Indroducing Suzan Magee

[smmagee]

Hi All:
We are new owners of a Tea Room in Greensboro, NC. What we don't know about tea could sink a ship... As the new owners of The Secret Tea Room seeing the bad reviews of the past owners food and tea service makes me ill. We are new to the tea trade, so to speak, and want to learn about the service of tea. We are a family of chefs but only 1 tea drinker. Translates to great food but not so great tea. Any help with the green tea's and steeping time as well as the vessel to steep in would be great. I know that it takes between 5 to 7 minutes to steep green tea, but the tea in porcelain doesn't stay hot. Should I invest in cast iron pots and does that effect the taste at all?
Thank you in advance. Cheers, Suzan

[Chip]

Hi Suzan and welcome to TeaChat. I hope to see you around the forum and encourage you to dive in there in order to find the answers you are looking for.

I will say this, most green tea takes 1-2 minutes if brewed Asian style (more leaf, shorter steeps, multiple steeps) or maybe 3-5 if brewed Western (less leaf, longer steeps, 1-2 steeps).

Check out the green forum of TeaChat!

[Mrs. Chip]

Welcome to TC Suzan! Enjoy our forum and best of luck with your new venture.

Take our mod's advice and check out the Green Tea forum of TeaChat!

[Victoria]

Welcome Susan!
So you will be brewing in the back and serving your guests, or will they be brewing at their table? If your tearoom is a classic English style - I would suggest insulated thermos style pitchers or pots. I would never brew any tea longer than 3 minutes, especially if brewing with boiling water. Longer brewing makes tea bitter, if you need more strength, add more tea.

[smmagee]

thanks for the advice.

[TwoPynts]

Welcome Susan and congrats/good luck with the Tea Room!

[nonc_ron]

Welcome and Congratulations!