Keep Calm

When Salman Khan himself is persuading people to go forth and enjoy the taste and benefits of green tea, why should the rest of us stay behind? Here is a quick guide to preparing your perfect cup of green tea.

Although both green and black tea stem from the same plant (camellia sinensis), green tea is a bit delicate than the usual black tea that we normally drink. Hence, instead of boiling and boiling the tea for a more “kadak” chai, green tea requires more delicate handling, in order to preserve its taste and aroma.

How to brew green tea

Water: Instead of letting the water boil for the tea, it is better to use the water when it has just reached that loud, steamy point a minute or two prior to boiling. If you ended up boiling the water, then allow it to cool for 2 to 3 minutes to reach the perfect temperature before introducing the tea to the water. (The recommended temperature for most green teas is between 160-190°F (70-88°C), but I don’t think a lot of us will bother with a thermometer in hand to make tea).

Tea: The easiest available form of green tea in India is of course tea bags. But if you can lay your hands on loose leaf green tea, even better. Loose leaf tea would have a richer flavour, so try that if you can.

Time: Usually green teas require no more than 3 minutes to develop full flavour. It is lesser for the Japanese green tea ~ about 2 minutes. Try and see what works best for your brand/type of green tea.

Usually no sweetener is added to the tea, and it is best enjoyed as is. In that aspect, it is quite similar to Darjeeling tea. One of my room mates was from Darjeeling, and she would hate it if anyone else prepared her cup of tea – she would know exactly when the water is hot enough, how much time the tea should infuse – a second here or there, and she would get irritated and grumble! And of course, no sugar. Green tea is much the same in its method of preparation.

If you find your green tea is too bitter, then you either used water that was too hot for brewing the tea or seeped the tea leaves for too long.

Try it out if you haven’t already.

PS. Have you heard of green tea KitKat?!