Ball-Shaped Strainer

Author: About.com
Original Source: Tea Strainers

These are the most common and popular way to use loose tea. They come in different shapes and styles, but they are typically a perforated metal ball that you fill with tea. Let the ball steep in your hot water, and then you pull it out. The most basic ones are a wire mesh ball on a short chain. Tea balls are usually used for single-cup brewing, but you can get larger ones for a whole pot.

Tea Strainers

Author: Wikipedia
Original Source: Tea Strainers

A strainer is a device that is placed over a cup and catches particles is poured through it.

Example: When tea is brewed the traditional manner in a teapot, the leaves are not contained in teabags. This means they are freely suspended in the liquid. As the leaves themselves may be distasteful, it is usual to filter them out with a tea strainer.

Strainers usually fit into the top of the cup and hold the leaves as the tea is poured through them, when you brew in a pot. Tea strainers of this kind are usually either sterling silver or china. Most strainers come in a set, with the strainer part and a small saucer for it to sit in between cups.

Not many tea strainers are used today because of the teabag launched in 1953 by Tetley tea.

'Cuppa Tay' - A Perfect Irish Cup of Tea

Author: Pat Friend
Original Source: "Cuppa Tay" - Cup of Tea

It is possible to purchase loose tea and make your own Irish tea blends. Irish Breakfast blends tend to be stronger than Irish Afternoon blends which have a more mellow flavor.

An Irish Breakfast Blend might consist of:

• 3 parts Assam tea
• 1 part Ceylon tea

An Irish Afternoon Blend would be softer with:

• 2 parts Darjeeling tea
• 1 part Assam tea
• 1 part Ceylon tea
• 1 part Keemun tea

Once you've blended or selected your tea or tea bags (whether they be Barry's, Bewley's, Lyons' or another), here's how to make the perfect "Cuppa":

Boil a kettle of water freshly drawn from the tap.

• Warm a porcelain or pottery teapot with some of the boiled water then empty the pot.
• Add one teaspoon of loose tea, or one teabag, for each cup of tea, plus "one for the pot."
• Pour the freshly boiled water on top of the tea.
• If using loose tea, stir gently.
• All the tea to steep for 3 to 5 minutes, keeping the pot warm with a tea cozy or towel.

If you have used loose tea, you will need to use a tea strainer as you pour it.

Serve the tea with milk, not cream, pouring the milk into the cup before the tea. Add sugar to taste.

Iced Tea

Author: Arbor Teas
Original Source: Traditions

According to the USDA, Americans consume more than 2.2 billion gallons of tea per year, about 80 percent (around 1.75 billion gallons) of which is iced. That's an average of nearly 6.5 gallons of iced tea per person! Iced "sweet tea" has been consumed in the south for a hundred years or more, but with the rise of fast food restaurants (nearly all of which sell iced tea), America has watched its tea consumption double in the past 30 years.