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Loose Tea
Tea Sachets
Iced Tea
Water Quality
Santization
Loose Tea
Brewing great tea is actually quite simple. There are only three things to manage: tea amount, steep time, and water temperature. When these three factors are properly managed, a superb brew is almost guaranteed. Below is a basic chart identifying some agreed upon averages for water temperature and steep times for different types of tea:
Tea Brewing Parameters by Tea Type
Tea Type
|
Water Temp
|
Steep Time (Min.)
|
# of Infusions
|
| White |
160-170 |
2-3 |
2-3 |
| Yellow |
170-180 |
2-3 |
2-3 |
| Green |
180-190 |
2-3 |
4-6 |
| Oolong |
185-195 |
2-3 |
4-6 |
| Black |
195-205 |
3-5 |
2-3 |
| Pu-her |
200-205 |
Limitless |
2-3 |
| Herbal |
205-210 |
3-5 |
Varies |
If the above chart seems confusing and complicated, that is because it is. There is virtually no way an individual or a business can brew tea in a practical sense to these parameters without costly equipment, time, and patience. The reality is, that of the three factors that need to be managed, measuring the appropriate amount of dry leaves is the most important. This is true because good whole leaf tea is very forgiving. The only factor that is practical to control is the amount of dry leaves used to make the tea. A terrific tea can still be had so long as the amount of tea is measured properly. The following table shows the amounts of dry loose tea for various size servings.
Dry Tea Measurement for Hot Tea Service, Cup/Glass or Teapot/French Press
| Size |
oz |
6 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
24 |
28 |
32 |
64 |
| Amount |
grams |
2.25 |
3.00
|
4.50
|
6.00
|
7.50
|
9.00
|
10.50
|
12.00
|
24.00 |
For individuals you can brew tea by the cup/glass or by the teapot/French press. In both cases, one must decide whether to use disposable filters or permanent infusers, except for the French press which does not require filters as it has its equivalent of an infuser separating the leaves from the tea. Two companies, T-sac or Mini-minit, make disposable paper filters that can be used to make tea. T-sac also makes larger tea bags for larger teapots. If tea is served by the cup, a permanent infuser like a tall cylindrical cup infuser with sufficient room for the tea to infuse is preferred. Generally tea balls and spoons are too restrictive for good infusions.
The tea brewing instructions are quite simple. Place the correct amount of tea into the infuser/ filter; fill the chosen vessel with hot water to begin the steeping process. If one of your goals is multiple infusions, shorter steeping times than those shown above may be appropriate. All that is required is fresh hot water for additional infusions. One fact, often not known, is that the first infusion removes the majority of the caffeine, so that follow on infusions have little caffeine.
In the end, the strength and taste of the tea is an individual preference and experimenting with steeping times by observing the color for example will lead you to the optimum tea taste for you. We also need to point out that the dry measurement table above is correct for weights, but different teas also have different weight/volume profiles. If you are trying to approximate weight using a teaspoon as a measuring device, you may need to experiment a little to get the brew to your liking. When you have great whole leaf loose tea it is very forgiving and shortcuts often work.
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Tea Sachets
Tea sachets take the guesswork out of brewing tea. The silken sachet provides the tea leave filtering while providing sufficient room for the whole leaf tea to expand during steeping. Each sachet has the tea pre-portioned for you. This becomes particularly important as the volume density profile for many teas are quite different and trying to manage getting the correct amount using a tea spoon may not yield the optimum amount, without a scale. Harney & Sons tea sachets are tailored for each tea and have a generous amount of tea, sufficient for a two cup tea pot (12 oz) or even a 16 oz tall glass. A good rule of thumb is 1 sachet/12 oz of water, but since the tea is all whole leaf you may be able to extend this as well.
Many of our wholesale restaurant customers call our tea sachet service the height of convenience - a gourmet whole leaf tea service with the simplicity of a teabag with great tasting tea, consistently great every time.
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Iced Tea
Given that 85% of the tea consumed in the U.S. is iced tea, there are many sources for information on how to brew iced tea. It is complicated, however by the fact that different manufactures sell different grades of teas, different packet sizes, and often confusing recommendations. All of the Harney & Son teas iced teas we sell are 100 % whole leaf teas and the amounts for the packets are geared toward specific sizes of the final brew that are specified.
There are four common ways to brew iced tea.
Brewing Hot Tea and Serving it Over Ice
This method uses the techniques mentioned above just as if you were brewing a single cup or tall glass of hot tea. After you brew the hot tea, pour the hot tea over ice. The ice will melt fairly quickly and you may want to add additional ice to keep it cool. Since the additional ice will dilute the tea to some extent you may actually want to steep it a little longer if you are using a tea sachet, or if you are using loose tea, use a little bit more tea.
Hand Brewing Method
This is one of the best ways to brew ice tea, especially if the quantity sold or served is small and tea brewers are not available. Most tea brewers try to emulate this process but for a number of practical reasons cannot. Here you bring a specific amount of water to boil, which we will call the concentrate water. Then, take either the filter pack of iced tea or if you are using loose tea put it into a filter or strainer and carefully put it in the hot water. The steeping times will vary with the amount of tea concentrate size, and the strength of the tea you prefer. The table below is a guideline for you to follow:
Ice Tea brewing
|
Manual Brewing |
Machine Brewing
|
| Purchase Size |
H&S Retail Tins 10/1 Qt. |
Case 50 X 1 oz |
Case 25 X 1.75 oz |
Case 24 X 3.5 oz |
Packet Type
|
Filter Packs |
Filter Packs |
Packets |
Packets |
Tea Amount
|
1/4 oz
|
1 oz
|
1.75 oz
|
3.50 oz
|
Brew Amount
|
1 Quart |
1 Gallon
|
1.5 Gallons
|
3.0 Gallons
|
Concentrate Size
|
16 oz
|
40 oz
|
64 oz
|
96 oz
|
Steep Time
|
3-5 Min. |
5-8 Min.
|
8-10 Min.
|
13-15 Min. |
Black Tea Temp
|
205 |
205
|
205
|
205
|
Herbal Tea Temp
|
205 |
205
|
205
|
205
|
| Green Tea Temp |
190 |
190 |
190 |
190 |
Coffee Brewer Techniques
This is the least effective method to produce consistent high quality ice tea because of many variables that cannot be adjusted. These variables include a fixed temperature, no restrictor in the coffee funnel for real tea steeping, and no control on the rate at which the hot water flows into the tea. For foodservice locations that do not sell much ice tea, it is nevertheless often used.
If you choose to use this method, get a second new coffee funnel and use it only for tea to avoid not to have the coffee aromas effect the taste of the tea. If your coffee brewer, automatic or pour over, is a 64 oz brewer, put 1 oz of loose tea or a 1 oz filter pack in the brew funnel. Brew the batch into the airpot or carafe, pour this into a 1 gallon container and add 64 oz of cold water for 1 gallon of ice tea. If the resulting tea is not strong enough, you may need to adjust the process.
It is unlikely that the coffee funnel will have a restrictor like the funnels in most tea brewers so the tea may not steep well enough. An additional step some people use is to pour the first concentrate into the 1 gallon container and run the brew process again using the same tea. If this does not produce the quality and strength you want, try increasing or decreasing the amount of tea. Unfortunately because all brewers are different, it is difficult at best to have a good universal approach.
Tea Machine Brewing
There are many types of tea brewers, some simple for brewing fixed amounts, the most common is a 3 gallon brewer, to very sophisticated machines that allow brewing multiple batch sizes. Some of the newer and more sophisticated programmable machines allow up to 3 different batch sizes, at 3 different temperatures and three different concentration sizes. So if one decided to brew a green tea it could be set to brew at 190 degrees, run a 1 gallon batch of a herbal fruit tea at 200 degrees, and a plain or flavored 3 gallon batch at 202 degrees, all done in a sequential manner. These brewers are more expensive and are generally used where options are important and volume justifies the added cost.
As far as brewing, once the brewer it initially set up, it is as simple as opening the tea packet, placing it in the tea funnel, and pushing the brew button. In about 13-15 minutes, a full 3-gallon batch is complete. If the machine is the simple style that puts the cold dilution water in at the same time it is steeping the concentrate, stir the final result before drawing the first iced tea to insure it is mixed properly. This is because the cold water will sink to the bottom and mixing by diffusion takes time. The more sophisticated programmable machines allow you to program the dilution time to start at a specified time, usually after the tea steeping is complete. This allows the tea to continue to steep while hot and the mixing action with the dilution occurs more quickly as the cold water passes through the hot concentrate.
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Water Quality
Water makes up 99% of any cup of tea. Exceptional tea can’t compensate for poor quality water, while superb water can produce a good cup of tea even using lower grades of teas. Ideally, water has a combination of total dissolved solids and minerals (calcium, sodium, magnesium, iron and others), which provide flavor and reactivity. The tannins in tea make the water even more acidic, thereby making calcium less soluble and more visible.
RO systems produce water that has almost all the dissolved solids, minerals, and impurities removed. The issue with RO purified water however, is that there are no minerals and the taste is flat. Recently new RO systems have been released which add a re-mineralizing means and balance the PH. These systems produce what I call perfect water. We have added two systems to our product portfolio one for home use and a larger unit for tea rooms and coffee shops which can be viewed here.
Large coffee and /or tea shops generally invest in large RO systems and use mineral injection systems to add minerals back into the water. The reason for this, beyond water taste, is that their expensive brewing equipment requires water that has some minerals to prevent corrosion of the inner metallic surfaces.
Water quality varies dramatically depending upon location. In Arizona for example, the water is extremely hard It is not uncommon to find water hardness readings in excess of 20 grains, when 2-5 grains would be the range desired.
Iced tea is particularly affected by hard water, causing it to turn cloudy after a couple of hours of standing time. For that reason alone, most iced tea brewers installed in Arizona have water-softening tanks along with them.
If you are a business, a local professional should have the knowledge of the regional water conditions and be able to provide a solution of filtration and treatment to produce great beverages. NOTHING is more important than water for brewing great tea!
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Sanitization
As mentioned previously, tea is 99% water and clarity and taste are affected by the condition of the water. In areas of hard water, softening is highly recommended. Even with high quality of water, the tea can become cloudy because of bacteria growth. This can be particularly true if the dispensers, brew funnels, and dispenser spigot are not cleaned and sanitized frequently. To protect tea flavor and to avoid bacterial contamination and growth, clean and sanitize tea brewing and storage equipment at least once a day:
- Dismantle dispensing spigots, hoses, storage reservoirs (removing gaskets, O rings, etc.) and rinse in warm water along with other brewing and storage utensils (e.g. pitchers, spoons, etc.).
- Wash and clean equipment and surfaces using a good dish detergent, in hot water at 110-120 degrees F.
- Be sure to remove any encrusted soil deposits with a brush or cleaning pad, if needed.
- Rince throughlythoroughly with clear hot water at 110-120 degrees F. Sanitize by immersing parts for at least 1 minute in hot water at 180 degrees F or by rinsing in a solution of warm water (approximately 75 degrees F), mixed with chlorine (minimum 50ppm).
- Dissemble dispenser spigot and clean and sanitize according to manufacturer’s directions.
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