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Friday, January 14, 2011

Tea Tips



Do you have any of these cute little tea balls and spoons?

Tea Tip #1:
When making loose leaf tea the tea needs room to expand
to allow the full flavor to shine.
Have you noticed when you use one of these balls or spoons
how the tea is compressed into it after steeping?
It doesn't have the room to expand.

There are better ways to make loose leaf tea.
1. You could put it into the teapot loose, then strain it when you have the flavor you want.
Friends that make it this way often love to make their tea in glass teapots because
they say they can see the tea leaves "dance".
2. Find basket accessories that fit into the teapot opening or into the cup.
3. There are also throw away paper tea filters.
4. Use your teaballs and spoons for Christmas tree decorations.
I have a friend that collects them just for this purpose.

Tea Tip #2:  Spent tea is very good also for your garden or houseplants.

Let's make the best tea today and let it shine in your cup!
www.marmaladys.com has tea accessories such as I have suggested above.
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12 comments:

  1. Marisa @ Getting Back To BasicsJanuary 14, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    Hi Marilyn,
    Thanks for the tips. I usually use a tea ball but I am never sure if I am wasting tea as there always seems to be so much tea leaves packed into the ball...even when I cut back on the amount of tea it's still packed in there tight. I have seen little strainers that would fit over the cup so maybe I will pick one up and try making it loose in the pot.

    I do use old tea for my plants and I also put left over Green tea or other favored teas, tealeaves and all, in the fridge to throw onto the blender later when making smoothies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Angela McRaeJanuary 14, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    I do have some of those infusers, which I tend to buy as "cute collectibles" more than as useful tea accessories. Like you, I want my tea to have room to expand! "Tea needs to swim," I once read (not sure where!).

    ReplyDelete
  3. parTea ladyJanuary 14, 2011 at 11:57 AM

    I don't use the tea balls or spoons. I do use a large basket filter. The used tea leaves are great to put around rose bushes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AdrienneJanuary 14, 2011 at 1:13 PM

    Thanks for the information - you've been a big help over the past days. I appreciate you letting me email my questions to you. The tea 'ball' I bought the other day is about three to three-and-a-half inches across, mesh and open in the middle. Wondering if there's enough room to let the tea dance. Maybe it will work until I get my 'order' from Marmalady's next time we meet.
    ~Adrienne~

    ReplyDelete
  5. tea time and rosesJanuary 14, 2011 at 3:20 PM

    Hello Marilyn,

    Thank you so much for the tea tips!:o) I know of a few plant lovers who use tea leaves around their roses!

    Enjoy a lovely weekend dear friend.

    Smiles♥

    Beverly

    ReplyDelete
  6. Linda JenningsJanuary 14, 2011 at 8:18 PM

    I made a large quantity of tea for a church tea last spring. My husband put the tea leaves on our roses and he commented just the other day "our roses were better this year than ever before!" I have a variety of tea balls I purchased years ago when I didn't know better. Now they are just collectibles.

    ReplyDelete
  7. koraleeJanuary 14, 2011 at 9:09 PM

    Great tips...here I am sipping my cup of night tea...what would we do without tea!!!

    Happy weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. StephJanuary 15, 2011 at 7:28 PM

    GREAT suggestions!

    ReplyDelete
  9. JeanieJanuary 16, 2011 at 6:59 AM

    First of all, I had no idea about putting tea on the plants.

    Second, I DO have those balls and spoons, but mostly I use my strainer that fits in the top of my pot when I do loose tea. It's just easier. But I didn't realize that the best reason was because of expanding tea! Who knew? You knew!

    Someone gave me some filters for Christmas. Haven't tried them yet (though one of our coffee shops uses them and they seem fine.)

    My verification code is "iseen." I seen the light!

    ReplyDelete
  10. CathyJanuary 16, 2011 at 9:25 AM

    I like the little ritual of straining the tea as it is being poured into a cup. A glass tea pot is a wonderful idea and so is using little tea balls as Christmas ornaments.

    Hope you are enjoying your weekend, Marilyn.

    ReplyDelete
  11. TracyJanuary 17, 2011 at 4:48 AM

    Pretty & practical... wonderful post, Marilyn! And I really like the idea of using tea equipment as Christmas tree decor! And I'm intrigued by the tea for plants--brilliant! Happy Day ((HUGS))

    ReplyDelete
  12. somepinkflowersJanuary 17, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    NOTHING
    is better than properly brewed Tea
    unless

    it is APPLES!

    :-)

    {{ loving your Tea Tips over here
    where the rain
    FINALLY
    pours down
    and
    i
    could not be happier!

    {{ unless Florida turns into Australia

    yikkeee! }}

    ReplyDelete

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