Tea essence

Tea essence is prepared in a teapot by pouring water at an appropriate temperature over dried tea. The properties of the essence depend on the brewing time and water temperature: it can be stimulating, calming, bitter and even disinfecting like iodine.

The preparation of essence in a small teapot originates from Russia. To this day, it is common to prepare tea there in a samovar: water boils in the lower part, and on top there is a teapot with tea essence heated by steam. Pour the strong tea infusion from the teapot into cups and dilute with hot water.

Turks prepare the essence for a dozen or several dozens of minutes. They use two pots stacked on top of each other. Water is boiled in the lower pot, then poured over the dried tea in the upper pot, then water is added to the lower pot and boiled again. The upper pot of essence is heated all the time by steam from the lower one. Tea prepared in this way is poured into glasses and topped up with hot water.

In the far East, tea essence is used to disinfect wounds. Once cooled, a long-cooked decoction of tea leaves is used for washing wounds and bandaging. Such a strong tea essence is said to work more effectively than a decoction of oak bark.