Personalizing your Cup of Loose-Leaf Tea

As previously noted, there are several advantages to using loose-leaf tea. One of the most beneficial being that you can tailor your cup of tea to your individual needs. If you prefer a bold, stronger cup of black tea, for example, then you can steep it for longer at a higher temperature. Or, if you enjoy a lighter tasting cup of green tea, you can steep your serving of whole tea leaves at a lower temperate and a shorter amount of time. The choice is entirely up to you.

The blends offered by Joyce Country Cafe are no exception. From dark Black and Pu-erh teas to the gentler flavors of Green and Herbal teas, there are numerous ways to personalize your tea drinking experience. You can even bypass the suggested serving size and steeping temperature posted on the back of the packages. Why would you want to consider this? Simply put, these are only suggestions to you started. Where you go from here is up to you. A good example is The Old Alex Blend. The steeping instructions on the back suggest “1 Tbsp/ 8 oz / 200 °F / 4-5 minutes.” This leads to a nicely balanced flavor profile. However, if you want to personalize your cup of The Old Alex Blend, there are some factors to consider.

1. Do you want to use a Tbsp or less per serving? You can extend your 2 oz bag of tea even further by using less than 1 Tbsp, while still retaining maximum flavor.

2. Do you prefer a stronger tasting cup of tea? Or do you want a less-intense flavor? The hotter the water you steep the tea in, the bolder it will be.

3. Consider the steeping time. The longer you steep your cup of The Old Alex Blend, the more flavor, caffeine, and antioxidants that are extracted in your tea.

4. How much caffeine do you want? Because The Old Alex Blend is highly caffeinated, consider your water temperature and steeping time. The longer you steep this blend in hotter water, the more caffeine that will be in your cup.

These key points should help get you started on personalizing your cup of loose-leaf tea. Unlike tea dustings, there is more freedom in customizing loose-leaf tea. But why is this? Why can’t tea dustings commonly found in grocery stores compete against the freedoms of loose-leaf tea? The answer lies in the very nature of tea dustings. As previously discussed in Understanding Loose-Leaf Tea Culture, tea dustings are the lowest grade of tea leaf. Also known as fannings, tea dust comes in small pre-packaged satchels, typically between 16 to 20 satchels per box. For the purposes of personalizing your tea drinking experience, consider the following conditions that limit the ability of fannings.

1. With the small quantity of tea dust that comes in pre-packaged satchels, you cannot choose how much you want to steep.

2. Because you cannot choose how much you want to steep, you are limited in the strength level, antioxidant level, and caffeine level you can extract.

3. A box of 20 satchels of tea dusting is limited in the number of servings before each satchel loses flavor, nutrients, and caffeine.

The world of tea can be complex, but also utterly satisfying and engaging. To those uneducated on the subject, they may find enjoyment experimenting with higher-quality tea leaves. And, no doubt, they will discover in the process that quality does matter in creating your ideal cup of tea. The perfect cup of tea lies not in restrictions, but in the ability to create it as you please.