Secret to making a perfect cup of tea

Stephen Twining talks to noodlies, Sydney food blog

Since 1706 the Twining family has been brewing up a perfect cuppa. So an invitation arrives from the Mr Nick McInnes, British Consul-General to have a private tea masterclass with Mr Stephen Twining, a 10th generation Twining, noodlies was first to tea.

How to make a perfect cup of tea

The burning question I had was “how to make a perfect cup of tea?” and during our chat I asked him for one tip, one simple tip, one simple thing we could change when making a cup of tea that would make a dramatic difference to its taste. Watch the noodlies videos and read on to find out more.

How to make a perfect cup of tea, Stephen Twining

The charming Stephen Twinings has a few easy to follow steps which he shares in the video above:

• Use fresh water: empty the kettle and pour in fresh cold water, previously boiled water has less dissolved oxygen an important ingredient to bring out the full tea flavour
• For green tea, let the boiling water cool for 3 – 4 minutes because freshly boiled water can make green tea bitter
• Allow the tea to brew for around five minutes, stir it and pour
• Store tea in air-tight containers and store at ambient temperature as tea absorbs surrounding smells

Want more? Read Twinings tips on how to make a perfect cup of tea.

What’s one thing we could do to dramatically improve a cup of tea?

Of course, noodlies couldn’t let Stephen go without asking him to to tell readers one common mistake which, if corrected will make a dramatic improvement to the taste of their cup of tea. His answer was so elegantly simple: don’t jiggle your tea “if you need exercise go to the gym… tea for 5,000 years naturally gives out its flavour” says Stephen, jiggling will give the tea colour but you need to leave the tea bag in for 3-5 minutes to get the best from your tea.

New pyramid infusers range

A first for Twinings, pyramid infusers uses large leaf tea so the pyramid shape allows room for tea leaves to expand and release full flavour. There are five new flavours including noodlies favourite, Vintage Earl Grey, a delicate large leaf black China tea with a hint of lavender. Stephen talks about what flavours you can expect from this new range in the video above.

So there you have it readers, simple tips for making the perfect cup of tea and remember, no jiggling!

This very charming English experience with Stephen Twining was courtesy of Twinings.