Gourmet tea can be expensive. On top of that, it can be hard to determine exactly what makes a tea gourmet. The term gets tossed around so much that it can become confusing. One of the easiest ways to enjoy gourmet teas is to make it at home. Creating your own gourmet infusions at home is much easier than it sounds. Here are a couple great tips to help you with this.
Start With Good Gourmet Tea Base
The most important part of making a gourmet tea infusion at home is going to be using the right tea base. You can tea bags, but using tea leaves will be much easier. You don’t need to spend a ton of money to get a good quality tea. Go with brands tea brands you already trust. If your local grocery store doesn’t have anything you’re interested in, try to find a specialty tea shop that sells loose tea. Even gourmet tea can be affordable if you are willing to buy it loose. It’s less packaging for the company, which means a lower cost for you.
Choose Your Infusion
Adding small amounts of flavor to your tea can make it much more enjoyable. You can find fruit extracts to use as flavoring at any grocery store. If you want something more exotic, you can order it online. If you’re using black tea you will have plenty of options for flavoring. Dark fruits like blueberry and raspberry pair well with this. Green tea is delicate enough to add citrus flavors. If you can’t find extracts in the flavors you want, consider using frozen fruit. You can toss frozen fruit in a blender in small amounts, and add a small amount to your tea after it brews. This will give the gourmet tea a completely different flavor, and often eliminates the need for sugar or other sweeteners.
Brewing the Tea
With loose leaf tea you will want to add the leaves to the tea pot, and pour hot water over them. Allow them to steep for a few minutes, depending on the type of tea you use. Be sure you use a good quality water. If you live in an area where the tap water is heavily treated the flavor of the tea may be off. You may be better off purchasing bottled spring water to use for your gourmet tea. For tea bags, add the water to the pot first and then drop the bag in. If you are using an extract for the flavor you can add a drop or two as the tea is brewing in the pot. For a frozen fruit mix, add less than a teaspoon of this to the bottom of the cup you plan on pouring the tea in. Pour the brewed tea in to the cup and allow it to sit for about a minute. The hot water will help break down the fruit even more, making it easier to stir in to the tea. You don’t want to over stir the tea. This will just make it cool down faster. Once the gourmet tea is cool enough to drink, simply sip and enjoy!
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