Ever wonder how to make a tea espresso drink using an espresso machine? If you love espresso coffee drinks chances are you will also enjoy a cup of tea espresso drink.

The process of making an espresso from tea is pretty straightforward and almost identical to making coffee espresso. However, there are a few keys to a delicious cup of tea espresso drink. Let's go through them in this article.

Pictured above is a tea cappuccino made using our Malawi Chisunga.

Type of tea to make espresso

Black tea is most suitable for espresso making. Black tea is a fully oxidized tea which means it has a fuller and more robust taste. Black tea also takes high temperature and pressure well. This is very important because we want to extract the flavor and at the same time preserve the taste of the tea. Black tea is the ideal candidate due to its oxidation level. Other types such as green and white teas are more delicate and just slightly oxidized. They just can’t tolerate high temperatures and pressure. 

Malawi Chisunga CTC Tea Grounds after brewing. 

We highly recommend using CTC black tea

CTC stands for “crush, tear, curl”. CTC is a tea making process. In this process, tea leaves are processed and broken down to astandard size through the use of machinery.  CTC teas are perfect for espresso making because they are broken down into very small pallets. Flavor can be extracted more easily from CTC tea leaves because of their shape and size.

CTC tea in the porta-filter.

Don’t overfill the porta-filter

Fill and tamp the porta-filter as how you normally would with your coffee. If the brew is too strong and you are enjoying it with no milk, you can dilute it with hot water. When making cappuccino and latte, we recommend experimenting with different amounts of milk/foam to get the right ratio. 

Tea espresso dripping out into the cups.

Now let’s turn on the machine and make some tea espresso! 

Enjoy! 

Have you ever wanted a very robust, bold and full-flavored cup of tea? 

If you have a stovetop Moka pot at home, try brewing tea in a Moka pot. You may be surprised by how robust and flavorful the tea is. Tea brewed in Moka pot also makes very delicious Black Tea Latte. 

What kind of tea is best for Moka pot? 

From our experience, black tea is more suitable for Moka pot. Black tea is fully oxidized which means it takes high temperature and pressure very well. Other types of tea, such as green and white teas, don't tolerate high water temperature well and can easily over brew.

How to use a Moka pot to make tea.

• Fill the base of the Moka pot with hot water.

• Put tea leaves in the filter container. Level and smooth the tea leaves using a spoon and don't over fill the filter.

• Screw on the top part (spout) and place Moka pot on the stove.

• Turn stove on to medium flame. Make sure not to burn the handle of the pot.

• Take the pot off the stove as soon as tea starts dribbling out.

• Pour the tea into a cup. Enjoy the tea as it is. Or add steam milk to make a Tea Latte.

• Enjoy! 

When tea starts dribbling out, take the pot off the stove. 

This thirst quenching tropical delight is an alcohol free Iced Tea Sangria. It is a perfect kids friendly summer drink. Please see recipe below for ingredients and direction.

Ingredients to made a 60 oz. pitcher:

• 5 teaspoons of Black Tea . We used our Assam Behora Estate for its strength and malty flavor. 
• 2 cups of fruits. Use fruits and berries that are fresh at your local market. We used strawberries, mandarin oranges, sweet tomatos, and apricots.
• Honey or sugar to taste. Alternatively, use stevia extract to make a sugar free version. 
• 1 lime and 5 fresh mint leaves.   
• Ice. 

Direction:

• Wash, peel and cut the fruits into bite size pieces and put them into a pitcher.
• Add mint leaves and honey (or sugar) in the pitcher. 
• Muddle and mash the fruits, mint and sweetener for 30 seconds.
• Fill pitcher with ice.
• Bring 30 oz. of water to a boil. Then use a tea pot (or a heat resistant pot) and steep the tea leaves in the freshly boiled water for 5 minutes.
• When tea is brewed, strain and pour tea into the ice-filled pitcher.
• Stir well and top off with more ice if needed.  

Enjoy!

50/50 blend of Japanese Hojicha and Kukicha

Hojicha is a classic roasted green tea from Japan. It is low in caffeine and has a clean toasty and slightly sweet taste.  

Kukicha is also a traditional green tea from Japan. It is uniquely flavorful. It brews a light cup of tea that is nutty with a  slightly creamy finish. It is very rich in antioxidants and low in caffeine as well. 

We made this blend at the request of a customer. And since we love both teas, we thought we should at keep some for ourselves. When we first tried it, we were surprised at how good and different it tasted. We loved it so much that we decided to add this blend to our roster. It should become available very soon.

So what does the blend of Hojicha and Kukicha taste like? It is very crisp, toasty and slightly sweet. Notes of honey and walnuts are very noticeable. It does not taste astringent at all. This blend is perfect for cold brewing, because of its taste profile.  

If you are a fan of Japanese green tea you should definitely give it a try. 

Cheers! 

Pictured above is a brewed cup of Jasmine Dragon Pearls. Click to view product.

There are 3 keys to brewing a nice cup of tea. Right amount of tea leaves, water temperature, and steeping time.

Amount of Tea Leaves

Below are some general guidelines on how much leaves to use for different kinds of tea. Please note that the amount of dry tea leaves to use varies from person to person and from tea to tea, and it is always better to use less tea leaves if you are not sure how strong you would like the tea to be.

Black Tea -- Weak Brew: 2 grams ( 2/3 teaspoon ) of tea leaves per 8oz. cup; Medium Brew: 3-4 grams (1 level teaspoon) of leaves per cup; Strong Brew: 5 grams (1 heaping tea spoon) of leaves per cup.

Green Tea (Same Leaves Can Be Brewed Multiple Times) -- Weak Brew: 3 grams ( 1 teaspoon ) of tea leaves per 8oz. cup; Strong Brew: 5 grams (1 heaping tea spoon) of tea leaves per cup.

Oolong Tea (Same Leaves Can Be Brewed Multiple Times) -- Weak Brew: 3 grams (2/3 teaspoon for the tight rolled Oolong, and 1 heaping teaspoon for waving Oolongs such as Pouchong and Champagne Oolong ) of tea leaves per 8oz. cup; Strong Brew: 5 grams (1 tea spoon for tight rolled Oolong, and 2 teaspoons for waving Oolongs such as Pouchong and Champagne Oolong ) of tea leaves per 8oz. cup.

White Tea (Same Leaves Can Be Brewed Multiple Times) -- Weak Brew: 3 grams ( 2 teaspoons ) of tea leaves per 8oz. cup; Strong Brew: 5 grams (3 teaspoons) of tea leaves per cup.

Water Temperature and Steeping Time

Black Tea -- Use water at boiling temperature. Brew tea for about 3-5 minutes.

Green Tea -- Most Green Tea can be brewed for up to 3 infusions). Use water at about 160-180 degrees Fahrenheit for Japanese Green Tea, and use water at 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit for Chinese Green Tea .  First Infusion, brew the tea for 2 minutes then pour all the tea from the tea pot (take the tea infuser out, if you are using tea infuser) into the cups and enjoy; Second Infusion, brew the tea a little longer (3-4 minutes); Third Infusion, brew the tea for 5 minutes.

White Tea -- Use water at about 180 degrees Fahrenheit and brew tea for 3-5 minutes.

Oolong Tea -- Oolong tea can also be brewed multiple times (some can even be brewed for up to 7 times). Use water at 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit. First Infusion, brew the tea for 1-2 minutes then pour all the tea from the tea pot (take the tea infuser out, if you are using tea infuser) into the cups and enjoy; Second Infusion, brew the tea a little longer (2-3 minutes); Third Infusion, brew the tea for 3-5 minutes.

Herbal and Fruit Blend -- Use water at boiling temperature. Brew tea for about 3-5 minutes.

What is Cold Brewed Tea

Cold brewed tea is tea steeped in cold water for an extended period of time.

Pictured above is Sencha green tea cold brewed for 12 hours.

The process brews the tea leaves slowly, using time rather than temperature to release the flavors. Free form catechins(antioxidants) and tanning acids, which are good for the human body, are more dissolvable and readily released in cold brewing as opposed to regular hot brewing. In addition, the amount of caffeine released from cold brewing tea is only half of the caffeine released from regular hot tea brewing.

How to Cold Brew

• Use cold water or iced water to brew tea. (It takes longer to brew tea with iced water).
• Ratio of tea leaves to water is usually 1:50 by weight (you can adjust the ratio according to your taste).
• Put loose tea or tea bags into a water container filled with cold or room temperature water.
• Put the container into the refrigerator. * Do Not Put It In Freezer
• Tea leaves which come in stripped form such as green tea, black tea or flat/wavy Oolong tea (Pouchong) should be brewed in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. We recommend 4-12 hours.
• Tea leaves that are rolled such as Jade Oolong and Ti kuan Yin should be brewed in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. We recommend 6-12 hours.
• Strain the tea leaves and enjoy the refreshing cold brewed tea. And if you have excess tea left over, put it back to the refrigerator (remember to strain the leaves).

Pictured here is our freshly cold brewed Sencha Green Tea. Cold brewing is healthier, and more energy enficient. Cold brewed tea also has less caffeine than traditional iced tea. It is easy to make and most of all, it is delicious!

Brewing hot tea using loose tea leaves is very easy and simple. Loose teas are of much better quality and less expensive than tea bags. This video we post here demonstrates how to make a pot of Jasmine Green Tea in 5 minutes. Enjoy!