Recipe: Tea Making Advice (Excerpt from Tea Gardens)

TEA MAKING ADVICE

"In my experience, the tastiest tea results from pot-blended herbs steeped in plenty of hot water. Here's my best advice: place fresh or dried herbs in an ample teapot. If you have time to warm the pot first, add hot water, drain it, then add the herbs, cover them, and let them absorb the steam for a minute before adding water again.

Next, bring water to a simmer-not a rolling boil, which robs the water of oxygen, leaving it flat and devoid of sparkle. Pour the simmering water into the pot, measuring at first, until you know how full your pot will be when you add two or four cups or water (or whatever quantity you habitually use). Let the mixture steep as long as need be; this will vary from one or two minutes for blends which contain Japanese green teas and fresh herbs, to five or six minutes for dried herbs with hips and seeds. Use a strainer when pouring out each individual cup.

Iced or chilled teas are best made from cold water, which renders a clean, unclouded mixture that shimmers in the glass. Use slightly more dried or fresh herbs for cold teas, and steep them in glass containers to prevent off flavors from developing. When you serve cold teas, you may find it easier to sweeten them with simple syrup (made by boiling sugar and water) than with granular sugar, which doesn't dissolve well in cold liquids (neither does honey). If your tea is too strong, you can dilute it to taste, adding cold water or seltzer to make a flavored spritzer. Cold teas can be garnished with a sliver of lime and a sprig of mint; and ice cubes made with your tea blend, limeade, or any minty tea base will add a cooling clink to the glass without weakening the flavor."

Source: Tea Gardens: Places to Make and Take Tea by Ann Lovejoy