Scientists have addressed the all important question about the perfect way to enjoy a cup of tea, and one aspect of that is whether or not to squeeze each and every drop out of your tea bag.
Also known as mashing, that means trying to extract the full flavour from the tea by pressing your tea bag, often vigorously, mostly with a teaspoon.
Some doubt this makes sense, arguing the method makes the tea unnecessarily bitter and very tannin-heavy.
Strictly speaking, neither is true. "The effect is often overestimated,” says Kyra Schaper from the German Tea and Herbal Tea Association.
Anyone who reads too much into whether or not to squeeze a tea bag is overcomplicating things, says Schaper. What counts is not the squeezing or the swishing of the tea bag back and forth that affects the taste, but the amount of time it steeps and the quantity of tea you use.
Anyone who follows the preparation recommendations on the packaging or the advice from a specialist tea shop can’t really go wrong when making tea, says Schaper. These recommendations come from professional tea tasters, who test between 400 and 600 cups of tea a day.
Don't steep too long
Tea, particularly black tea, naturally becomes stronger or more bitter if left to steep for longer than 5 minutes. "Up to this point, it is stimulating; after that, more tannins enter the cup and it becomes bitter - without any more caffeine being released into the cup,” Schaper says.
She prefers tea bags to a tea infuser. "The bags are designed to be only half-filled. This is because tea leaves expand when liquid is added. The reason is simple: tea needs to dance.”
If you use a tea infuser, on the other hand, the tea is simply compressed and cannot spread out as well, she notes.
Meanwhile, whether or not you squeeze the bag, if you want to avoid leaving a puddle on the saucer, the tea expert recommends removing the tea bag with a spoon. if it comes with a string, you might wrap that around the spoon once - that’s quite sufficient, she says. – By Claudia Wittke-Gaida/dpa
