Weak Cups of Black Tea

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.


Oct 24th, '10, 19:22
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Joined: Oct 23rd, '10, 09:39

Weak Cups of Black Tea

by SynthSky » Oct 24th, '10, 19:22

Hey people.

I'm new here, and to loose leaf tea. I ordered an IngenuiTea that came with four black tea samples.

All the cups I've made so far (one of each; Irish Breakfast, Fujian Baroque, Yunnan Jig, and Earl Grey Bravo) have seemed kind of weak. I've been adding two teaspoons of leaves (for 16 ounces of water) and steeping for about four minutes, with water that's barely below boiling point.

I'm sick, so my nose is kinda stuffy, and I know that I can't expect a refined sense of taste right away, but I know that black tea is supposed to be relatively strong. My tea just tastes like heated bottled water. It has color -usually a darkish brownish red, and maybe a little lighter depending on the tea- but not much flavor.

What could I be doing wrong? Should I give it some time, and expect a better sense of taste to come to me as I return to good health? Or should I try doing something differently?

Be nice. I'm new to the tea thing.

Thanks in advance. ^_^
Last edited by SynthSky on Oct 24th, '10, 20:17, edited 1 time in total.

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Oct 24th, '10, 19:54
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Re: Weak Cups of Black Tea

by Chip » Oct 24th, '10, 19:54

Hi and welcome!

You are using way too little leaf. Should be more like 1-2 teaspoons per 1 cup ... or 6 ounces since a teacup is 6 versus 8 ounces.

I am assuming you did mean to say 16 cups and not 16 ounces ... hmmm ...

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Oct 24th, '10, 20:09
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Re: Weak Cups of Black Tea

by geeber1 » Oct 24th, '10, 20:09

There is a 16 oz. Ingenuitea, so I think SynthSky is talking 16 oz. But you should still use more than 2 teaspoons, because as Chip says, in tea lingo, a cup is a 6 oz. teacup. So I would use close to 3 teaspoons, or 1 tablespoon of leaf to 16 oz. of water.

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Oct 24th, '10, 20:11
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Re: Weak Cups of Black Tea

by Chip » Oct 24th, '10, 20:11

geeber1 wrote:There is a 16 oz. Ingenuitea, so I think SynthSky is talking 16 oz. But you should still use more than 2 teaspoons, because as Chip says, in tea lingo, a cup is a 6 oz. teacup. So I would use close to 3 teaspoons, or 1 tablespoon of leaf to 16 oz. of water.
:lol: ummm, I thought they introduced the UberBigIngenuiTea. :lol:

Oct 24th, '10, 20:19
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Joined: Oct 23rd, '10, 09:39

Re: Weak Cups of Black Tea

by SynthSky » Oct 24th, '10, 20:19

Fixed.

Ounces, is what I meant. Unfortunately, I do not have an uberbigIngenuiTea.

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