Well, right around the time I wrote my last post I lost my journalism job and, perhaps as a result, lost my desire to write. It's coming back slowly, so we will begin with...

Tips for Preparing and Serving Tea

First, start with good tea. This means no more tea bags, people! As we've already mentioned, the tea in teabags is the low-quality leftovers from processing. The best flavor, look, and scent comes from the fresh loose leaf varieties, and you're going to have to visit your local tea or coffee shop to find them. I will here mention that a couple varieties, such as Irish and English Breakfast, can be found loose at your local grocery store, but these teas are rarely fresh. Yes, tea does have a shelf life! While at the tea shop, ask the shopkeeper how long each variety has been in the store. If it's longer than a year, the tea is definitely not fresh and you should look elsewhere. (The exception to this is Pu-Erh, the only tea that, because of the way it is processed, actually becomes better with aging. However, true Pu-Erh is difficult to find in the United States.) Also, make sure that the shop stores its tea properly: in opaque containers - preferably glass, ceramic, or metal, not plastic - and away from direct sunlight. I will let the opaque container thing slide in some instances, but absolutely not the sunlight as it can cause the quality of the tea to break down very quickly. If you don't have a tea shop near you, below are links to several shops that I trust that will also ship nationwide.

The Random Tea Room (please call them directly to place an order)
The Tao of Tea

There are several methods of preparing loose leaf tea. The fastest, easiest, and, in my opinion, worst way is to dump the leaves directly into the cup and pour water over them. Why don't I like this method? Because it allows the leaves to oversteep, making the tea bitter. Besides, gulping down tea leaves isn't exactly on my list of "fun."

The next best method is to buy filter bags from your local tea shop and essentially make your own tea bags. Use approximately two teaspoons of leaves per bag and steep according to the variety of tea. Always, always remove the bag! You could also use a mesh or metal strainer or tea ball. My problem with these methods is that they don't allow enough room for the tea to unfurl and "breathe."

My personal favorite way to make tea is with an infuser cup. These are mugs that come with a removable glass or porcelain filter that you place the leaves into and use to strain the tea once it is finished steeping. The leaves have plenty of room to "breathe" and if you have a clear glass mug you can watch them unfurl. Primula offers some very nice teaware for this.

Steep your tea according to the times given in my previous post, or visit 2beasnob.com for a handy chart.

These same rules apply to herbal tisanes as well: use fresh herbs (organic whenever possible) and your choice of strainer. While with tea you should only use about two teaspoons of leaves, with herbals you can use almost twice as much. Steep for 10-15 minutes, covered to seal in essential oils and properties, then remove herbs.