Tea Brewing Guide

Good tea is mostly about water temperature, steeping time, and leaf amount. Get those right and almost any tea brews well.

Temperature

Delicate green and white teas want cooler water, around 160 to 180F, or they turn bitter. Black and herbal teas can take a full boil. Oolong sits in between.

Time and leaf

Use about 1 teaspoon of loose leaf, or one bag, per 8 oz cup. Steep green tea 1 to 3 minutes, black 3 to 5, and herbal 5 to 7. Taste as you go and pull the leaves when it is right.

Re-steeping

Quality loose leaf, especially oolong and green, can be re-steeped several times. Add a little time with each round as the leaves give up less.

Cooler water for green tea. Match the temperature to the tea. Boiling water scorches green and white tea; let the kettle cool a minute first.

See the Tea Brewing Temperature Chart and the Tea Steeping Time Chart.

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