Your HydroTap ensures that you always have fresh-tasting filtered chilled and boiling water exactly when you need it – so making hot drinks is a breeze. And with around 100 million cups of tea made in the UK everyday, making the perfect brew is a skill worth refining.
We know the importance of making a good cup of tea, but here at Zip that's not enough. We want the best, and who better to ask than our friends at Bird & Blend, experts in all things tea?
Recently we sat down with them – over a cuppa, of course – to understand more about one of our favourite drinks and learn a few tips and tricks.
So, what's new in the world of tea?
Really tasty herbal and fruit tea blends that not only smell lovely but taste great too! Our Strawberry Lemonade fruit tea, for example, has lemon slices and strawberry pieces and is delicious hot or cold.
One of our best selling relaxation teas, Deckchair Dreaming, is incredibly flavourful with chamomile, apple pieces, and orange peel (to name a few ingredients).
Sounds delicious! We've been hearing more and more about matcha recently, can you tell us about that?
Matcha is definitely trending up and is on a fast track to become a lot of people’s go to caffeinated drink. Matcha is a finely ground green tea powder that is used traditionally in Japanese tea ceremonies. It is known for having health benefits, an earthy or grassy taste, and provides slow release energy throughout the day.
Because our co-founder and ‘Chief Tea Mixologist’ Krisi Smith wasn’t too keen on the taste of matcha, she developed matcha flavours such as lemon, peaches & cream, gingernut, buttermint and blueberry to name a few. And we're being asked by our customers and fans to create even more flavours of Matcha. We actually have the UK’s largest selection of Japanese matcha green tea powder!
What's the optimum temperature for the perfect cup of tea? Or are there different temperatures for different tea types?
Brewing temperature and time depends on the type of loose leaf tea, for example, black teas need at least 4 minutes brewing time with 98°C hot water. However, green tea, and white and oolong teas are more delicate and need to be handled gently. We recommend brewing times of no longer than 3 minutes at 80°C (otherwise they become bitter).
HydroTap can help with that!
Luckily for the tea lovers out there, you can adjust the water temperature from the command centre to your personal preference for hot water in seconds. This helps your tea to keep its best flavour, so that you can enjoy the perfect cup, every time.
Loose leaf tea or tea bags?
Loose leaf tea for sure! Although we do provide our best sellers in tea bags as well, we specialise in loose leaf tea and have over 100 blends on our ‘famous’ tea wall.
What's the best order for making the perfect breakfast tea? And what is the perfect steeping time? Do you have brewing instructions?
We have a page on our website detailing how to make the perfect cup of tea, including brewing times, if you are looking for a step by step guide!
We've been lucky enough to hold events with some of your tea mixologists, can you really make a cocktail with tea?
You can! Although tea is usually associated with drinking a cosy breakfast tea in your favourite mug, some of our loose leaf teas make amazing cocktails. For example, you can use our strawberry lemonade tea to create the perfect summer tipple in just a few steps.
Another moment for HydroTap to shine! With the option for instant sparkling water on tap, enjoy summer cocktails in an instant – just pour, stir, and sip.
Does filtered water make tea taste better?
I don’t know the answer to this one! However, I suspect it will as it makes a glass of water taste better, less cloudy and more pure and fresh tasting. Especially here in Sussex in the UK, where the water is hard.
For the perfect cup, pair HydroTap with Bird & Blend and enjoy tea, at its best. For more information on how HydroTap can upgrade your kitchen, learn more about our technology today.