Tea, to Make
Ingredients
Directions
Warm the pot
Boil the water in a kettle.
Fill the teapot halfway with boiling water and cover it for 1 minute.
Pour out the water to leave the teapot dry and hot.
Steep and serve
Add the required quantity of tea to the teapot and close the lid.
Let the tea sit for 1 minute to expand.
Pour boiling water over the tea and let it steep for 4 to 5 minutes.
Pour the tea into cups.
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
- Black tea
- Provides the main flavour, colour and astringency of the infusion.
- Fresh, soft water
- Carries the tea's flavour compounds; soft water extracts them without harsh mineral notes.
The step that matters
Pour boiling water over the tea and steep for 4 to 5 minutes. Steeping time controls how much flavour and tannin leach from the leaves. Too short gives weak, thin tea; too long makes it bitter and astringent. Water must be at boiling point to extract the compounds fully.
“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.
More tea recipes
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.