Every once in a while I'll learn that I've been doing something completely wrong my whole life, completely unaware. Luckily, when I make such a surprising discovery, I usually learn what I did wrong. Thankfully, those instances get rarer and rarer as I age, but I guess that's what makes them more disorienting.

Case in point, I have never, ever made a cup of Jasmine tea correctly in my entire life. I've been in love with Jasmine tea ever since drinking it every day for breakfast during a trip to Thailand. With just a little cream and sugar it is a cup full of happiness.

When I returned from my trip, I was determined to continue my ritual. I purchased some mid-grade loose Jasmine tea and proceeded to make the world's most bitter, face-scrunching cup of tea. I purchased better leaves and got the same result. I tried giving the leaves an initial soak before letting them steep, just like what one would do for nicer green teas. Then I tried experimenting with water temperature. Then I resorted to covering the awful taste with loads of sugar.

Finally, I gave up, blaming American water for...uh...not agreeing with Jasmine Tea? Or something. I resigned myself to only having delicious tea during trips to the far east.

However, I had it in me to try to suffer through one more awful cup of tea. I decided to check the internet to see if there were any good ideas for iced Jasmine tea. At least, through the magic of the interweb, I learned what I was doing wrong: I hadn't removed the leaves after steeping for only five minutes. The leaves themselves will start leeching bitter oils if given enough time in hot water.

So, I made a batch and filtered out the leaves. Finally, I had my perfect cup back.

It's stupid, but at least I figured it out after four years of bad tea.

Labels: food, projects

posted by Alison 10/27/2009 08:21:00 PM : (0) comments : splink