Back in March I made a really dictatorial post about tea on Instagram. It involved a list. There were weights, measures, and temperatures. I thought most people would just write me off as an snobby crank. And I think most people did but some people liked my post. I figure if people like a little too much detail they’ll love a lot more detail. So behold a post about tea, Earl Grey, hot. Two more variations and one cold brew variation.

When it comes to tea there are three things to consider. One is your ratio of tea to water. With Earl Grey you want to have 1g of tea per 100ml of water. I generally make 500ml for me and Kate so that’s 5g of tea. Your second consideration is temperature. For the best taste you need to keep your water between 85 and 95 centigrade. Then the third step to tea perfection is how long you’ll leave the tea in the water to steep. Three minutes is perfect for Earl Grey. Strain it out. You’re good to go.

Variation 1: Earl Grey With Rose Petals

A nice floral brew, perfect for a special treat on a weekend afternoon.

You want to use enough rose petals so that it’s about half of the weight of the tea. If you go for a second brewing you won’t get anything from the rose petals but the tea will still be good.

Variation 2: Earl Grey with Cacao Nibs

Adding roses brings out the floral notes of the tea; the cacao brings it back down to earth.

Again you want to use about 50% of the weight of the tea. the flavour really gets going as the tea cools.

Variation 3: Cold Brewed Earl Grey

You can be a snobby as you want about Iced Tea (Kate!) but it’s hot and I still need caffeine. Doing it as a cold brew rather than making hot tea and pouring it over ice preserves the flavour.

I’m really glamorous so I brew my tea in one of those promotional sports bottles. It holds 300ml so I use 3 teaspoons of tea. I leave it in the fridge for about 12 hours, or overnight then strain it. Yum.