How to brew herbal tea correctly?

If you want to brew excellent herbal tea, you should pay attention to five key points:

1. Choose a container

The best container for brewing herbal tea is glass It is made of different materials, so that you can see the fluttering postures of flowers and plants of different shapes and colors during the brewing process, and enjoy the ornamental floating and stretching of the flowers and plants.

If the raw materials used belong to traditional Chinese medicine, you should choose a thermos cup instead of glassware. The disadvantage of poor thermal insulation of glassware is not conducive to the dissolution of active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine.

It should be noted that do not use metal utensils to brew herbal tea. Metal utensils can easily interact with the ingredients of herbal tea and affect the flavor and efficacy of herbal tea.

2. Brewing water

Among the many reasons that induce the aroma of herbal tea, water quality and water temperature are very important. The best water for brewing herbal tea is clean natural spring water or live well water. If it is not available, you can choose pure mineral water and boil it before use. The most suitable water temperature is around 95°C. The tea brewed at this temperature is bright, crystal clear and has a pure taste.

When using tap water for brewing, the temperature needs to be lowered to about 85°C after boiling. This can prevent the water temperature from being too high and causing the tea juice to change color and taste bitter.

Tea brewed with distilled or purified water will taste bitter because it lacks minerals or has been boiled for too long. This type of water is not suitable for brewing herbal tea.

When brewing herbal tea, the ratio of water to herbal tea raw materials should be 50:1-100:1.

3. Brewing methods

There are four main brewing methods: direct brewing, half pot of hot water brewing, pot boiling and adding flowers and plants to hot water.

The direct brewing method is the simplest. Put the herbal tea ingredients in the teapot and brew directly with hot water of about 90℃. In this way, the flowers and plants will spread out quickly and immediately release their fragrance. Flowers and plants suitable for this method of soaking include roses, lavender and other aromatic flowers and plants. However, this method of brewing can easily cause flowers and plants to break up and produce tea dust.

The half-pot hot water brewing method is to first put half a pot of hot water into the teapot, then add herbal tea, and finally fill it with hot water. The advantage of this method is that it is relatively clean, but the flowers and plants will spread slower and the brown color will be lighter.

In the pot cooking method, use a small pot to boil the water, then add flowers and plants, turn to low heat and simmer for 1 minute, then pour the tea into the cup, and drink it after the tea color becomes thicker. The advantage is that the tea has the strongest aroma, but the steps are complicated.

The method of putting herbal tea in hot water means filling the pot with water and then adding the flowers and herbs to soak. This method not only prevents the herbal tea raw materials from losing color due to soaking for too long, but is also more resistant to soaking and is suitable for herbal teas with a slightly acidic taste.

4. Brewing time?

Different types of herbal tea will have different brewing times. For flowers and leaves that easily release fragrance, the soaking time is about 5-10 minutes, and it is not suitable to soak for too long. Fruits, trees and roots with tough texture should be soaked for more than 15 minutes.

For any brewing method, you need to cover the pot after brewing and let it sit for 2-3 minutes to allow the flowers and plants to release their fragrance. The standing time should not exceed 5 minutes, otherwise it will produce astringent and bitter taste, and the color of the tea will become turbid.

Usually, flowers and plants can be soaked about twice. The first soaking time is slightly longer, and the second soaking time can be slightly shortened.

5. Condiments?

The condiments of herbal tea mainly include fresh milk, lemon, rock sugar, honey, fruit pieces, etc., which are used to blend the taste of herbal tea. Depends on personal preference. Under normal circumstances, the ratio of herbal tea and condiments is controlled at 3:2. The time of adding is about 2-3 minutes after soaking. After adding, let it sit for 2-3 minutes before stirring with a spoon.

When drinking herbal tea, you can also use some desserts to make the taste richer. When drinking herbal teas with soft aromas such as rose, linden, and marigold, it is more suitable to pair them with spicy snacks, such as gingerbread, ginger bread, etc.; sour herbal teas such as roselle and rosehip can be paired with sweet ones. Honey cake; Apple-flavored chamomile tea is best paired with fruit cakes, such as apple cake.