The "Real" Persian Tea

Hi and welkome to my third instructable,

This instructable was written for a unusual perpose. It was never my intention to write an instructable about Persian tea, however a school project came allong. During English class we read a book called Persepolis, the project was simple: Write a literary magazine. I thought it was nice to include a guide in this magazine in the context of the graphic novel. I decided to write this guide in a way i would write an instructable. By the time I was finished I thought to myself "looks like an instructable" so I decided to post it :) Have fun, o yea and for the record: I'm not a Persian and I don't think tea in England tastes like horse piss, it was only a reffernce to the novel.

Guide to making real persian tea

Tea is a great way to receive your guests, it is important though to brew good tea. In Europe people don’t brew tea, instead they combine hot water with a bag that is filled with a powdery like substance. After they soaked their tea bag for a few strokes they pull it out and call it tea. The English have a slight better view on tea, they do not make use of tea bags. However the tea is ruined most of the time by pouring milk into the tea. Brewing good tea is a craft. Here is a guide to introduce you into the craft of making persian tea. The kind of tea that does not taste like horse piss.

What you will need to brew this tea is the following:
- Loose tea (it is important that it is loose tea, this kind of tea infuses its flavour into the water, instead of dragging it in, trust me you will taste the difference)

- Teapot (carefully rinsed, tea flavour dissolves in water therefore it is a good idea to rinse your teapot before brewing to remove any of the old tea)

- Rose petals (this is the secret ingredient of persian tea)

-Mesh tea infuser (this is a very fine sieve that will only let the flavour of the tea pass into the pot, instead of all the tea drifting all over your teapot. It is optional though, but this is less of a mess)

Brewing your glorious persian tea:

1. Make sure your water is boiling hot, that will ensure you will extract all flavour in the tea

2. Put a generous about of loose tea into you mesh and add a pinch of Rose petals

3. Put the boiling water in the teapot before adding the tea

4. Now put the mesh into the teapot and cover the teapot. Let steep for 5 to 10 minutes.

Tip: The real persian way of brewing tea is to place the teapot on top of the stove to let it simmer whilst the tea infuses the flavour into the water to keep the tea worm.

Pouring persian tea

1. Before you drink you delicious tea you first need to check if it is good.

2. Pour some hot tea into a cup to check its color. The optimal color is darkish.

3. Pour the tea you just poured back into the teapot, this will have two effects. Firstly the hot temperature of the tea will ensure that your cup is warm. Secondly when you pour back the tea it will displace the water inside the pot so that there is a uniform color and taste. When the color is too light to your liking, pour it back and wait a few more minutes to repeat the same process.

4. If the color is good, pour half a cup and pour the other half boiling water.

Thanks for reading !

see you in another instructable