Tea can be brewed in a variety of ways.
If you’re looking for a method to brew a very consistent cup of tea, then you could try the ISO 3103 international guidelines for brewing a cup of tea.
While I don’t personally use this method, I do recognize that it’s important to have standards in place, and I appreciate the work done by the International Organization for Standardization.
To brew a consistent cup of tea, the ISO 3103 guidelines recommend the following standards:
- The pot should be white porcelain or glazed earthenware and have a partly serrated edge.
It should have a lid that fits loosely inside the pot. - If a large pot is used, it should hold a maximum of 310 ml (±8 ml) and must weigh 200 g (±10 g).
- If a small pot is used, it should hold a maximum of 150 ml (±4 ml) and must weigh 118 g (±10 g).
- 2 grams of tea (measured to ±2% accuracy) per 100 ml boiling water is placed into the pot.
- Freshly boiling water is poured into the pot to within 4–6 mm of the brim.
Allow 20 seconds for water to cool. - The water should be similar to the drinking water where the tea will be consumed.
- Brewing time is six minutes.
- The brewed tea is then poured into a white porcelain or glazed earthenware bowl.
- If a large bowl is used, it must have a capacity of 380 ml and weigh 200 g (±20 g).
- If a small bowl is used, it must have a capacity of 200 ml and weigh 105 g (±20 g).
- If the test involves milk, then it is added to the bowl before pouring the infused tea into it, unless that is contrary to the organization’s normal practice.
- If milk is added after the pouring of tea, the standard notes that best results are obtained when the liquid is between 65 and 80 °C.
- 5 ml of milk for the large bowl, or 2.5 ml for the small bowl, is used.
This list of standards was found on Wikipedia.
