For tea drinker's.

[margo49]

Don't you get an off taste ? Does the metal stain?
I'm a tea freak but prefer to strain as I pour.

[ny biker]

[bump!]

Please indulge my dumb question! I am a tea drinker, but always with tea bags rather than loose tea (except for long-ago visits to London, when I poured the tea they gave me at the restaurant through a strainer). My neighbor recently ordered a bunch of different kinds of loose tea and she very kindly gave some to me. She also lent me a strainer, a little metal ball on a chain and one of the IngenuiTea cups that JillM posted about above (so many years ago ). I plan to buy something so I can return the gadgets to her -- I'm leaning toward this because it seems simple, will fit in a drawer and is made by a good company:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/stor...xo+tea+infuser

I generally make tea one cup at a time by filling my mug with tap water and heating it up in the microwave. I really don't have time or patience for anything more complex than that. I do have a few large mugs which I sometimes use, and they hold 2-3 times as much as a normal mug. But regardless of the size of the mug, I make one mug at a time and that's it.

Anyway here's the dumb question -- I have NO idea how to make tea with these loose leaves. No idea how much tea to use per serving. When I do an internet search I find way too much detail about the type of water to use and complicated charts with brewing times for different varieties. I think my neighbor gave me black tea (four different flavors to try). It's definitely not green.

Every time I see her she asks if I've tried the tea yet, so I need to try it soon. Can anyone give me simple instructions? Is there such a thing as a simple way to make tea with loose leaves??

Thanks very much!!!

[OakLeaf]

I'd strongly recommend a basket rather than ball type strainer. Tea leaves expand when they get wet, and once they do, they choke water circulation out of a ball strainer. Something like this. Any kitchen store and many coffee/tea shops have them.

Elsewhere on Rishi Tea's site, you can click on any tea they sell and get the brewing instructions. Yep, it's simple. Especially with black tea, that's brewed with boiling water. The only thing that makes green and white tea slightly trickier is getting the water temperature right. (I've learned the sound that water makes in my electric kettle makes when it gets to 180°F, the temperature for brewing the mid-grade Sencha that's my daily tea.)

I also have a pump-type thermal bottle (like they keep hot water and coffee in some restaurants). So I'll heat a kettle full of water, dump it into the bottle, and then brew my tea one cup at a time. (Can't really recommend the combo bottles, the ones that both heat water and maintain the temperature with vacuum insulation - every one I've seen boils the water first then lets the temperature drop. That boils the oxygen out of the water, which you don't want with green or white tea, plus it means you have to set it up at night for the water to be green tea temperature by morning. But, if you'll only be drinking black tea and keeping the water just below 212°F, that might be an option for you.)

Extra simple method that doesn't require any accessories: put tea leaves and hot water into a measuring cup, infuse for the specified time, then strain through any kitchen strainer into your mug. That's how I brew herbal teas, so I don't mess up the flavor in my green tea basket.

Beware though: once you taste good tea, it's hard to go back. Stuff isn't cheap. And a metal cylinder of tea leaves will get your suitcase searched every. single. trip.

[Blueberry]

This is my favorite basket.

I concur with Oak on the basket suggestion. I'm a fellow tea snob. :-) Though, I have to confess, I love my insulated keep warm gadget. I don't notice the lack of O2, and the convenience is worth it for me. But that's far from the simple solution for you.

Simple Instructions for Black Tea: boil the water (in a pan or a kettle or something - can be hard to do in the microwave). Pour over the leaves. Start with 1 tsp a cup (8oz). If it's really dense (little pieces), use less. If it's really fluffy (big leaves), use more. Remove them in about 4:30 for most black teas (darjeelings are odd - if it feels like you have a mouth of cotton at that, you probably have one and need to steep for a lot less time). There are different guides, and you can adjust to your taste - but that's where I start with new black teas.

[VeganBikeChick]

Speaking of brewed teas, does anyone have a commuter cup for tea they recommend? I have a Kleen Kanteen but don't like drinking my tea out of it. I'd prefer something non-breakable (i.e, NOT ceramic) as I'm a total klutz.

[Eden]

I have a Thermos commuter bottle. It is fantastic. It keeps my tea hot, like seriously really hot all day long. The all stainless one is better than the colored ones, which have a plastic skin on them. I bought my husband the blue one and I swear it's not quite as good.

[OakLeaf]

I have a stainless steel insulated travel mug, just a cheap one that my dentist gave out as a promotional item a few years ago. Lots of different companies make them. I still get some off taste from the plastic lid, but it's better than a whole plastic mug.

[rebeccaC]

Simple Instructions for Black Tea: boil the water (in a pan or a kettle or something - can be hard to do in the microwave). Pour over the leaves. Start with 1 tsp a cup (8oz). If it's really dense (little pieces), use less. If it's really fluffy (big leaves), use more. Remove them in about 4:30 for most black teas (darjeelings are odd - if it feels like you have a mouth of cotton at that, you probably have one and need to steep for a lot less time). There are different guides, and you can adjust to your taste - but that's where I start with new black teas.

I learned this method for green tea from a Chinese girl friend in college….i bring some good bottled spring water to a boil, pour it into my yixing teapot and wait a minute+ (depending on the leaves being used) and then fill the teacup/s I’m using and discard what little water is left. then I add the amount of tea wanted to the teapot and pour the water from the cups into the pot and steep. I’ve brought down the temperature of the water to match the type of green tea, prewarmed the teapot and cups and have just enough tea for the cups wanted.