Health-Preserving Tea: Brewing Tips for Best Results

Drinking tea to quench thirst is known and practiced by everyone. However, drinking tea for health preservation is not so simple. Generally speaking, the following points should be met to achieve good health-preserving effects.

1. The mood is tranquil, cheerful, and leisurely with a sense of self-satisfaction.

2. The environment is clean, quiet, and comfortable.

3. The tea set is to one’s liking, clean and pleasing to the eye.

The water used for making tea should meet hygienic requirements.

5. The ratio of water to tea leaves should be appropriate. If there is too much water and too few tea leaves, the tea will taste weak; if there are too many tea leaves and too little water, the tea will taste bitter and strong. Generally speaking, for delicate tea leaves, use a little less water, while for coarse and aged tea leaves, use a little more water. To be precise, it is advisable to brew one gram of tea leaves with 50 to 60 milliliters of boiling water. Each cup can contain 3 grams of tea leaves and be filled with about 150 milliliters of boiling water.

The water temperature for making tea should ideally be between 85°C and 100°C, and boiling water can also be used. It is advisable to cover the cup with a lid while making tea to helps maintain the loss of tea aroma. The ideal brewing time for tea is 3 to 5 minutes. If the brewing time is too short, the tea will be light in color and flavor; if the tea is brewed for too long, it will become astringent and the aroma will be easily lost.

For the convenience of readers to follow, specific introductions are provided as follows:

Those who enjoy drinking tea or engage in tea-drinking for health preservation should first prepare a set of tea sets they like. Before drinking tea, they should personally wash and clean the tea sets. While washing, they can appreciate the beautiful shapes and pleasing colors and patterns of the tea sets, which will make them feel relaxed and content. Then, boil clean water until it reaches a rolling boil. Before making tea, rinse the teapot and teacups with the boiling water to keep the tea sets clean and also to heat them up. Next, put the tea leaves into the teapot or teacup, and pour an appropriate amount of boiling water (about one-third of the capacity of the teapot or teacup), cover it, and let it steep for 2 to 3 minutes. After the tea leaves have unfurled and the tea essence has been extracted, add more boiling water until the teacup or teapot is eight-tenths full. Drink it while it is hot (the tea temperature should be appropriate and not too hot). After drinking the first infusion of tea, if you still want to continue drinking, do not finish all the tea. It is advisable to leave one-fifth of the tea in the cup or pot, and then add boiling water before drinking again. In this way, with one serving of tea leaves, you can generally make 2 to 3 infusions of tea by pouring and drinking as you go.