How to step up your tea game at home

If you're used to drinking tea made with tea bags, do yourself a favour and switch to loose leaf tea. Sometimes tea bags are used to disguise lower quality tea leaves. Thankfully, tea is quite forgiving and if you plan on blending and mixing tea but if you prefer your tea to be more flavourful and aromatic then invest in some loose leaf tea. There are plenty of local brands you can shop from.

Tea doesn't always have to be served hot. Especially in sweltering heat – like in Singapore – a cold, cold cup of iced tea is most welcoming. Go another level above the regular teh bing and pop some ice cubes in a blender with some of your favourite tea like chai, earl grey with a dash of milk. A little suggestion – you might want to make the tea a little bit sweeter because you'll be blending it with ice. You can even make tea-based smoothies and add some fruits into the blender. 

Don't weep over the temporary closure of bubble tea stalls across the island, it's now your chance to take matters into your own hands. Sago pearls have always been available on the market so go out and purchase a pack. Though all you have to do is to boil it, the tricky part is that you have to be standing there throughout the whole process, stirring the put so the pearls don't clump up together to become a giant blob. To make brown sugar pearls, mix it some brown sugar or even gula Melaka into the warm pearls so it will melt and form a silky syrup. Once it's done, you can add your homemade pearls to your tea of choice. 

Lemon and lime are standard additions to iced tea, but there are so many other fruits that you can add to your drink. For some extra flavour to elevate your tea, try strawberries, peaches, blueberries and green apple for a delicious drink.

Mint leaves is a common thing to add on to tea, but try out other herbs and botanicals as well. Rose and lavender offers a floral kick, basil gives it a certain spiciness and tanginess and pandan leaves adds to the aroma. Play around with spices as well. Cinnamon, ginger, star anise, nutmeg, and cardamom are often found in chai blends – and easy to find on the spice rack in supermarkets so you can recreate it in your own kitchen. 

You'll be surprised to know that it's easy to recreate tea-based cocktails at home (if you have the right booze). You can infuse tea leaves into gin for a twist. Put aside approximately 375ml of gin and two teaspoons of your choice of tea. Let it infuse for at least two hours for the full aroma and flavour. We suggest using earl grey tea for its fragrance and light sweetness.