Be careful to never squash the teabag against the side of the pot or your cup because it will ruin the flavor and leave a bitter taste:
Don’t squash your tea bag next to the side, as it will squeeze out all the natural astringent tannins that are in there … just lift it out, that will stop the bitter flavour. If you leave it in for too long, you’re going to overwhelm the flavour with all the natural tannin flavours in there, and polyethanols etc.
We’ve gotten used to really strong bitterness and think that’s what tea should taste like. Tea should never feel that strong or bitter. If you do really like a really rounded malty flavour, as opposed to a really bitter flavour, then we just recommend you change your tea. A really strong malty flavour would be an assam second flush. It gives you a nice breakfast flavour. Or stronger again, I’d go for a Kenyan. So instead of overbrewing, just change your tea.
Assuming that you may want to avoid tea containing caffeine in the evening, it’s good to know that all non-infusion teas (including green tea) contain approximately the same amount of caffeine. Kate explains:
We can’t guarantee year on and year out that one tea has more antioxidants than the other as it depends on weather conditions, the quality of the tea and so on. And all tea has roughly the same amount of caffeine as well.
An infusion tea blend with vanilla, camomile and honey is, thus, recommended for evening consumption. In addition, Kate explains that camomile is a natural muscle relaxant.
Check out Kate’s summary of How to Make the Perfect Cup of Tea on the next page …