Non-tea Teas for dummies

[Arzosah]

I've only just looked at this thread I'm a bit naff about non-breakfast tea, but I really like the sound of fermented rosebay willowherb, thank you!

I have herbal teas in for friends (aka to me as "the red stuff") the tea I currently serve them is some sort of berry. I've tried and tried to like herbal tea, but the only ones I drink nowadays of my own free will are an occasional mint and chamomile, which settle stomachs wonderfully.

[Arzosah]

How I did it: I took a bunch "tired" (couldn't find a english word for it) leaves at a time

The word you might be hunting for could be "wilted" - though, reading further on, that you crush them until they start to give out their liquid, I'm not sure.

Your meaning is plain though, and that translation is much appreciated.

[grenfell]

Yes I read that as wilted too although to be honest they seem so abundant it's no real loss to try the recipe with both wilted and fresh.

[nickdutch]

Don't forget that if you infuse at different temperatures you get a different chemical profile in the water. Thats why with proper green tea a cold infusion will yield a different flavour than a hot one. Using a temperature control kettle or just using a regular kettle and a £5 laser infra red thermometer you can work out your water temperature and dial that in just right for the flavour profile yo like.

How to make a cold infusion:

Take a clean jar with a lid. out tea in it, add filtered water (cold) then put in fridge overnight. In the morning strain the juice and drink. You can also sodastream a cold infused tea to make a fizzy drink.

[ForgeCorvus]

Don't forget that if you infuse at different temperatures you get a different chemical profile in the water.

This is why tea from a coffee shop tends to be carp
Tea (served the British way) needs boiling water but it has to be cooler for the evil bean.

[nickdutch]

Most good loose leaf teas can be brewed at 80C.
Whites are better at 70C.
Oolongs and greens can be good at 80C.
Black or PuEur, just south of boiling. (rinse PuEur before brewing)

Its a good recommendation to preheat the infusion vessel unless you are using the cold glass/ceramic to lower the water temperature prior to adding the leaves. The infrared thermometer is a brilliant piece of pedantic equipment to use, it's not essential, but makes it much more fun. Every time you infuse the tea differently different flavours come out.

Try the same tea for a 3 minute steep at 7-, then 80, then 90 then 100 and see what happens to the flavour. Then vary the steep to 2 min, 3 min, 4 min and again see how the flavour varies.

To win more pedantic points you can use the Chinese Gong Fu tea making set. It really adds a meditation to the experience.

A good website for fun teas is

http://www.nbtea.co.uk

[MissAnpassad]

Stumbled across this one while looking for herbal teas online and thought it might be interesting for those that don't want the trouble of fermenting just to try the tea out.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Russian-Willow-h ... 1859448652

[Decaff]

I've not yet found any herbal teas that have a strong flavour, most just taste too bland but then I like builders tea and the best for this is breakfast tea as it's nice and strong flavoured.