Foodservice Tea 101
Beyond Premium Tea and Modern Steepware
Premium Tea in Foodservice
At The Tea Spot, we take every measure to make it easy for you to deliver the perfect cup of tea to your customers. We’ve curated our tea selections for foodservice and hospitality. All of our teas come labeled with steeping instructions.
How to Steep Whole Leaf Tea
What you’ll need:
- Tea Leaves
- Water - either hot or cold, depending on which steeping method you choose
- Heat-resistant vessel to steep in - like a mug, teapot or a mason jar
- Filter or strainer - to separate the leaves from your drink when done steeping
How to:
- Place tea leaves in your steeping vessel
- Get water to the right temp for your tea
- Pour water over leaves to steep
- Strain the leaves out
- For some teas, you can re-steep the leaves
Hot Brew Tea Steeping Guide
The above guide is a place to start from. It works well as a first time steep for all these tea types. But everyone has different tastes, so you may want to dial in your process to represent your tastes for any tea you serve. Do this varying the proportion of tea leaves, water temperature and steeping time. If a tea is too bitter to you, try using slightly cooler water and/or a shorter steep time before varying the quantity of tea leaves.
Cold Brew Tea Steeping Guide
- Add 2 heaping tablespoons loose leaf tea for every 32 oz fresh cold water.
- For oolongs, green and white teas: Steep for 1 to 2 hours in refrigeration.
- For black teas: Steep for 4 - 6 hours in refrigeration.
- Strain the tea leaves out and serve straight, either at ambient temperature or iced.
How to Make Iced Tea
The Tea Spot offers pre-packed Iced Tea Pouches for our most popular iced teas. Each Iced Tea Pouch yields 1 gallon of tea. You can brew them through a commercial brewing device, or in gallon pitchers, using the methods detailed above.
You can also make craft iced tea using any of our loose leaf teas by following either the hot or cold brew method above. Chill tea, if needed, after brewing. Please be aware that some black teas will cloud at cool temperatures if you steep them hot and then chill.
99% of Tea is Water
Great tea requires pure water. Water quality is as critical as that of the tea product. Start with fresh poured, preferably filtered, water. Ideally, you could get nicely oxygenated water straight out of the faucet. If you don’t have a water filter, or don’t like the tap water, you can use bottled water. Don’t use distilled water, though - it’s been so depleted that it’ll make your tea taste perfectly flat.
Tea Storage
Tea stays fresh for longer if it is properly stored in a sealed, light-proof container, like a tea tin or an air-tight canister. Keep it stashed away from heat and light, or extreme cold.
Shelf Life
At The Tea Spot, all our teas are from the most currently available tea harvest. We handcraft our signature and functional blends in small batches. You are assured freshness and quality in every delivery. Recommended shelf life for whole leaf teas which are stored properly is 24 months.
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