WHY THERE’S MORE TO TEA THAN SYMPATHY

I CONFESS, there’s nothing I like more than a nice cup of tea. Especially if it’s accompanied by a wee biscuit. It’s warm, comforting and the perfect gentle pick-me-up.

Everyone has their own tea-making ritual, but until a recent lesson in tea tasting, I hadn’t realised just how rustic my ‘add milk, drink while hot’ method was. According to Maria Cassidy of Bewley’s, there is much to gained by making a few simple adjustments to your brewing technique.

First, choose your tea wisely. All types come from the same plant, the Camellia Sinensis. From white tea and green to black and oolong, the vast differences in taste are down to levels of oxidation.

Tea Champion Maria says fresh filtered water is key. And never

reboil the kettle — it needs oxygen to brew properly.

The correct water temperature also varies depending on the type of tea; Japanese green tea needs water at 70-75C and 1 minute brewing while black tea requires hotter water (85-90C) and 3-5 minutes in the pot.

With my tastebuds retrained, I sampled a Castletown ‘First Flush’ Estate Darjeeling (available next week for €5), a rare, exquisite tea. Fragrant and delicate, it was heavenly when paired with a raspberry, almond and pistachio tart.

Who knew tea drinking could be so refined? My daily cuppa will never be the same again. ÷ bewleys.com