Thés & Traditions
French tea house since 2016
A proper tea preparation takes on its full meaning when tasting, you should be able to smell all the aromas in your cup. For this, you need to equip yourself with the right tea accessories with quality products. What accessories for preparing tea do you need? Tea spoon, teapot, tea filters? What equipment should you buy for more specific preparations such as matcha tea or mate tea? Let's take a look.
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The tea spoon is a measuring instrument to get the right dose of tea for your cup, and some of these spoons allow for direct infusion in cups.
It can be made of bamboo, stainless steel, metal, porcelain, etc. It is generally recognizable by its long handle to make it easier for you to retrieve tea from its box or packaging. It's a measuring instrument like coffee spoons or tablespoons in cooking. Some spoons, also called handled tea balls, can be equipped with an infuser and resemble a completely closed pincer with holes. You take the tea directly from the box or its packaging for preparation and the infusion is done in your cup or mug as you wish.
Tea spoons generally correspond to 5 ml or 2 to 3 grams of tea. Tea spoons will be less precise than a scale, as they do not take into account the density of different teas such as black tea, white tea, rooibos, etc. You should count 2 g of tea for 100 to 150 ml of water. However, there are no strict rules and the tea dose depends on your preferences, particularly the intensity of flavors you want to have.
The teapot can be made from different materials such as cast iron, porcelain, stoneware, clay: the choice is vast. Teapots are often associated with a particular country. For example, we think of the silver teapot for Morocco, the cast iron teapot for Japan, the English tea service, etc. Let's focus on the electric teapot, the glass teapot, and the cast iron teapot.
The cast iron teapot originates from China, but it was the Japanese who developed it, it is also known as Tetsubin. When it is not enameled, it is used as a kettle and not for tea infusion. The cast iron teapot is the one you see in the Japanese tea ceremony, and it is adorned with various patterns. The purchase price of this teapot can be higher than others.
You can also choose a glass teapot to observe the water changing color, admire the shade of the tea leaves. It can include a filter or infuser made of glass or stainless steel. It is one of those memory-free teapots that allow you to infuse different types of teas.
Choosing an electric teapot for your tea time allows you to use it both as a teapot and as a kettle. The choice of capacity and size of the teapot depends on how you will use it and your preferences. Depending on the product you choose, you can select the program for water temperature, infusion time according to your wishes, etc.
A multitude of tea filters exist: small or large, made of wood, silicone, paper, stainless steel, in different shapes or colors, etc. Your choice will depend on the advantages and disadvantages of the filter material. For example, stainless steel is durable, but small pieces of tea leaves or rooibos grains can get stuck in the small holes. Silicone filters can darken over time and become impregnated after several infusions. Glass filters allow you to admire the infusion of your tea, but they break more easily than others. You can also choose disposable paper filters.
Matcha tea is a type of green tea that comes in powder form. It is prepared in a large bowl with wide edges, called a Chawan. The accessories for matcha tea are few, as you need a bowl, a whisk, and a spoon. According to the Japanese ritual, the traditional bamboo whisk is used to mix the green tea with hot water. It is recommended to use a specific matcha bowl, with a flat bottom and vertical walls. The higher the quality of the bowl, the more expensive it is. Finally, the bamboo matcha spoon will provide you with the precise dose for one bowl.
Two accessories for mate tea will be necessary to enjoy your drink in the proper way. It is recommended to use a gourd and a bombilla. The gourd is the traditional container for mate tea, it's a ball-shaped cup, resembling the squash of the same name. It can be made of artisanal wood, ceramic, leather, or metal, and possibly with a lid. The bombilla is a metal straw equipped with a filter. The infusion of mate leaves is done directly in the gourd, and the bombilla's filter prevents you from sucking them up.
To learn more, you can consult these articles:
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