Well that's exactly what the tea leaves sang as they swam, dived, felt the happy bubbles of the water little did they realize that many who poured the water into the kettle knew nothing about the fact that, it is the lifeline, a key factor for the leaves to unfurl and release the aroma as well as the flavor. When i indulge in 'me' time and i think of at times sipping Tea in the luxurious hotels, boutique hotels, the so called 'fine' dining restaurants, to know, to see, fearfully sip coz I am pretty confident about what the outcome is going to be like, to research and i realise more than often, the staff hasn't been trained to know how important it is to understand the right temperature of water. And because of that the tea flat to me (basically no note ;)
So here you go .. please remember, you never 'boil' water, you always 'heat' the water till the bubbles come on the side of the pan or you heat at a required temperature if you have a thermometer or a temperature control electronic kettle, where you can actually set the temperature you want the water heated at.
Different teas need different temperature for them to be infused in. You don't want to cook the tea in the water! It has to infuse. If you boil the water, the oxygen content is reduced, there is no reaction between the tea leaves and the water, thus leading to a flat cup of tea which is the worst thing that can happen to the leaves that have been bought with love, that you have spent money in buying, that which you have bought with enthusiasm.
Please remember after knowing your source when you buy your Tea, to enhance its qualities, when you infuse, the temperature of the water has to be just perfect to give you that sunshine in a cup.
- White Tea ~ 80 degrees Celsius
- Oolong ~ 85 degrees to 88 degrees Celsius
- Green Tea ~ 80 degrees to 85 degrees Celsius
- Black Tea ~ 95 degrees Celsius
- Infusions ~ 90 degrees Celsius
- Pu-erh ~ 95 degrees Celsius
