Copyright - May not be
reproduced without permission from: Victoria
Rumble
Brewing Tea
Miss Leslie gave the following
instructions for brewing tea:
"In buying tea, it is best to get it by the box, of an importer, that you
may be sure of having it fresh, and unmixed with any that is old and of
inferior quality. The box should be kept in a very dry place. If green
tea is good, it will look green in the cup when poured out. Black tea
should be dark coloured and have a fragrant flowery smell. The best pots
for making tea are those of china. Metal and Wedgwood tea-pots by frequent
use will often communicate a disagreeable taste to the tea. This
disadvantage may be remedied in Wedgwood ware, by occasionally boiling the
tea-pots in a vessel of hot water.
In preparing to make tea, let the pot be twice scalded from the
tea-kettle, which must be boiling hard at the moment the water is poured
on the tea; otherwise it will be weak and insipid, even when a large
quantity is put in. The best way is to have a chafing dish, with a kettle
always boiling on it, in the room where the tea is made. It is a good
rule to allow two heaping teaspoons full of tea to a large cup-full of
water, or two teaspoons full for each grown person that is to drink tea,
and one spoonful extra. The pot being twice scalded, put in the tea, and
pour the water about ten minutes before you want to fill the cups, that it
may have time to draw or infuse. Have hot water in another pot, to weaken
the cups of those who like it so. That the second course of cups may be
as strong as the first, put some tea into a cup just before you sit down
to table, pour on it a very little boiling water, (just enough to cover
it), set a saucer over it to keep in the steam, and let it infuse till you
have filled all the first cups; then add it to that already in the
tea-pot, and pour in a little boiling water from the kettle. Except that
it is less convenient for a large family, a kettle on a chafing dish is
better than an urn, as the water may be kept longer boiling.
In making black tea, use a larger quantity than of green, as it is of a
much weaker nature. The best black teas in general use are pekoe and
pouchong; the best green teas are imperial, young hyson, and gunpowder."
Godey's Ladies Book gave the
following information on tea in 1863:
"As a test in general to distinguish genuine tea from the sloe-leaf, let
it be infused, and some of the largest leaves spread out to dry; when the
real tea-leaf will be found narrow in proportion to the length, and deeply
notched at the edges with a sharp point, whilst the sloe-leaf is notched
very slightly, is darker in color, rounder at the point, and of a coarser
texture.
Presuming all ladies to be intimately acquainted with the mode of making
tea, yet to some a few hints may be serviceable:
First, never make tea in any other than a highly polished teapot; for it
is a chemical fact that metal retains the heat longer than earthenware,
and the better it is polished the more completely will the liquid be kept
hot, and the essence of the tea be extracted.
Secondly, see that the water be really boiling, not simmering, as is too
commonly the case when taken from an urn, but kept either on the fire
until boiled, or in one of those metal tea-kettles warmed by a
spirit-lamp.
Tea retains its fine flavor better if kept in little tin canisters,
instead of a caddy. It is impossible to prevent the admission of air into
caddies; therefore it is better only to put a small quantity of tea into
them at a time.