Perfecting your tea cup

Typically someone will be either a tea person or a coffee person. Personally, we don’t like to choose. Each has their own amazing qualities and, in actual fact, offer a few similarities. There are many important factors in the preparation of tea that, like coffee, need to understood to get the best out of the leaves. Below is a guide as to how much, how hot and how long the leaves need to be brewed for. Quite often I will be out at a cafe or at a friends home and will drink over extracted or burnt tasting brews. They may spend a lot on the leaves though if you don’t follow the basic rules, it won’t taste amazing. Tips:

• Always start with fresh, loose leave quality
• Pre-heat the glass and the pot you're going to brew it in
• Try and keep the tea in an airtight container as the leaves will degenerate when exposed to air
• Often it helps if you slightly wet the tea leaves before you pour the water over it, just to give them a little hydration before they are completely soaked
• Follow the below tea recipes when brewing your next pot

Teas	Dose	Water Temp (degrees)	Brew Time
Green	1 Teaspoon	75	3 Mins
Black	1 Teaspoon	95	3 Mins
Oolong	1 Teaspoon	80	3 Mins
White	1 Tblspoon	65	4 Mins
Herbal	1 Tblspoon	100	4 Mins

At Black Market Roasters, we supply wholesale coffee beans, tea, powders, equipment and tools to cafes. We have everything you need under the one roof. Head here to find out more!