Take your time at Carmel At Sorrento and learn to brew the perfect Organic Tea

"Tea has all the complexity of wine appreciation, but there's no hangover!” David Larsen Tea Aficionado Larsen & Thompson specialist in fine tea supply Carmel at Sorrento Organic Brew Tea supplied complimentary in each apartment and the penthouse, plus the necessary accessories for brewing the best cup of tea. In 1992, John Larsen and David Thompson resolved to pick the world's best teas and bring them home to Australia. With no ties to specific gardens or regions, L&T tasters are free to choose from the very best of the best in any garden, in any region, in any given season buying premium leaf for your enjoyment. Now, as they venture even farther afield, new and exciting teas are sampled and subjected to the same stringent scrutiny before they’re judged worthy of the Larsen & Thompson imprint. Is it really Tea? A common misconception appears to have been created by the English language. The word ‘tea’ is used quite loosely to describe any hot beverage. Strictly speaking only the leaves and unopened leaf buds from the plant Camellia sinensis are tea. The French use the word tisane to distinguish between Tea and the infusions of herbs or flowers. Perhaps the term herbal infusion is a more accurate description than herbal tea. Brewing your Larsen & Thompson tea Water is important. Always use fresh water and if you are drinking a very good quality speciality tea without milk you could even try the complimentary Carmel bottled water. For 'normal' or broken leaf teas, first try one level teaspoon of tea for each cup – and place in a pre-warmed teapot. Bring the water to a furious boil, pour over the leaves and infuse for at least three minutes to draw out the full flavour. For Green teas, the Chinese recommend water no hotter than 70°C. They believe hotter water encourages the release of astringent and bitter flavours. It is vitally important that the water temperature does not cool too rapidly during brewing. To keep warm use the tea towel and wrap teapot to insulate the pot. Once a tea is infused and you're happy with the taste, remove the leaves from contact with the tea. Take time to get to know how you like your tea Each specialty or top grade single estate tea has its own personality; every batch unique. If you are brewing such a tea for the first time, try this: Infuse the tea for three minutes then pour one cup from the pot. A minute later, pour another cup. And a minute later, pour a third cup. The tea in each cup will be quite different. Simply choose the one you like best. The three minute cup might be best taken black and the five minute one may taste better with milk. Each apartment at Carmel has a selection of tea & tisanes provided to select from, a selection of tea cups, plus a timer to brew the tea to your liking. Provided to brew the best tea is a ceramic tea pot for those black teas - broken leaf or CTC breakfast styles - that take time to give up their full flavour. Metal and glass pots lose heat too quickly. However glass is provided for the tisanes. Apart from the pleasure of watching the leaves open, you can check the colour of the tea to control the strength of the brew. Loss of heat is not such an issue here because infusion times are usually far shorter. It could take hours to go through the full list of the benefits of organic tea All are good reasons to reach for a cuppa at Carmel at Sorrento.