I got some un-bagged tea, I guess. It's Ceylon tea, and I used a teapot to brew it. So, right now, I'm trying to get experience with teapots and using tea without bags. I'll need to read how to use teapots, since I've actually just been brewing it with just regular water in a pot. Personally, the pot works just fine, but there might be a reason to use a teapot. Probably because a teapot has the ability to keep warm and its similar design makes it easy to use a teapot cozy.
Does anyone have multiple amounts of tea? I got 500g for $7, so it'll last me a long time. I believe tea oxidizes in the air and loses its taste, so I'm wary of that.
So, in this journey, I'll learn how to use a teapot (in multiple ways probably), get a tea cozy, and probably get another teapot for myself. Also, I'll work on my tea brewing technique for loose teas. Finally, after getting another tea, or a sampler, possibly, I'll experiment with more teas.
In the tea I made, the Ceylon, I made it in a few different ways. First, I just winged it. Seriously. I just put the tea in the pot after looking into it a bit, even when the water wasn't even boiling, and just did it. The tea went through fine, but I forgot, or didn't know, the teapot had no strainer in it, so there were tea leaves. The next few batches, I managed to filter the tea and boil it at a consistent temperature instead of winging it. I boiled it lower than what I did for the first batch, which was a rolling boil, something I never do with black tea. Even though black tea calls for higher temperatures compared to something like green tea, I don't want a lot of bitterness, so I managed to get it to a regular boil for my last batch, and it turned out fine. My father actually tasted it too, and he said it was either too weak or just right. I consider that a great compliment, seeing as he said it was nearly right. I've been winging it with water and tea ratios as well. I fill up the teapot and put different amounts of tea each time. Last time, it was measured strictly by teaspoons, the measuring tool. Now, it's just a regular spoon.
From the method, onto the tea and how it was served. The first few batches were just hot teas, nothing special. I've experimented with making it a cold, or iced tea. First, I tried ice, milk and sugar to a hot tea. It sucked. It was watery. Then, I tried milk and sugar with a hot tea, which was actually great, and finally, I took the remainder of the tea, now co
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