To ask you how you make tea taste good?

[VeronicaM27]

Every now and then I make a cup of tea and it tastes like pure magic. The problem is 99 times out 100 it tastes like soggy cardboard.

I put the teabag in the cup with 2 sugars, pour in the boiling water, leave for 2-3 minutes, take out and then add a splash of milk. I have no idea what I do differently that one magic time but it’s so annoying when I crave a nice cup of tea and it ends up tasting like the aforementioned cardboard.

So what am I doing wrong? How to you get the perfect cup of tea every time?

Tea has to be made in a pot. One tea bag makes two mugs but it has to be left long enough to brew properly, at least 5 minutes but preferably 10 or more. In a mug the teabag has to be removed after about 3 minutes otherwise it's too strong but this isn't long enough to get the full flavour. I drink loads of pot made tea, I'm perfectly happy with cheap supermarket own brand but I hate tea made in a mug.

The basic issue is I think where your water comes from! I've rarely had a decent cup of tea in London or Thames valley and yet it tastes 10 times better in Yorkshire or north west

Don’t agree at all about making it in a pot, that is pointless faff. The correct choice of mug, however, is vital - too big and the tea goes cold too quickly. Too small and it’s not a satisfying cup of tea. Has to be somewhere in between - always white. China is good but sometimes any old cheap white mug provides surprisingly good tea drinking capabilities.

Ditch the sugar. Disagree about having tea too strong as well, it’s just bitter that way. I like a decent amount of milk too, I know that’s controversial.

And don’t go anywhere near Earl Grey or the fancy perfumed wanky choices. Yorkshire Tea is it.

Eliminate the sugar.

Make your tea in a teapot. One teabag will make about 2.5 mugs if you use a typical Brown Betty pot.

Put in teabag. Pour freshly boiled water into the pot. Time it 2-3 minutes.

Pour tea into mug. Add milk.

Pour the rest into an insulated cup for later. Add milk.

2 sugars wouldnt be my idea of a tasty brew

For me it would be:
Good quality loose leaf. Not crappy Yorkshire tea type stuff, proper good stuff. I like orange pekoe.
Make it in a teapot. Brew with fresh water, 3-4 mins
A little milk (not too much)

I'm coming back to this for a read in a bit

Im glad you posted because I actually considered creating a thread like this before when I found a 'how to make the best cup of tea' thread didn't exist
But I couldn't handle being told mine wasn't the best way haha. I am interested to read others

Fill the kettle and boil. Teabag (Scottish Blend) and sugar (1 or 2) into a CLEAN mug. Boiling water from the kettle as soon as it stops (splashing out of the kettle as you pour be careful). Squish to the side of the mug and stir 12 times (I don't know why I do this) with the spoon scraping the bottom to you reach the sugar. Pour in milk. Leave for 3 mins. Squeeze teabag again and drag out the mug. Stir again 4 times

I’m in Scotland so I don’t think it’s the water although I have tried it with filtered water from the fridge but that didn’t make a difference.

Looks like I’ll need to invest in a teapot
and a china cup!

It's just that I know I can make an amazing cup of tea with the cup/kettle/water I have. I’ve done it before. I just don’t know how I did it 🤔

How to make tea taste good is easy:

1. Pour tea down the sink
2. Rinse cup/mug
3. Refill cup/mug with coffee
4. Drink

While I like the idea of loose tea in a teapot, it would still have the hard water floaty scum issue. Too many decisions....

Totally agree!
When people leave the teabag stewing it tastes horrible and burnt.
I can't believe most people make it that way and like it! 😵‍💫

Get someone else to make it! When DH/friends/colleagues make me tea it always tastes better. And I have been told I make a nice tea so not down to my lack of tea making skills...just everything is better when you don't have to do it yourself.

Oh I hate it when other people make me tea.

I’d rather make it myself, even round other people’s houses as I hate weak tea and that’s what people seem to make by default.

I think some of when a tea tastes amazing is actually psychological. So sometimes it’s just best, in the way that sometimes a first sip of beer or wine is nicer than on other day. Or why sometimes music sounds better and fuller, or TV is funnier. Sometimes you get those days when everything feels easy and other where it’s all hard. Even tho you’re still just doing the same things you normally do. It’s the same as that but tea based.

I think the mug that you use makes a difference

I leave to brew for at least 3 minutes and always add the sugar after. No idea why, but I do make a good cup of tea though if I do say so myself.

Try loose leaf tea, freshly boiled (filtered if possible) water. Use a tea pot and strainer. I stir, leave the tea to sit for five minutes, stir, then sit a minute more before pouring. It's old school but it works.

Put in milk then the sugar.

I use Yorkshire tea or Glengettie a Welsh loose leaf tea. I think the recent changes to tea bags have inhibited the flavour.

Clipper tea. Boiling water, leave to brew, take tea bag out, add milk after.

Never ever put milk in before tea and don’t remove Bag until colour of tea is achieved. Squeeze bag always

Make sure the water is heated to exactly 70c by boiling the kettle and using a thermometer once it's cooled a little
Make sure you have a good brand of tea, Yorkshire tea or PG tips both great choices
Seep the tea bag for exactly 3 minutes and 10 seconds
Add 1-2 sugar cubes
Stir until dissolved
Add 185mls of milk
Stir again
Then throw it down the sink and have a coffee

I find tea starts to lose its taste after the packet is opened. If I have a forgotten box in the cupboard for months, it goes bland and a bit strange. Perhaps that's the problem. Air tight containers and using it quickly helps.
If the tea is fresh and the water is hot and milk added after brewing, it'll normally taste good.

The inside of the cup must be white.

No sugar, leave teabag for 3 mins, DON'T squeeze the teabag, it releases tannins that can make it taste bitter. Dash of milk and enjoy!

brew properly, at least 5 minutes but preferably 10 or more

But then it would be cold. Tea should be drank within five minutes of the kettle boiling, preferably within three.

Agree with fresh water and biscuit rather than sugar to accompany it. Type of cup also matters.

I want a teasmaid (made?). Why aren't they a thing any more? Closest I've found (I'm in France) is a tea kettle that you can program, but at just shy of 200€ I think I'll make do with DH bringing me tea through the day.

The right mug, cheap white IKEA stacking mugs or white inside pottery ones which don't seem to be made any more. China or standard white mugs are no good for tea.
Not in a pot, I always end up with scum in a pot.
Filtered water (hard water area) and not an old filter, it is always better tea when the filter is new.
Very important - fresh water in the kettle and CLEAN the kettle because limescale will seriously ruin a mug of tea.
Use good teabags or a metal infuser with loose tea, not silicone. I always go back to Yorkshire Gold as nothing else has the flavour although it can be a bit bitter. Also Barrys but it's not as good as it used to be.
Cheap tea is full of dust which settles on the top along with the hard water scum.
Tea tastes unpleasant after eating nuts or (inadvertently) raw onions and after using toothpaste or eating mint flavoured food or taking Colpermin which makes everything taste weird anyway. Take note of what you have eaten prior to a foul cup of tea.
A really good cup of tea is something to relish and can rarely be replicated.