In 1904 America was just starting to become a world power. One of its marked achievements was it hosted the 1904 World Fair. People traveled from all over the world to show off their different inventions, gadgets and cultural products. 

One person to travel to St. Louis was a tea farmer who wanted to give away free samples of his tea, believing that once people tasted it they would absolutely go crazy and buy more.  The problem was it was scorching hot outside, and no one wanted anything hot to drink. Out of desperation, he dumped a bunch of ice into the tea and he had an instant hit. 

That story is most likely an Urban Legend, but it does show how basic iced tea is. Iced tea is simply hot tea that has been cooled and iced. The easiest way to make iced tea is to wait until your tea has cooled and then pour it over ice.

When I was in High School my mother sent me to the store to buy some milk. I only had $5 at the time, and she told me to get the best deal I could. What I ran into was a shelf full of white cartons that were all different sizes and shapes. The smaller ones were less money, but they looked like they only had a few cereal bowls worth of milk. The large ones were three times as much, but did seem that big. I stood there staring at the cartons for five minutes with no idea how to figure out which one was the best deal. I think we can safely say that I was confused.

If I was confused when i went to buy milk, imagine the feeling I had when I bought loose tea the first time. I sat there looking at a bag of tea and what seemed like a large price tag. After all, I could get a box of 20 teabags for much less than a bag of loose tea. Thankfully the store owner was there an explained to me the best way to figure out how much the loose tea really costs when compared to the tea bags. "The basic principal is unit cost, but in the tea world it is referred to as cost per cup" she said. Luckily for me, once I worked out the numbers I found out that loose tea is actually cheaper in a lot of cases than bagged tea, and I can thank that revelation to "cost per cup."

"When the world is all at odds
And the mind is all at sea
Then cease the useless tedium
And brew a cup of tea.

There is magic in its' fragrance,
There is solace in its' taste;
And the laden moments vanish
Somehow into space.

And the world becomes a lovely thing!
There's beauty as you'll see;
All because you briefly stopped
To brew a cup of tea."

- Unknown author

The author of this poem would not be singing the praises of tea if he or she were alive today. Today's bagged tea is weak, tepid and commercialized. Luckily for you (and me), the type of tea the author sings about in the above poem is still available. But before you can have an almost religious like tea experience, you first need to know how to brew a proper cup of tea. The good news is it isn't as hard as you think.

Do you ever run into that person at a party that tells you there is only one "true" way to do something? They tell you that you have to eat a Ribeye steak at "Medium Rare Plus", drink Bordeaux wine at exactly 62 degrees or use a french press at precisely 212 degrees for coffee.

These people are idiots. You shouldn't listen to them, and here is why. Sometimes we are just too busy, tired or just don't feel like doing things the "proper" way. If I have some friends over for a bbq, I may neglect the food a little bit because I am having fun talking to my friends and drinking a 75 degree Bordeaux that is been sitting in the sun all day. Or I may be driving home from work at 1 am and i will drink anything that has the word "coffee" in it just to stay awake.

There is a time and place for everything. So even though you may not be able to make the perfect cup of tea, there is a quick way to do it that can still make a decent brew. And the good thing is it is reaaaaaly easy to do.

Randy: Can I get you something?
Second Jive Dude: 'S'mofo butter layin' me to da' BONE! Jackin' me up... tight me!
Randy: I'm sorry, I don't understand.
First Jive Dude: Cutty say 'e can't HANG!
Jive Lady (Who happens to be Mrs. Cleaver for the 1950's show "Leave it to Beaver"): Oh stewardess! I speak jive.
Randy: Oh, good.
Jive Lady: He said that he's in great pain and he wants to know if you can help him.

Sometimes it is hard to understand what people are talking about. You understand what each individual word means, but when used in context it sounds totally foreign to you. Like Jive, tea has its own set of terminology which can seem intimidating to beginners. Because of this I have created a basic guide of terms people use when they prepare tea.

The first term is steeping....