Tea for Two
A quick way to make tea is to measure one half teaspoonful of tea for each cup, or more according to the brand of tea used, into a tea ball. Put the tea ball into the cup and pour over freshly boiled water. Let stand for three minutes. Remove the tea ball, and serve with lemon and sugar, or cream.
A single-cup method from the era before tea bags were common. It works, with a few adjustments for modern cups and modern tea.
- Cup size has grownA teacup of the period held about 6 fluid ounces. Half a teaspoon of leaf in a modern 10- or 12-ounce mug will taste like hot water; use a rounded teaspoon per 8 ounces and scale from there.
- Fill the ball looselyThe instruction to measure into a tea ball assumes leaf has room to swell to several times its dry volume. A tightly packed ball extracts unevenly, which can give a weak cup that still tastes harsh.
- "Freshly boiled" is the operative phraseWater held at a boil or reboiled loses dissolved gas and gives a flat cup. Bring it up once and pour immediately. Full boiling suits black tea; green and white leaf want roughly 175-185F or they turn harsh.
- Three minutes is right for black teaKeep to it. Leaving the ball in while you drink is what makes tea astringent, which is why the recipe has you remove it before serving. Lift it out and set it on a saucer.
- Don't squeeze the ballPressing the leaf releases fine particles and extra tannin into the cup, undoing the timing.
- Lemon or cream, not bothThe original offers them as alternatives. Lemon juice will curdle dairy in a hot cup.
- Warm the cupA cold cup drops a small volume of water well below brewing temperature within seconds. Rinse it with hot water first, particularly in a china cup.
A single-cup method from a period when the tea ball -- a perforated metal sphere on a chain -- was a common domestic tool for brewing one cup without dirtying a pot or straining leaves. Paper tea bags existed by the early twentieth century but were still largely a commercial and restaurant item. The offer of lemon or cream, with no assumption about which, is usually read as American practice; lemon in tea is commonly associated with Russian tea service, though that account is traditional rather than documented.