewing tea denotes using a large teapot or infuser and steeping tea leaves for an extended period of time, the tea leaves can expand naturally, providing us with an exceptionally aromatic and flavourful brew – usually a one-time process.?Because the tea is steeped for a longer period of time, a smaller amount of tea is needed and the leaves are usually discarded after one or two steeping’s.?Tea made using this style is drunk in larger cups, and sugar or milk is sometimes added to meet taste preferences of Western drinkers.?

There is nothing better than personal experience to discover a particularly preferred brewing method.??

As the tea-drinking habit had passed from East Asia to Europe and Russia, so did the tea-brewing methods. The people of East Asia have mostly brewed their tea in a single teapot by adding hot water over tea leaves. Today there are two methods of brewing tea. In one of them, tea is brewed using only one teapot, and in the second one, tea is brewed using a dual teapot or kettle system. Single teapot brewing is mainly used in Western Europe, North America, Eastern Asia, and Australia, whereas dual brewing is used in Iran, Russia, and Turkey.?

Western Europeans adapted this brewing method to their tea culture and made tea at home as such. Today the British, the Irish, and other tea lovers in the western world mostly brew their tea using only one teapot.

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Russians started to use “Samovar”, a dual system to make tea. People in Russian territory loved tea a lot and wanted to consume it in larger volume. They developed samovar by adapting the “Sbitennik” they had already been using to make “Sbiten” (Is a traditional East Slavic hot winter beverage. It has a dark purple appearance and, depending on the recipe, can be very spicy and/or very sweet, it contains no alcohol).

Although originating in?Russia, the samovar is well known outside of Russia as well and has spread through Russian culture to other parts of Eastern Europe, as well as Western and Central and South Asia.

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Preparation of Tea using only one teapot: To make tea in a single teapot, either a teapot or a kettle is used. Tea leaves are put into the teapot and hot water is poured over it. Lid of the pot is closed to prevent heat loss, tea is infused for 3 to 5 minutes as it releases the aroma into the water. Then, the infusion is poured into the cup. Since this method has no heating source during brewing, the infusion loses its heat as one waits for the tea leaves to release their flavour. So, to limit heat loss, it is important to warm up the teapot before putting tea leaves in it by rinsing it with hot water.

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Preparation of Tea using double teapot:

When it is said “double teapot”, it mean “samovar” or “?aydanl?k” type of brewing tool, which is a kettle at the bottom and a teapot stacked upon it. If the kettle at the bottom has its own heat source, it is called “samovar”. If it needs an extra heat source such as a stove or open fire, then it is called “?aydanl?k”. Water is brought to a boil in the larger lower teapot and then some of the water is used to fill the smaller teapot on top and steep loose tea leaves, producing tea with a strong flavour.

More water is filled to the kettle at the bottom if needed. After that, the bottom kettle is placed back on the stove and the teapot on top of it and the tea leaves are infused into the water for 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the type of tea being served. The boiling water in the bottom kettle continuously gives off heat, so the infusion in the teapot does not become cold, even in a long brewing process. When served, the remaining water is used to dilute the tea on an individual basis, giving each consumer the choice between strong and light.

3. Boiling:?

Boiling tea leaves is the most ancient method of making tea.

When tea culture was gradually on its rise, people boiled tea leaves for prolonged periods. It has been widespread in China, Mongolia, Tibet and other Asian regions. Sometimes they even cooked them together with different spices. Different kinds of herbs, roots, fruits, and even chili weren't uncommon accompaniments to tea leaves.?

China:

The tea boiling method was described by famous Chinese philosopher and tea master Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty. He had a strong liking for sampling tea. He lived on the tea mountain of Jiangxi Province and planted tea himself. He was named as “Tea God.” He first thought out the way to boil tea and wrote the book Tea Canon making an account of the shape and properties, production place, picking and making, boiling and drinking of tea in detail. It was the first book about tea in China.

Tea boiling ceremonies last as long as?up to 3 hours. As the boiling method gradually extracts more from the tea leaves, it is possible to enjoy them for a longer time. The tea reaches its best taste after about an hour of the tea ceremony. Pu-erh, Hei cha and certain types of Oolong, as well as aged White teas, can withstand a boil and are commonly enjoyed this way. Green and black teas, on the other hand, become too astringent when boiled.?

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India:

Typically, tea in India is consumed with both milk and sugar but the tea leaves are not prepared separately by being steeped. Instead, the tea leaves are boiled along with additions of Spices, milk and sugar. Sometimes the tea leaves themselves are used as flavouring. In many parts of the country, the most special tea is one where the tea leaves are boiled solely in milk. When cooking chai, a wholly different process involving tea leaves, milk, herbs, and spices are slowly simmered for about twice the length of time.

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4. Grandpa Style:?

When brewing tea grandpa style, it is brewed in a big cup. Without the use of any strainers or teabags. Instead, the tea leaves are put directly into the cup and covered with hot water. Having the perfect leaf ratio or water temperature is not at all crucial.

After anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, drink the tea without dumping the tea leaf. When about 1/3 of the cup is left, you add more water. Continue until you feel the taste is becoming too weak.

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The name "grandpa style" comes from its literal origin, as it is common to see older citizens drinking tea this way while relaxing or chatting with friends.?

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?5. Cold Brew Tea:?

Cold-brewing requires us to pour cold water over tea leaves and leave it in the fridge for several hours to steep. This method of preparing tea requires the most patience. When making cold brew tea, the water doesn't extract as many catechins (these are what may cause bitterness). We are left with a sweet, flavourful, clean-tasting brew. Besides, it retains more antioxidants. Cold brews are also known to have less caffeine as the cold water dose not extract caffeine.?Cold-brews do require some initial patience. But after preparing some in advance, we end up with a good supply of flavourful cold tea.

Cold steeping takes up to 12 hours and produces a smoother tasting tea that's higher in antioxidants. One study found that steeping at 40°F (4°C) for 12 hours extracts and retains more polyphenols than steeping for 3–4 minutes in hot water. The study also found that steeping for 3–5 minutes at 175°F (80°C) followed by adding ice led to similar taste and antioxidant contents as the 12-hour cold steeping method, making this a quick alternative.

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6. Tea Brewing Machines:?

Specifically designed tea brewing machines are available in the market, but at a premium cost and are not suited for high end teas but work just fine if one has to brew a ready to drink tea mixture in the office or store.

As for the precision of brewing, the exhibition of inherent quality of tea depends on whether the characteristics of the tea are realised and proper brewing skills are mastered. The nature of water, the water temperature, the proportion between tea and water and the duration of brewing are crucial.

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Compiled and published by: Gaganendra Jha