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Resteeping Teas: How & Why

I talk a lot about resteeping tea here on One More Steep. To me, it’s one of the signs of a good quality tea: being able to resteep the same leaves and get more drinkable tea out of it with a good amount of flavour.

My basic steps to resteeping any tea is to heat up water to the recommended steeping temperature for the tea (if your tea doesn’t come with that sort of information, I’ve got a handy temperature guide!) and then pour the water over the leaves again. Whatever the recommended steeping time is, you add 30 seconds for each subsequent steep.

Example: You want to steep a black tea where you steep with 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes.

Initial steep: 100°C water for 5 minutes
1st resteep: 100°C water for 5 minutes 30 seconds
2nd resteep: 100°C water for 6 minutes
3rd resteep: 100°C water for 6 minutes 30 seconds
4th resteep: 100°C water for 7 minutes

Resteeping leaves allows you to further the tea drinking experience with the same leaves. This works best with straight/traditional teas (e.g. teas that have no added flavourings, fruit ingredients), not tisanes. Tisanes often don’t do well when being resteeped.

After I steep the leaves, I will remove my infuser from the tea pot and rest it in a bowl or on a plate to allow the leaves to drain (so they do not continue to steep!). The leaves don’t fully dry out between steeps, so when I’m ready for the next steep, I just insert the infuser back into the tea pot and pour in more water.

Please note, if you opt to resteep leaves, you should be doing it all in the same day. If you leave out the leaves overnight or longer, you run the risk of mold growing on the leaves – the leaves are damp and provide a moist growing environment for mold spores. I only resteep my tea leaves during the same day as the initial steep.

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Pineapple Ginger Matcha

Now if you’re a fan of Starbucks, you may be familiar with their Pineapple Matcha Drink. It intrigued me and I’ve had it two or three times so far, but I find that it’s never properly made (clumpy matcha!) and can be a bit too sweet. But I really enjoy the flavour combination because it’s delicious and definitely makes me feel like I’m somewhere else which is currently important to me (and a lot of other people) because it’s summer and I think we all had different plans for this year than what has unfolded so far.

Luckily, it was super easy for me to figure out what they put in it, since their website provides a list of ingredients. So I knew that they used a pineapple ginger syrup, matcha, coconut milk and ice – how hard could it be, right? I’m a fan of making simple syrups – I use them a lot in my drink recipes because they’re so easy to make. This isn’t any different, because with a little bit of know-how, and a touch of fresh ginger, you too could be sipping on a made-at-home Pineapple Ginger Matcha… all without going through the drive thru at your local coffee shop and without ordering delivery!

Pineapple Ginger Matcha – Serves 2

½-1 tablespoon Ginger Pineapple Simple Syrup (see recipe below)
4 teaspoons matcha¹
250ml hot water²
500ml unsweetened coconut milk
Fresh pineapple, for garnish³
Ice

¹ I used Whisk Premium Matcha’s Everyday. You can use the matcha of your choice, but I would steer away from matcha blends or sweetened matchas.
² Heat to the instructions for your particular matcha; usually it’s not boiling.
³ Don’t sweat it if you don’t have fresh pineapple on hand, canned would work just as well!

Pineapple Ginger Simple Syrup Recipe

1 cup water
1 cup sugar¹
½-1″ fresh ginger root²
Pineapple core, cubed³

¹ I used granulated white sugar.
² I used an approximately ½” piece of fresh ginger root.
³ For a fresh pineapple, the core is generally quite hard to eat because it’s so fibrous, but it has a lot of flavour! So I cut out the core, cubed it, and tossed that into my sauce pan for the Pineapple Ginger Simple Syrup.

Prepare Pineapple Ginger Simple Syrup

Put all ingredients together in a small sauce pan over low heat.
Allow the syrup to come to a simmer and allow it to cook until it takes on a nice golden colour.
Strain out solids as you pour the simple syrup into a clean container.
Allow to cool before use.
Store in the fridge.

Prepare Pineapple Ginger Matcha

Add ice to your glass.
Add Pineapple Ginger Syrup, you can always add more if it’s not sweet enough to your liking.
Prepare matcha – I shook up approximately 125ml water with my matcha in a shaker cup for each serving, pour into glass.
Fill the rest of the glass with your coconut milk.
With the garnish, cut a small slit in the pineapple wedge so it can sit on the rim.
Admire the pretty layers before taking a straw to the drink to mix it up.

If you make this Pineapple Ginger Matcha, I’d love to see your photos! Be sure to tag me on Instagram (@onemoresteep #onemoresteep) or comment below with a link to the photo!

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Pandemic Tea Party

It’s been a long while since I last went out for afternoon tea. The last time I did was back in February, so about three weeks prior to COVID-19 really making the news in North America and prior to the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic.

My life (and everyone else’s) certainly has changed and as we all try to embrace the “new normal”, I did go out for afternoon tea last month at one of my favourite locations (Little White House in Fort Langley, BC – I’ve shared a review on Little White House before!). Restaurants have been operating on a pretty low-key basis. For a while it was only take-out or delivery available, and slowly dine-in has been opening up in British Columbia. Things have really changed, so I wanted to share a bit about my experience and also what you should be looking out for to help keep yourself safe!

Responsible restaurants should be actively engaged in contact tracing. Contact tracing is something that is required by the province of British Columbia – it’s their way of being able to contact people in the event that someone who works or visited an establishment tests positive for COVID-19, it makes it possible for public health workers to get in touch with everyone. This is also required in British Columbia for gatherings that are privately held. Not all places require this, but it’s always a good idea for a public health issue like a pandemic.

Servers and front-of-house staff should be wearing masks. Hand sanitizer being available at the door is a huge plus, as hand hygiene should be actively encouraged for everyone. I’ve been to restaurants that require preordering (like Little White House insists on), and also ones that provide mobile menus or paper menus if they’re unable to dedicate a staff member to sanitizing menus between guests.

Cleanliness is at the top of everyone’s mind. What I really appreciated with what Little White House did is that they had set menus and it was individually boxed when served at the table. Everything was a single serving, very neatly presented. I do think it does present more waste, but a lot of it is recyclable (without knowing the composition of the clear front window or cup liner). Other restaurants I’ve been in have offered food on reusable plates (so like before), but the boxed up afternoon tea set lends itself really well as a “tea to go” set for people who want to take it home to eat, or to find a picnic table in a park.

I know that a lot of people are nervous about eating out, especially for a little gathering like an afternoon tea party, so here are some of things to consider to keep you and your loved ones safe:

Are people wearing masks in the waiting area? How about servers and front-of-house staff?

Do you see hand sanitizer available? Are they encouraging hand hygiene for patrons?

Are the tables spaced out appropriately? 6 feet is a minimum that tables or booths should be spaced out unless there are other physical barriers between tables and booths.

Be mindful of who you’re inviting out with you. It’s still a good idea to keep your social bubble on the smaller side. If one of your BFFs is hanging out with a different group of friends on a daily basis and engaging in less than safe practices, it’s okay not to invite them. You have to protect yourself first.