Tin Tea Kettle
Posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 5:51 am
How to prepare loose leaf tea?
I just bought a tin of Twinings English Breakfast and didn’t realize that it’s loose. I have no idea how to make it, help!
I have a tea kettle, coffee filters, and cups but can I make it with that or what other household items am I able to use? Thanks very much.
What you really need is a tea ball. Failing that…
Step 1: Take a saucepan (not the kettle!) and boil water in it.
Step 2: Add loose tea to the tea kettle(!). Normally you boil water in a tea kettle and make tea in a tea pot, but the kettle at least has a lid and spout so it’s better than a saucepan. Preheat the tea kettle if you want better tea.
The amount of tea is 1 measuring teaspoon (that’s why it’s a “teaspoon”) per teacup of beverage. Brits usually add “one for the pot”. I find that makes for very bitter tea, especially when the pot only holds 1-2 cups, but that probably makes the tea better when you add lots of milk and sugar to it (I don’t).
Step 3: Take the pot to the kettle (or, in this case, the kettle to the saucepan) and pour the water in.
Alternately: If you have an auto-drip coffee maker, place the loose tea in the coffeepot and send water through the coffee machine.
Step 4: Spend the next 3-5 minutes finding the finest mesh strainer you own. Large kitchen strainer, small basket strainer, sink strainer (clean it first!)…anything will do, especially if it fits over your teacup.
Step 5: When the tea is done, pour it through the strainer you found into your cup. The strainer will catch the leaves. I’m not sure if there is some British habit of leaving the unused tea and topping it up with fresh water, but you’ll have better tea if you follow the Japanese practice of pouring it all out.
Step 6: Enjoy your tea! Next time, keep in mind that Twinings tea in tins marked by weight is loose and bagged tea marked by number of bags comes in shrink-wrapped boxes.
I know this sounds complex, but once you have some specialized tea gear it becomes second nature. I use a coffee press for a teapot and it works pretty well. The filter is more than fine enough to catch anything and as a bonus I can make good coffee in it. The only downside is that it’s made of glass; for black tea you want a heavier teapot, like a tea-for-one set or an English teapot.
Trangia Series 27 Kettle
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