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Drink

Tea

A hot beverage made by steeping dry tea leaves in boiling water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Tea

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pot

  1. Scald the teapot with boiling water and pour it off.

Brew the tea

  1. Add the dry tea to the teapot.

  2. Pour on 1 cup of boiling water and let it stand for 1-2 minutes.

  3. Fill with more boiling water, about 1 small cupful per person.

  4. Cover closely and let it steep for 5 minutes (10 minutes for English breakfast tea).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Dry tea
Provides the main flavor and aroma, which are released into the water during steeping.

The step that matters

Cover closely and steep for the right time. Covering the pot keeps heat and aromatic compounds in, so the infusion stays hot and flavorful. Steeping too briefly gives weak tea, while steeping too long can make it bitter, so timing matters, especially for English breakfast tea, which needs the longer 10 minutes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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