the hot tea pot and lastly freshly boiling water. Preheating the pot keeps the water from cooling

down any more than necessary. A tea cozy, a thick insulating material or cushioned metal cover that

fits snugly over the tea pot, guarantees the least amount of heat loss during the steeping process.

Pour the water over the tea leaves (or tea bags) in the pot in the ratio of one teaspoon of

leaves (or one tea bag) to each cup of water. Infuse the leaves (let them sit in the hot water) for 5

minutes. That’s it.

Five minutes of steeping is an entirely arbitrary time that someone probably chose centuries

ago, but it works. It allows time to steep the desirable quantity of aromatics and chemicals from the

leaves. If you steep it for a much shorter period, the tea is not full-bodied. If you steep it longer, you

extract too much tannin and the tea becomes bitter. Should you prefer a weaker tea, use fewer tea

leaves but still let them steep for the full 5 minutes. Or dilute your tea with hot water after it has

steeped.

Never use hot water from the tap. The water is stale because of its sojourn in the water

heater, and it lacks oxygen. Not only will you get a flat-tasting tea but you may also add a small

amount of lead in your system (if you have lead pipes in your house) because hot water dissolves

lead more efficiently than cold water does.

Strain your tea with a fine tea strainer as you pour the tea from the pot to keep loose tea

leaves out of your cup. Or you can put loose tea leaves in a tea ball, but it requires some stirring

during steeping, as the tea ball restricts the contact of leaves with the hot water. Move the ball up

and down a few times during steeping while holding it by its chain (or handle).

You infuse herbal teas somewhat differently. It takes longer, 10 to 20 minutes, with some

herbs even hours, of simmering, to produce a flavorful beverage. Leaves give out their aromatics

faster, roots and seeds much more slowly. You can use pulverized roots and seeds to speed up the

brewing process, as it is in commercial herbal tea bags.

Other forms of tea

A chilled version, iced tea, is popular mainly in the United States and Canada, particularly

during hot summer months. A real iced tea takes more effort, because once you make the hot tea,

you needs to chill it. If you have lots of ice and have made a powerful brew, you can pour the hot

tea concentrate right over ice cubes.

Most people prefer the easy way out—instant iced tea mixes, or more recently, cans and

bottles of ready-made tea that you can store in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, these are generously

presweetened. Again, if you are serious enough to demand a glass of good iced tea, wait till you get

home and make your own.

A major problem with making fresh iced tea is cloudiness. Although the flavor doesn't

change, pigments of tea and several chemical components precipitate in the chilled beverage. You

can avoid this by starting with hot water (about 100°to 120°F or 38°to 50°C) rather than boiling

water, adding the leaves, letting them steep for at least an hour, then straining the leaves off and

chilling the beverage. Another way to do this is by making sun tea, a simple process of combining

tea leaves and water and letting them brew in the sun for several hours.

Virtually any tea can produce a good iced tea, but iced green teas and herb teas make iced

teas that are too mild to most taste. Herbs, however, add a pleasing flavor to regular iced tea. Mint is

a particularly popular flavoring, though many herbs give you pleasant iced tea.

Britons despise iced tea. They feel that it is a truly American invention and sacrilegious to

add ice to their national brew. Surprisingly, it was an Englishman who first created iced tea at the St.

Serious Kitchen Play