ALL About Tea Infusions

The Classic Infusion Classic Infusion

The most popular technique, the infusion marks the birth of tea preparation itself. Legends have it that Chinese emperor Shennong and his troops were travelling to a distant land, when he ordered some water to be boiled for him to drink. A leaf from a nearby shrub drifted and fell in and the Emperor unwittingly consumed it. On any given warm evening in China, something like this could have royally annoyed our Emperor and some poor sod would have died for his carelessness. But this wasn’t any given warm evening in China. This was the evening tea was discovered. The Emperor found the infusion highly invigorating and pleasant. Thus, tea and infusion was born. Thank god for both. Simple infusion works well for all teas. You can control the temperature and steeping time, so the tea will be of the strength you desire. Here is how you go about it.

Step 1: Heat water to desired temperature. Ensure the water isn’t boiling as very high temperatures can easily destroy the delicate notes in the tea. Place the tea leaves in a infuser.

Step 2: Pour the hot water over the tea leaves until they are submerged.

Step 3: Let it steep for the recommended time. Take care not to over-steep.

Step 4: Remove the tea leaves. Pour into a cup and enjoy. After this point, you can sweeten your tea with sugar, cream or honey. or add a dash of lemon juice or mint for that extra flavor. But us being the purists that we are, recommend you to drink it plain. If not always, just try it plain once; you'll be surprised how many layers are there to a cup of tea.

Information couretesy of: