Looking for a method for brewing a single cup of tea

Ok gents, I need some advice here. When I want want to brew just a single cup of tea, is it 'ok' to just put some loose tea leaves straight in the cup, add water and just leave the leaves in there until I have finished my cup?

This is my current method and I use just enough tea leaves so that they sort of 'steep out' after a couple of minutes and the tea does not become too strong. In other words, I just gauge the right amount of tea I need per cup.

Is this a correct method for brewing a cup of tea? I rather not use one of those balls or spoons where you can put in tea leaves. This because I'm afraid that the leaves won't unfold themselves in such a narrow space.

Any advice is appreciated.

I've done this before with green teas with limited success. Usually by the end of the cup the tea was harsh and oversteeped. I've had better chances doing this with white teas. Keep in mind though, there are mug infusers that are essentially a perforated steel cup that will sit inside your mug. They have enough space for the leaves to unfurl, and the tea is fully steeped, all you have to do is pull the infuser out of your mug and enjoy the tea.

Heck, I just call them tea balls:



Available at supermarkets and drugstores. Not hard to find at all.

Another option is the T-Sac. A disposable paper filter. Kind of like making your own tea bags.

Grandpa style

I prefer using a gaiwan so I can use the lid as a filter for the leaf, just sip through the space between the bowl and the lid and top up as required. It's handy when I'm in a rush and I can carry the tea around and sip it as it brews, I tend to go for cooler water than usual to prevent over steeping and the bigger the leaf the easier. I find large leaf green tea the best for this method but I've not spent much time experimenting with other, I'm sure with a bit of trial and error you'd get a decent tasting cuppa.

I use a mug infuser. Very fond of it.

WAY better than the ball:



It allows the leaves to expand freely (seriously, when I infuse oolongs, it fills the basket), and the size allows you to make from one cup to a kettle. I have one for home and one for school.

Like a couple have suggested above, this will work provided you use the right kind of tea.

A lot of Chinese people drink their daily cups in the office like this, not so much from a cup but something taller, like a glass, and they use the same leaves for multiple infusings.

A taller cup helps because the leaves do expand and it's easier to drink if they have space to sink down to the bottom.

I used to think that this notion was crazy, but I now use teapots that are smaller than your cup.

cybrok said:

WAY better than the ball:

It allows the leaves to expand freely (seriously, when I infuse oolongs, it fills the basket), and the size allows you to make from one cup to a kettle. I have one for home and one for school.

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A picture's nice, but what are these things called?

Rorschuck said:

A picture's nice, but what are these things called?

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A tea strainer. Get them at any Asian market.

Gamila Tea Stick....

The nicest single-cup method is to have a small teapot such as the 9-oz sold for five bucks by Fantes. Put in a teaspoon of good tea and a bit more than a teacupful of water for the first cup, and then for each subsequent cup (probably 2 for a black or oolong, 3 for a green, and 3 or 4 for white) use just a teacup full.

ouch said:

I used to think that this notion was crazy, but I now use teapots that are smaller than your cup.

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I still think that that notion is crazy.

Rorschuck said:

A picture's nice, but what are these things called?

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http://www.healthycup.com/tea_ware.html

Here they call it "infusers".

I got mine in a tea house, they all should keep them.

sehrgut said:

The nicest single-cup method is to have a small teapot such as the 9-oz

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9-oz?

That's twice the size of what I now consider to be a "large" pot.

I use this thing you put the leaves and water in. When its done brewing, you put it over a cup and it drains out all of the water. I like it because it gives the tea complete room to expand.

This isn't the one I have, but its similar:

http://www.specialteas.com/Tea-Preparation/Smart-Tea-Maker-18-oz.html

ouch said:

9-oz? That's twice the size of what I now consider to be a "large" pot.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bite me, Yixing boy!

Actually, I just picked up my first Yixing teapot a week or so ago, but haven't tried it yet. I haven't even gotten around to seasoning it.

sehrgut said:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bite me, Yixing boy!

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You're new, so put it this way-

If you said that to Mrs. Ouch, there are a thousand members who can tell you what her response would be.

sehrgut said:

Actually, I just picked up my first Yixing teapot a week or so ago, but haven't tried it yet. I haven't even gotten around to seasoning it.

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Seasoning it is really nothing- just keep using it. Boiling it out prior to first use is a very good idea to rid it of any nastiness it may have picked up along the way.

ouch said:

I used to think that this notion was crazy, but I now use teapots that are smaller than your cup.

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I'm solidly in this camp as well - especially for pu'erh.

ouch said:

Seasoning it is really nothing- just keep using it. Boiling it out prior to first use is a very good idea to rid it of any nastiness it may have picked up along the way.

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When you say "boiling it out" do yo mean putting the entire pot into a larger pot and boiling it? If so, for how long?

As for how I brew my tea, I use a lidded mug with a strainer at the office (keeping another mug handy as a drip-catcher. At home, I use a gaiwan.

With any strainer-type contraption, you need one that allows the tea to expand fully - the little balls aren't that great - if you do go this route, get a decent sized one.

When making tea with loose leaf tea you should always use a teapot, even if it's only for one cup, whatever's left you throw away. The reason being that the water must be at boiling point when it hits the leaves, that's why these metal ball efforts are always inferior to teapot tea as it knocks the boiling point straight off and does not allow the tea to infuse properly.