Step-by-step How To Make a Perfect Cup of Oolong tea
If you are wondering why I said I wrote this but the blog post says it is written by Caroline Chamberlin, this text above should clear it up.
This is what I wrote for KCRW’s Good Food Blog on “How to Brew the Ultimate Cup of Oolong Tea” to support my radio and podcast interview I did with the KCRW Good Food show on “The Geography of Tea.”
What you need:
brewing vessel of choice: a gaiwan, teapot, or pyrex measuring cup works (this is what I use when I go to people’s homes that don’t have lots of tea gear)
a strainer of some sort (what I do in a pinch is use a fork)
the cup you are going to drink out of
optional: a decanter
Don’t use a tea ball! You goal when brewing tea is to let the leaves open up and release their flavors. A tea ball cramps their style and doesn’t allow whole leaf teas to fully open and release their flavors.
Steps:
get everything out and ready. you don’t want to be fumbling for your tea when the water is ready or scrambling for a strainer while the tea is brewing.
pour the amount of tea you want to brew in your brewing vessel
heat water to boiling.
let water cool down for 15-30 seconds
quickly pour just enough water to cover the tea in your brewing vessel (for optimal results pour in a circular clockwork like motion to create some movement for your tea in water)
strain out this liquid immediately into your decanter or directly into your cup
pour out this liquid (tea connoisseurs usually don’t drink the rinse)
congratulations you just finished your tea rinse warm-up to prime the leaves and get them ready to release all their delicious flavors
pour water on these warmed up leaves in your brewing vessel
let it brew for 30 seconds-1:00 min depending on how much tea you put in and how strong you want it.
strain this liquid into your decanter or directly into the cup you are drinking from
repeat as many times as the leaves still have flavor for increasing the steeping time a little bit each succession. high quality unscented teas should have at least 3-5 good brews if not more.
Click to the KCRW Good Food blog post for an easy way to print these step-by-step instructions.
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