How to brew black tea: temperature, time and milk
Black tea is fully oxidized, which makes it robust. It can take boiling water, and it keeps its flavour well when you add milk, sugar or lemon.
The basics
- Leaf: 2 to 3 grams (a heaped teaspoon, or one tea bag) for 200 to 250 ml of water
- Water: 95 to 100°C, freshly boiled
- Time: 3 to 5 minutes. Fine broken leaf, like in tea bags, is ready sooner than whole leaf
Step by step
- Boil fresh water.
- Warm the pot or mug with a little hot water.
- Add the leaf and pour the boiling water over it.
- Steep for 3 to 5 minutes, with the timer on.
- Remove the leaf or the tea bag. Do not squeeze the bag, because that releases the bitter part.
- Add milk, sugar or lemon if you like.
Strong without bitter
If you want a stronger cup, use more leaf and not a longer steep. A longer steep gives bitterness and dryness, more leaf gives body.
With milk
- Choose a strong tea, such as Assam or an English Breakfast blend, so that it holds up against the milk.
- Pour a little milk in the cup and then the tea, or the other way around: it is a matter of taste.
- Chai is boiled with the milk and spices, in a pan.
Iced black tea
Brew it double strength, let it cool a little, pour it over ice and add lemon. See the guide on cold brew for a slow, smooth alternative.