Rejuvenation Cafe

 

 

When brewing tea, different plant parts required different brewing time. Black, green and oolong are leaves from the same plant. (Camellia Sinenis). Bring the water to a boil and then cool for a few minutes. You can steep a tea bag or a teaspoon of loose leaves into an infuser. Steep green or oolong for 1-3 minutes. When steeping black tea, use water that comes to a rolling boil. Steep black tea 3-5 minutes. Your tea will become bitter from the tannins if you steep it too long.

When making herbal tea, use a rounded teaspoon of dried leaves or flowers. Depending on how strong you want your brew, you can steep the herbs from 5-10 minutes. If you are using the bark, root, fruit and or stem of plant, we will have to use a stronger method of extraction; what we call a decoction. Here, instead of steeping, you simmer the bark, root or stem for 30 minutes. When using tea medicinally, you simmer the solution and reduce the liquid to 25%.  Stop and take time for a delicious, comforting cup of tea!!!

Blessings!

Mimi Lam

Written by Mimi Lam — February 15, 2016