Tea Handling & Preparation

Always purchase, use and store the best tea you can afford and enjoy the 5,000 years of the world’s most popular beverage—second only to water!

Speaker available: Irene Nielsen, Registered Tea Consultant and Tea and Etiquette Consultant

Storing: Keep fresh tea leaves in airtight tins away from heat and light. Never refrigerate or freeze the leave.

Preparing: BOILING (not microwave) water poured over fresh measured leaves in a mesh filter in a pre-warmed pot. Time the steeping (leaves fully immersed in boiling water) by the clock!

Decant the leaves to stop the steeping. Over steeped tea is bitter and can only sometimes be “fixed” by use of milk.

Use more tealeaves for stronger tea or less leaves for weaker. NEVER change the time and do NOT go by color.

Decaffeinating: Merely pour boiling water over leaves as above but discard in 30—40 seconds. Re-steep the leaves as above for decaffeinated tea.