topic Re: Loose Leaf Tea? in Recipes

Loose Leaf Tea?

kitty4me — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:13:28 GMT

I have a question for those that use loose leaf tea. I bought some Irish Breakfast Organic Tea and I want to 2 Quarts of Iced Tea. How many Teaspoons would you use? I'm using a Iced Tea Maker. Also do you rinse your Tea before using?

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

Dogaholic — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:34:19 GMT

I never rinse my tea leaves! I have no idea what an Ice Tea maker is but it should have directions that came with it giving you amounts.How much you use depends on how strong you like your tea.I suggest you Google your question.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

kitty4me — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 04:41:32 GMT

On 4/6/2015 codywhitney said:
I never rinse my tea leaves! I have no idea what an Ice Tea maker is but it should have directions that came with it giving you amounts.How much you use depends on how strong you like your tea.I suggest you Google your question.

Here is a link to my Iced Tea Maker codywhitney.
http://westbend.com/iced-tea-maker.html

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

WSfan — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 05:01:29 GMT

I would think that if you rinse your tea leaves, you would lose some of the flavor. I use loose tea leaves on occasion, and never rinse them. As far as iced tea, as the above poster stated, it all depends on your personal taste. I would be a little generous with the loose tea when making iced tea, because cold mutes the flavor of all foods. You will probably have to experiment until you feel that you have the correct amount for your liking.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

kitty4me — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 05:38:59 GMT

On 4/6/2015 WSfan said:
I would think that if you rinse your tea leaves, you would lose some of the flavor. I use loose tea leaves on occasion, and never rinse them. As far as iced tea, as the above poster stated, it all depends on your personal taste. I would be a little generous with the loose tea when making iced tea, because cold mutes the flavor of all foods. You will probably have to experiment until you feel that you have the correct amount for your liking.

Thanks WSfan.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

sfnative — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 06:51:55 GMT

I make iced tea all the time in my Hobbs tea maker. The caraffe holds one quart, so I place 2.5 teaspoons into the infuser. Note: This is to my taste, plus the teaspoons are teaspoons that are part of my daily flatware, not measuring teaspoons.

Once the tea is brewed in my 1 qt caraffe, I get out my 2 qt pitcher, place 3 large scoops of ice in it and pour the hot tea over it. It's then placed in the frig, where the ice slowly melts and slightly dilutes the tea.

So, for you, I'd advise using 4 teaspoons of tea, depending on how strong you like it. (I tend to like my tea on the strong side.)

Good luck!

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

kitty4me — Tue, 07 Apr 2015 21:35:18 GMT

On 4/6/2015 sfnative said:
I make iced tea all the time in my Hobbs tea maker. The caraffe holds one quart, so I place 2.5 teaspoons into the infuser. Note: This is to my taste, plus the teaspoons are teaspoons that are part of my daily flatware, not measuring teaspoons.

Once the tea is brewed in my 1 qt caraffe, I get out my 2 qt pitcher, place 3 large scoops of ice in it and pour the hot tea over it. It's then placed in the frig, where the ice slowly melts and slightly dilutes the tea.

So, for you, I'd advise using 4 teaspoons of tea, depending on how strong you like it. (I tend to like my tea on the strong side.)

Good luck!

Thank you so much sfnative.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

NewerMexico — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 22:26:48 GMT

I use a Vermont 2.5 qt catamount (lab glass) set up so I cant help you there, but would like to tell you to add a pinch of baking soda to your finished brewed tea- stir well, makes all the difference in the world...

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

lolakimono — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 00:19:10 GMT

I use 1/4 of a cup when I make that quantity.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

TootyJane — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 02:32:57 GMT

On 4/6/2015 Katey1261 said:
On 4/6/2015 codywhitney said:
I never rinse my tea leaves! I have no idea what an Ice Tea maker is but it should have directions that came with it giving you amounts.How much you use depends on how strong you like your tea.I suggest you Google your question.

Here is a link to my Iced Tea Maker codywhitney.
http://westbend.com/iced-tea-maker.html

Katey1261, the instructions for making 2 quarts of iced tea using bags or loose tea is in the link you provided.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

Sooner — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 03:25:58 GMT

On 4/8/2015 lolakimono said:
I use 1/4 of a cup when I make that quantity.

That sounds more like it. When making regular hot tea, it is most often about 1 tsp. per 6-8 oz cup. Because ice will melt and dilute the tea, I'd use at least that much.

I don't think you should need baking soda unless you have certain water conditions. Also, don't steep the tea much longer than 5 min (if at all longer) because it will get bitter. And I'm talking about regular black tea here. Oolong, white and green are not steeped as long, and oolongs usually can be steeped more than once. But not most black teas.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

NewerMexico — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 04:12:46 GMT

On 4/8/2015 Sooner said:
On 4/8/2015 lolakimono said:
I use 1/4 of a cup when I make that quantity.

That sounds more like it. When making regular hot tea, it is most often about 1 tsp. per 6-8 oz cup. Because ice will melt and dilute the tea, I'd use at least that much.

I don't think you should need baking soda unless you have certain water conditions. Also, don't steep the tea much longer than 5 min (if at all longer) because it will get bitter. And I'm talking about regular black tea here. Oolong, white and green are not steeped as long, and oolongs usually can be steeped more than once. But not most black teas.

When I typed about baking soda usage is was not in reference to any water conditions, it was about your body/digestion, chemical reactions of brewed tea, etc...I apologize, I should have made myself clearer on what I was typing about.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

kitty4me — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 07:23:04 GMT

On 4/6/2015 Katey1261 said:
On 4/6/2015 codywhitney said:
I never rinse my tea leaves! I have no idea what an Ice Tea maker is but it should have directions that came with it giving you amounts.How much you use depends on how strong you like your tea.I suggest you Google your question.

Here is a link to my Iced Tea Maker codywhitney.
http://westbend.com/iced-tea-maker.html

It says 1-3 Tablespoons for 2 quarts. That isn't very much.

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

Sooner — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 13:44:06 GMT

On 4/9/2015 Katey1261 said:
On 4/6/2015 Katey1261 said:
On 4/6/2015 codywhitney said:
I never rinse my tea leaves! I have no idea what an Ice Tea maker is but it should have directions that came with it giving you amounts.How much you use depends on how strong you like your tea.I suggest you Google your question.

Here is a link to my Iced Tea Maker codywhitney.
http://westbend.com/iced-tea-maker.html

It says 1-3 Tablespoons for 2 quarts. That isn't very much.

Let's see: 2 cups is a pint; 2 pints is a quart; so that is 8 cups. Then 3 tsps is a tablespoon, so 3 tbsps is 9 teaspoons. That's about right for hot tea. . . 1 tsp (average) per 6 to 8 oz.

Somebody check my math (or lack thereof!).

Re: Loose Leaf Tea?

kitty4me — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 09:16:42 GMT

On 4/9/2015 Sooner said:
On 4/9/2015 Katey1261 said:
On 4/6/2015 Katey1261 said:
On 4/6/2015 codywhitney said:
I never rinse my tea leaves! I have no idea what an Ice Tea maker is but it should have directions that came with it giving you amounts.How much you use depends on how strong you like your tea.I suggest you Google your question.

Here is a link to my Iced Tea Maker codywhitney.
http://westbend.com/iced-tea-maker.html

It says 1-3 Tablespoons for 2 quarts. That isn't very much.

Let's see: 2 cups is a pint; 2 pints is a quart; so that is 8 cups. Then 3 tsps is a tablespoon, so 3 tbsps is 9 teaspoons. That's about right for hot tea. . . 1 tsp (average) per 6 to 8 oz.

Somebody check my math (or lack thereof!).

So I start with three tablespoons?