In the first episode of Ted Lasso, Ted says he doesn’t drink tea because he “always figured that tea was gonna taste like hot, brown water.”

It saddens us to think that some people might agree with Ted because their only experience with hot tea has been dunking a skimpy bag of low quality fannings (clippings of tea stems rather than whole tea leaves) into tepid water. Yuck.

We are here to tell you that a properly made, good quality tea is completely delicious. Nothing compares to its deep aroma and bold, complex flavors. 

People often think that they can make their weak tea taste better by brewing it longer. But doing this is such a mistake! Oversteeping will lead to a sharp, bitter tea. Flavorless hot brown water is really bad, but acrid, astringent oversteeped tea is THE WORST!

There are two keys to creating a delicious, full-bodied and flavorful tea. The first key is to start with a good quality product. At Brackenbury Tea & Co., we’ve already got that covered. We only use premium loose leaf teas and ingredients. Plus, we hand mix our one-of-a-kind blends in small batches to ensure that each bag sent to you is at the peak of its freshness.

The second key to creating a flavorful tea is using the appropriate amount of leaves. Some tea sellers only portion one teaspoon of tea leaves for each cup of tea. When it comes to English style black tea, that won’t do! Our great grandfather Jack used to have a rather colorful name for that kind of hot, brown water: bloody monkey pee!

For full-bodied English style black teas, which happen to be our specialty, it’s best to use 2.5 tsps of tea leaves per cup, so our 10- and 12-serving bags of Two Sisters’ Blend, Sugar & Spice and Copson St. Chai includes quite a bit more tea leaves than comparable serving sized bags from our competitors. 

Once you’ve got the right amount of the right kind of tea in your pot, mug or cup, there’s no need to brew it to death. For our Two Sisters’ Blend, Sugar & Spice or Copson St. Chai, that means a brew time of three minutes and thirty seconds will always yield a full flavored, smooth, finished product.  And if you can get a little scatterbrained in the kitchen,  check out our Perfect Brew Tea Timer.

Are you ready to break out of the hot, brown water doldrums? Head over to our shop to get started today.