Making the Perfect Cup

For perfect tea every time, simply follow these Twinings tips:

• Always use freshly drawn cold water.
• Ensure that kettles, teapots and mugs (preferably ceramic) are spotlessly clean.
• If you are using a teapot, make sure to warm the pot with hot water then pour it away.

Loose Tea

Prepare loose teas with ease. Place 1-2 teaspoons of loose tea into the tea strainer and place into cup. Boil water and carefully pour directly over top of the leaves. For Black, Oolong and Herbal teas, bring the tea pot to the kettle and pour the water onto the tea as soon as it boils. Let the tea stand and brew for 3-5 minutes and stir once before serving.

With lighter teas, such as Green and White teas, brew only for 1-2 minutes. Since boiling water can damage the leaves and cause the tea to taste bitter, use water that is just below the boiling point.

Enjoy the perfect brewed cup of tea with an easy use of strainers in your own home!

Teabags

Use one teabag per person, plus one for the tea pot.

For Black, Oolong and herbal teas, bring the tea pot to the kettle and pour the water onto the tea as soon as it boils. Let the tea stand and brew for 3-5 minutes and stir once before serving.

For Green teas, since boiling water can damage the leaves and cause the tea to taste bitter, use water that is just below the boiling point. Let the tea stand and brew for 1-2 minutes and stir once before serving.

Milk? Sugar? Lemon? Honey?

Adding milk and sugar is a matter of personal taste. People take their tea in all kinds of ways, and tea's broad variety of flavours and strengths can be customized to each person's palate.

Some believe sugar affects the taste of tea because it numbs the taste buds. Others like their tea sweetened. We have found that some of our blends take on additional flavor nuances with a bit of sugar added.

Honey is best used to sweeten when milk is not added. And many tea drinkers enjoy their tea with simply a slice of lemon. And while some teas do benefit from a little milk, others are best served without milk.

When milk is used, it should be placed in the cup before the tea. This allows the milk to cool the tea, rather than letting the tea heat the milk and possibly cause it to separate on the surface.

Best served with milk:

English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Prince of Wales, Irish Breakfast, Assam.

Best served without milk:

Lapsang Souchong, Jasmine, Traditional Gunpowder, Darjeeling, herbal infusions, fruit-flavored black teas.