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THE 3 T’s OF TEA TASTING: Temperature, Time, and Teapot
Drinking chai is such a tranquilizing and habitual routine of our day that we often forget to enjoy it! A common by-product of our urban hectic lifestyle is that we operate on auto-pilot and aren’t truly in touch with our surroundings, especially when drinking tea.
In this guide, we are going to explore how to get the most out of a good cup of tea. There are numerous flavor notes and profiles, and this list goes on. For everyday drinking, there is no need for all the fuss, but what we’re about to tell you might become a new hobby.
GUIDE TO TEA TASTING
Tea tasting sounds like a pretty simple thing to do, right? Boil the water, dip the tea bag, and drink it. Isn’t it? Well, you’re just going about it wrong doing it like a regular person. Proper tea tasting is all about training your senses to learn more and more with each sip.
THE REQUIREMENTS:
To set up this tea tasting experiment, you will require some equipment. Don’t worry, it's nothing fancy! Just a pan to boil water in, a timer, a thermometer, a cup, a paper, and a pen, and your pick from Samaara’s delectable range of teas. That is all! Remember to write down everything you feel. Bitter, sweet, weak, or kadak. Be creative - its your own taste after all. Let’s take the plunge and learn about the art of tea tasting.
1. Temperature
The temperature you boil the water at is important. To brew the perfect cup, a higher temperature is imperative as it draws out the nutrients quicker than cold water. For the strong-flavoured kadak masala chai, you can boil the water at 100°C for about 3-5 minutes, and for the slimming green tea, the optimum temperature is 80°C for a moderately short brewing time of 2-3 minutes.
2. Tea-infused water
Next, we look at the color of the concoction, or the tea-infused water. A good cup of tea will take on a brown-orangish color (assuming you brew black tea), and a golden, clear color (for green tea). Make a note of and describe the color and go beyond the “brown” and the “golden”. Try different shades like amber, honey, mustard, or saffron. It is also known as liquor as per tea tasting terminology.
3. Aroma
Unusually, the most important part of tea tasting is the aroma. Shocking, right? Who knew! Our taste is largely influenced by smell, and the aroma informs the brain about what we are drinking before we even take a sip. Take the time to smell the chai properly and note down what you feel. Answer some questions along the way to make it more memorable: What does it remind you of? How many aromas can you identify? Does it remind you of a memory? Smell is closely linked to memory, so let it bring objects or places from the past.
4. Taste!
Getting to the part we have been waiting for, try sipping the tea at different intervals to understand the taste better.
- Let the tea cool down for a minute and take a sip. Note down the first thing that comes to your mind and do not hesitate to write down that it was too hot!
- Next up, take a sip after three minutes. At this point, the flavors really start coming out so this is surely going to be a delicious sip. But don’t drink the whole cup, we still have a little bit to go.
- Lastly, sip and note down the differences after seven minutes. We know the chai will have become colder by this point, but this is what the experiment demands! Does the tea taste stronger? Does it taste bitter? Is it any better? Make a note!
CONCLUSION
Take this moment to pause and check your notes, the tea tasting experiment is over! Taking the time to really enjoy and admire this art of tea tasting is sorely needed in our hectic lives. Of course you do not have to pretend you’re a professional tea taster every time you sip a hot cup, but it is fun to take a shot at it.
Jump over to our website and check out the kadak Chai and flavorful range of teas.
