WHY BREW GRAVIOLA TEA & SOURSOP TEA?

The first step in brewing graviola tea, also called soursop tea in English, is to think about why you want to drink this tea. This question is important because it will directly impact which method you use.

There are two main reasons for drinking soursop teas. First is for the pleasure. If you are a tea enthusiast who wants to enjoy tea, blends, and infusions, primarily for their taste, then this method is for you. The second, is to extract the maximum health benefits from the graviola. If you drink soursop tea for health reasons, this second method may be best, although it is more time consuming.

BREWING FOR FLAVOR

Brewing soursop tea for flavor is much like brewing a regular cup of herbal tea. Take 1 to 2 tablespoons of your favorite Graviola Tea Company blend, Add boiling water and let steep for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the leaves before drinking.

If you are using Whole soursop leaves, take 2 to 3 graviola leaves for one to two cups of tea. Add leaves to water and let simmer for at least 10 minutes. Remove leaves before serving.

This short brewing time allows you to extract the enough flavor from the leaves and herbs for a well balanced cup of tea.

Brewing for flavor works best with the Graviola Tea Company's "Citrus Edge" and "Samosir Blends", or with "Pure Graviola - Shredded Soursop Leaves".

BREWING FOR HEALTH

Brewing soursop tea to extract the maximum health benefits requires more time.

Here are three useful methods:

1. If using a blend, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of tea per cup of boiling water and let steep for a minimum of 10 minutes. You can steep for up to 20 minutes, but may have to reheat the tea before drinking. A tea candle is useful to keep the tea hot while infusing. You may want to try a few different brewing lengths, so as to achieve your preferred extraction of flavors. Generally you can steep our blends for less time than the Pure Graviola Whole Leaves as these have already been cut, making the extraction process faster.

2. If using "Pure Graviola - Whole Soursop Leaves", add 1 to 3 leaves, depending on their size, for 1 to 2 cups of water. Cover pan and simmer the leaves for 20 to 30 minutes.

3. A third method is to add the whole graviola leaves or blend to a pot with one liter (one quart) of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and and let boil uncovered until the water has been reduced by half.

The additional steeping time extracts more of the benefits of the graviola leaf. You can either drink the tea at room temperature or reheat it. The downside to this method is the additional time from tea-pot to tongue.

VIDEO: HOW TO BREW SOURSOP TEA

For those of you who are more visual oriented, here is a short video that explains two basic brewing methods:

TEA BREWER'S TOOLS

Graviola tea and blends can be brewed directly in a cup or a teapot and then strained into a cup. A metal straining spoon also works well. We recommend using a straining spoon or metal filter with very small holes, as soursop can leaves a fine residue which is less pleasant to drink.

You can also try a reusable cloth tea filter or a disposable, non-bleached paper filter.

If pan-boiling whole leaves, filter the tea when serving