School Is In

Let's Discuss With Brewing Temps :

Black Tea - Boiling Water 212 degrees F for a period of 3-5 minutes.
Green Tea - Just Below Boiling at 165-190 degrees F for a period of 2 minutes.
White Tea - Just Below Boiling at 180-208 degrees F for a period of 5-7 minutes.
Oolong Tea - Just Below Boiling at 180-212 degrees F for a period of 3-7 minutes.
Puerh Tea - Boiling Water 212 degrees F for a period of 3-5 minutes.
Rooibos & Herbal Tea - Boiling Water 212 degrees F for a period of 4-10 minutes.

* Note for first timers - it takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes to get the water to Boil. 

 
Tools : 

Tea Pots - There are Ceramic pots , Stainless Steal , As well as Glass.

Tea Infusers  - There are a few that are made of a type of plastic material that rest on the rim of the mug where the loose leaf tea leaves are held. Or Metal baskets that close and you submerge into the hot water.
 You can also purchase a form of a tea bag for loose leaf that you also rest on the rim of the mug.

Tea Press - the Same as a coffee press. When using a press DO NOT press on the leaves, It will release that bitter taste that most people do not like.

The Jasmine Bloom

What is it?

It's not all the time that you can have fun watching your tea Steep. But today it is, with the Green Tea Blossom.
This is a Hand Woven Green Tea that Hides a Special little prize in the center. The Tea leaves are woven in such a way that while it is steeping in the hot water you can watch it slowly blossom open one leaf at a time. After about 5 minutes (maybe less maybe more) a jasmine flower emerges from its nest infusing your cup with its delicate sent and flavor.

How Do I brew it?
You can simply Drop the Woven Green Tea Ball into Already hot water in ether a clear tea pot or a clear mug to watch it steep / Blossom. Let it steep for about 5min. If you are brewing it in a Clear glass tea pot, pass it through a tea basket while pouring it into a mug, just to catch any leaves that may have become loose from the blossom. If you are doing it in a mug as I have , just scoop out any leaves that may have come loose during the brewing process.  You can also save the blossome off to the side and Steep it one more time for another cup of tea.

Taste test:
Great Green tea taste and that jasmine smell / flavor just sits on your tongue and lingers in your nose. This is a great green tea.I even Left the blossom on a bowl to add aroma to the room.

Sorry I could not shoot my own video but here is a good example of what happens .
Video Of Blossom Brewing

Organic Puerh Mini Tuo Cha Rishi

What is it?
This tea is a tea that is aged and fermented to a certain degree. This is where the smell of the tea comes from. This tea has properties in it that can help to lower your cholesterol. The levels of GCG, EGCG, and other catechins Can be found in many other teas and are not limited to just this one tea. The Levels that are found in this tea can also be found in many other teas as well.

How do you brew it?
To start I would Rinse the Tea “cake” In water for a period of 20-40 seconds. This will release some of the Flavor It can be strong at first. The Period of time really is dependent on how strong you want this Tea Flavor to be. Once you have rinsed the Tea Cake in water go ahead and drop it into your Mug of hot water you will be drinking from. Let it Brew / Steep for about 4 minutes. The Length once again is dependent on how strong of a flavor you want from the tea.
I placed My Tea Cake into my Metal Basket Steeper to make it easy to take out once done.

DO NOT REMOVE IT FROM THE PAPER PACKING. By keeping it inside the Paper that it comes in this will keep any of the tea leaves from floating into the tea.

Taste Review:
On first notice the Tea has a very dark rich color almost like coffee. The Aroma of the Tea is Very Earthy. Almost has a slight fish type smell to it that is not at all off putting. As far as Tea goes this one is a little heavy, VS the normal light teas that you would drink. The Flavor of this tea is very earthy and yet not overpowering to the taste buds. I added in a little honey to mine any style of honey will do, really it is what ever you like to use.
I recommend giving this tea a try.

Nile Valley Hibiscus Tea

What is it?
Hibiscus Tea Is In simple Terms a flower, To be exact it is a Hibiscus Sabdariffa flower. After Grown and cultivated the flower petals are dried and packaged.  This Tea can be enjoyed ether cold for a summer, spring, or fall day. You can enjoy this Tea Hot on a cold winter day. Studies have shown that Drinking Hibiscus tea can reduce high blood pressure.


How do you brew it?
Since this tea is a loose leaf tea and not pre packaged in a tea bag there are a few ways you can go about brewing it. One you can use a Brew Basket there are many types of them so choose one that best fits your needs. Also if you don’t have a brew basket you can simply drop the leaves into the hot water and soak them with a spoon and then scoop them out when done brewing.

Taste Review:
This tea has a great fruity flavor to it. Depending on how much Leaves you have added to your water it can be a light or strong intense fruit flavor. Sugar is not needed for this Tea. There is a Natural sweet taste to this tea already. If you want to take this tea experience to another level, through in some dried fruit of your choice to enhance the flavors and experience.

This is a Caffeine Free Tea.

Mighty Leaf : Vanilla Bean Reveiw

Tea  Company : Mighty Leaf

Flavor : Vanilla Bean

Type Of Tea : Black tea

Brew Time : 4minutes

Other Notes : NOT Caffeine Free

Last Night I brewed up a nice mug of Vanilla Bean Tea From Mighty Leaf. I love this Tea, It is like no other Vanilla Tea I have ever had. It has a Nice Warm Smooth Full Bodied Taste to it. I for one like to add a touch of honey to my tea, To give it that slight bite of sweetness. If you are not a fan of honey i recommend adding in some Raw Sugar, Or maybe some Agave syrup. If you choose Agave Syrup I would go with the Light Version so not to cover the taste of the tea with a sweetness.

The Tea that Mighty Leaf puts out is a Loose leaf tea, in a soft silky Textured bag that is bio degradable It is best to get a Loose Leaf Tea so you can get the full experience from the Tea Leaves and other little prizes tucked away with them.

I would Recommend this tea to none tea drinkers. As some teas like Green tea Have a bitter bite to them, this one does not.

What Is The Steep House?

The Steep House is a Blog Created For the Love of Both Hot and Cold Tea's.
There will be Post's about the best ways to Brew certain tea's.
What tea's are good for what time of year.
Along with Many many other subjects.

I look forward to hearing your comments and Everything and anything you have to say about tea.



(Page Is also currently under Design Construction.)