Got time? Knowing how long to steep the leaves is a critical part of brewing a great cup of tea. With that in mind, here's a selection of virtual and actual tea timers.
Or if you'd like to learn how to brew tea without a timer, check out what Imen at Tea Obsession has to say on the matter.
Updated 06/01/2013
Palm & iPhone Apps
Aromatic
Taste Timer 1.1
Tea Leaves
Tea Pal
Teavana Perfect Tea Touch iPhone App
Wheel of Tea
Virtual Tea Timers
Cuppa
Steep.it
Tea Round App
Tea Time!
Tea-Timer
Tea Timer
"Real" Tea Timers
Penguin Teaboy
Image: Tea Pal
Adagio Teas - Best Tea Online
2 comments:
Imen's got the right idea and I no longer use a timer for my Puerh. But for another tea like an Oolong I have an hourglass that's two minutes and also my little watch with its second hand. They're useful for those demanding teas. --Spirituality of Tea
Good timing on this post! I'm looking for a new timer app now (in case you're interested, I reviewed the one I'm currently using on my blog about a year and a half ago: http://teawithgary.com/2011/10/12/tea-timer-app-for-iphone/). My biggest problems with the iPhone app I use are that it restarts if I get a phone call, and each time you fire it up it automatically starts at the setting you used last.
I use a timer almost all of the time in the tea bar because I'm preparing multiple cups and I would absolutely lose track if I wasn't timing them. Brewing for myself, there are a few teas that I judge by the color (e.g., most shu pu-erh), a few that are so forgiving it doesn't really matter (e.g., most "golden" black teas), and some that I really need to time because they don't have much color (e.g., many white teas).
The biggest reason I use a timer for most of them is that I don't brew the same tea often enough to memorize the color patterns. Sometimes I'm in a 1st flush Darjeeling mood, sometimes a bai hao oolong mood, and sometimes a jasmine dragon pearl mood.
Post a Comment