Three Tips for a Perfect Cup of McCrae House Blend Tea
The McCrae House Blend tea is a hardy black tea that is so popular we have difficulty keeping it on our shelves at the Hilltop Shop .
Guelph Museums asked tea blender Michael Horst to create the tea in 1997. Horst, whose great grandfather fought in the First World War was honoured to take part, and wanted get the blend exactly right. If you ask us, he did!
We requested some tips on how to get a perfect cup of McCrae House blend, and here is what we discovered:
- The water needs to be hot! hot! hot! when it hits the tea. George Orwell once wrote, “one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about.” Michael agrees, especially when it comes to a black tea like McCrae House blend. If your pour the water over the tea directly off the boil, you should be fine.
- Let the tea steep three to five minutes. Any less and your tea will be weak and watery; any longer and you risk grimace-inducing bitterness.
- Finally, if you want to stay true to English tradition, add the tea leaves to your pot loose – no bag, no ball, nothing. As Michael says, “Set your tea free.” When it`s done steeping, you can pour it through a strainer into your cup.
There you go, a recipe that will allow you to brew a perfect cup of McCrae House Blend Tea.
If you’d rather leave tea-making to us, however, you can join us for tea in the backyard of McCrae House throughout the summer. Click here for more info about our teas and tours.
