Today I learned: you don't have to be an expert to make the perfect cup of tea
“Drinking tea can be just as complex a study as appreciating wine,” says Gaï Assouline, an avid tea aficionado and co-founder of Inari Tea.
Inari has established its name in Hong Kong as the go-to brand for quality tea sourced from China, Japan, Taiwan, India and Nepal. Assouline, a French native who is no stranger to wine and cheese, speaks fondly of the exquisiteness of tea when made right.
If you are one of those people who is perplexed by the conundrums of what temperature the water needs to be when you steep your tea or what kind of teapot to use, have no fear. Assouline says: “Anyone can have good tea – it doesn’t have to be complicated.”
Today, we learn to appreciate good tea with Assouline, and it is simpler than you think.
1. Get the equation right for a great brew
The golden rule with tea is to keep experimenting and then go with what you like best. If you want to improve or learn how to brew tea, we recommend focusing on these four points below, which will lead to the right equation:
> Temperature of the water
> Quantity of water
> Quantity of tea
> Duration of steeping time
Brewing with a tea bag is something that people do intuitively. You boil the water, pour it into a mug or teapot and wait until it’s ready. Not letting it steep long enough will make the tea taste weak; waiting too long makes it astringent and bitter. For loose tea leaves it’s the same thing. This technique is a guide to perfect steeping but after a bit of experience you do it mechanically, like when you would use your old tea bags.
2. Now, about tea-bagging …
For a tea bag that contains about 2.5 grams of leaves, whether white or green or oolong, we recommend that you boil your water at 80-85 degrees Celsius for two to three minutes. For black tea, brew at a temperature of 90-95 degrees Celsius for three to five minutes. This is a general approach and also depends on whether you warm up your teapot before brewing.
Of course, it also depends on your personal taste and, more importantly, the tea you choose. There are always exceptions. For example, Assamica from India or Lapsan Souchong from China are both black but should be steeped differently. To be on the safe side, we suggest brewing for two minutes and tasting in 30-second intervals for the best flavour.
3. Tea bag vs Loose tea
Loose leaf tea is made up of whole, unbroken leaves and is usually high grade. The leaves used in most bags are dust and powder from broken tea leaves, which are usually low grade. The tea bags are produced industrially and as with any mass production, it results in a significant use of chemicals, preservatives, artificial flavours and sometimes even carcinogens.
So we’re not only talking about a difference of quality but a totally different product. We recommend real tea – single origin with transparent traceability – which are almost always flavourful and bear all the famous health benefits that tea can provide. You won’t only have a better experience, you’ll be giving your taste buds an all-new sensation.
4. Multiple steeping or single steeping
There are two steeping methods, single steeping more commonly used in the West and multiple steeping used mostly in China and known as Gong Fu style. The single steeping technique infuses less tea (1.5 grams to 2.5 grams for 200ml) but takes more time (for a single use).
However, Gong Fu brewing infuses four to five times more tea (6 grams to 10 grams 200ml depending on the kind of tea) and this lasts five times as long, and only takes between 10-20 seconds. While single steeping offers a simple and practical use, Gong Fu brewing will extract all the aromas and all the complexity of the tea in a series of five to six infusions.
5. The difference between matcha, sensha, kukicha and gyokuro
While most Japanese teas are from the Yabukita cultivar of Camellia sinensis, Gyokuro is often made from a specialised variety such as Asahi, Okumidori, Yamakai and Saemidori.
Gyokuro is the finest of all Japanese teas. Its production process is time-consuming and complex – the bushes are shaded from the sun three weeks before the harvest, filtering out 90 per cent of the sun rays. This process slows the growth of the plants, allowing the tea leaves to develop more depth and a higher concentration of chlorophyll, resulting in a highly aromatic and complex tasting tea with only extremely low levels of tannins.
On the other hand, more than 80 per cent of the green tea produced in Japan is sencha, which is the most popular type of green tea. Sencha is made from green leaves that are cultivated in direct sunlight.
Matcha is far more versatile. It lends itself to a multitude of recipes (smoothies, cakes, tea, etc.). And unlike other tea infusions, matcha is ingested directly – the leaves are crushed into powder, so you can take in 100 per cent of the tea’s properties. One cup of matcha has as much antioxidant value as 10 cups of green tea. For a good matcha you just need a bowl (chawan), a whisk (chasen), a bamboo scoop (chashaku) and a ceremonial grade matcha.
Put two scoops of matcha powder in the bowl, pour in the water (80 degrees Celsius) and shake the matcha to dilute it and create a thick solution. Pour enough water to fill about one third of your bowl and use the bamboo whisk in a zigzag motion until you have a creamy liquid with fine bubbles. That's it – your matcha is ready.
Video by Myron Spencer Lee
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Inari Tea co-founder Gaï Assouline shows Lim Li Ying how following a few simple steps can transform your brewing skills – whether you use loose leaves or a tea bag