{top tip} Loose Tea in A French Press
In my home kitchen, I use a lot of shortcuts and tricks gleaned from my checkered pants past. From time to time I will pull one out of my toque and share it with you! If you have questions or requests, leave them in the comments and I’ll tackle them in a future post.
A lot of the tea I like comes in loose form only, so I’m always fiddling around with it. I absolutely loathe that kitchen drawer with all the tea balls in it. It’s such a messy and inelegant way to make loose tea. Recently I had a flash of memory and remembered that one of the fancy restaurants I interned at served loose tea in a French press. Brilliant! No more mess, just a perfect cup every time. I’m drinking from one RIGHT NOW.
The only downside to the french press as a tea pot is that if you use a tea warmer, the tea can get very very strong! If you like very strong tea, or aren’t using a tea warmer, it’s not such a problem though. Bodum makes a great loose tea pot called Assam though. It traps the tea away from the bottom of the pot, and doesn’t allow it to continue to steep after you push the plunger down. It was my favourite (until I broke it).
@Tara- good point. My french press is really small, so I basically brew it and drink it all at once so it’s not a problem for me. 🙂
I also like to make loose leaf tea in my French press. Lots of people don’t really think about it, but it can cut down on the number of appliances you have in your kitchen.