For the perfect cuppa… | Daily News

For the perfect cuppa…

Everyone likes their tea a bit differently, whether you put on a stopwatch while you brew the bag for three minutes or add so much milk it barely resembles tea at all.

There’s also some debate about whether we should add the milk before or after the hot water (obviously it should be after - how on earth does it brew properly if you cool it down with milk first?!)

But what we really should be focusing on is the water if we want a truly perfect cup of tea, however strong or milky you like it.

A tea expert has revealed the one thing you should never do if you want a good cuppa. William Gorman, chairman of the Tea and Infusions Association says you should only ever boil the water once. So those of us who top up the kettle several times a day and flick it on, re-boiling the same water, are doing ourselves out of a perfect brew. What does boiling water again do? Gorman said that repeatedly boiling the same water strips it of some of its oxygen and nitrogen, resulting in a “dull” beverage. And then things get really controversial...

Gorman also advocates us microwaving our tea to warm it up instead of reboiling the water.

“Usually when people’s tea goes cold they reboil the kettle and make another cup. But doing this you are guaranteed to give yourself a dull cup of tea. You need freshly drawn water for a good cup because reboiling it takes out all the oxygen and nitrogen out of it.”

“A better solution is to put it in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds. When you microwave tea all you’re doing is from a scientific point of view is just moving the molecules around and getting it back up to a decent temperature. It is not impacting the flavour at all.” So, there you have it. Only fill the kettle up with the water you need for your mug and always change the water before you pop it on. The Telegraph


Add new comment