Cooking with Tea

There are hundreds of things you can do with tea other than drink it, and we'll discover them all eventually, I'm sure, but one of the most basic is using tea to make rice! Rice is really healthy, and even though carbohydrates aren't popular right now, you need some to have a balanced diet, and this is a great, tasty way to get them.

Here is my own recipe for Jasmine Green Tea Rice:

Ingredients:
2 tsps Loose-Leaf Jasmine Green Tea
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cups water

Directions:
Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil
Let it cool for 3 minutes uncovered
Steep the 2 tsps of tea in the water (in an infuser if you don't want tea leaves in your rice)
Rinse the uncooked rice in a colander
When the tea is done, remove it (if you used an infuser)
Add the rice to the water (which is now tea)
Bring the mixture to a boil
Reduce to an active simmer (less active than boiling)
Stir often

When the water has been absorbed, your rice is done! It should take about 20 minutes. If it takes much longer, be done anyway! Pour off the extra water, fluff with a fork, and enjoy!

Be careful, because you can't use a steamer or rice cooker to get this effect. When water vaporizes into steam it doesn't take tea with it!

Decaf Anyone?

Tea offers lots of great benefits, including the steadier absorption of caffeine due to the presence of polyphenols in tea, which naturally reduce the caffeine intake your body is capable of. However, not everybody wants to be caffeinated, and certainly not all the time! A cup of tea before bed is an inviolable night-time ritual for many (myself included), and caffeine disrupts that.

Not to mention that many people complain about teas which have been processed and artificially decaffeinated. I think it may be that they taste processed and artificial!

What's a tea-drinker to do? Well, you do have options beyond chamomile, lemongrass, and rose hips.

80-90% of tea's caffeine is infused into tea during the first 30 seconds of steeping, while BBC News reported that "volunteers who drank tea that had been brewed for five minutes had blood antioxidant levels which were 60% higher than those who consumed a one-minute infusion." So you can easily ditch the first 30 seconds of that infusion if you don't want caffeine right then, or you can recycle tea leaves for a second or third cup (I find a fourth is usually pretty pointless).

If you have a late-night black tea craving, you could even make a first cup and save it 'til morning when you need that wake-up call!

And for five bonus summer points, put that extra first cup in the fridge overnight for a nice, cool, undiluted cup of iced tea the next day.

The Perfect Cup

How to begin a tea blog? How about with instructions for brewing the perfect cup of tea? This is a rewrite of an article I published online.

Drinking tea regularly is great for your physical and mental health, but many people don't like tea because it tastes weak or bitter. It doesn't have to. You can control your tea's strength depending on how you steep it to make the best and most flavorful cup with the tea you've got.

First Things First: Never use soap on any dishes you use in association with tea. Because tea is so delicate, the “flavor” of soap can taint your tea quite easily. Always rinse your tea dishes in scalding water to keep them sanitary.

Steeping Mechanism: Don't use paper tea bags! The biggest thing people dislike about tea is how it can taste dry - after you swallow your mouth puckers and dries out a little bit. That taste is the result of tannic acids, which are found in most vegetable products, especially paper. If you have a tea you love that only comes bagged, remove it from the bag and put it into an infuser with very fine holes or mesh. If your tea comes in silk bags, those don't have as much tannic acid, but are still not preferable compared to a glass or plastic infuser. Metal infusers will work, but some people notice a slight metallic taste in using them. If you don't mind dregs at the bottom of your cup, the best thing to do it brew your tea loose.

Steeping Time: The following are guidelines - trial and error can help you more than anything. Herbal, white and green teas should steep for 2-4 minutes. Black, pu-her, oolong and rooibos should steep for 3-5. Another telltale marker is when the color of the water ceases to increase in intensity. Tea can and should be steeped up to three or four separate times, and the best of those is almost always going to be the second steeping, when most of the tannic acids are gone, but the leaves are still strong.

Additives: The best way to enjoy tea is to add nothing to it. Take a sip and hold it on your tongue. Try to distinguish the different flavors. Is it sharp, earthy, sweet or smooth? If you find a tea is too bitter you may want to add sugar to it. If you find it weak, milk may be a better choice. Remember not to add milk to any tea with lemon or other citrus fruits, or the milk will curdle.

Making the Tea: Use one teaspoon of tea leaves for each cup of tea you plan to make. If this is the first cup you've made with these leaves, rinse your tea briefly in cold water to wash off the tannic acids. Bring water to a rapid boil and let it cool to just below boiling. Always pour the hot water over the tea, and never just stick your tea in the water. Let it steep for time appropriate to your type of tea. Remove the infuser after time has elapsed, drain it, and drink up!

Enjoy!