Steeeping Time and Water Temperature

Brewing with loose leaf tea

In its simplest form, brewing tea can be broken down into five main components: method, water, temperature, time and type of tea.

How to Brew Tea

Brewing tea is simply the extraction of the natural flavors and nutrients inherent in the tea leaves through various steeping methods creating an infusion.

The words “various steeping methods” are where everyone gets tripped up. The truth is, even standard brewing methods can vary with each specific tea and with each person.

Part of the joy of tea is learning about different cultures and ways of brewing tea. Should I brew the English style in a teapot or mug? Perhaps I want to make a concentrate and brew with a samovar, or brew a powdered tea with a Japanese bamboo whisk or maybe brew Chinese gongfu style?

There is so very much to learn about tea with so many different cultures having their own wonderful traditions around the experience of taking tea.

The choice is yours. There’s no right or wrong. But there are some general guidelines you can follow to help you brew a better cup of tea.

Water

Good water is as important for brewing tea as the tea itself. The ideal water for brewing tea is spring water. Tea is delicate and can be affected by water with too high a mineral count or too high a chlorine content. I use filtered water. It really does make a difference. Take an afternoon, give it a test. Try your tea made from tap water, then try with filtered.

Most municipal waters fall into this category. The best way around this is to use a good water filter.

On the other hand, soft or distilled water has little to no mineral content, which can leave the brewed tea tasting flat. Some minerals are good.

If you use well water, be aware of the pH level. Some well waters have a very high pH count, and ideally, you want a neutral pH as close to 7.0 as possible.

Minerals in water are measured as Total Dissolved Solids or TDS. The ideal TDS is 100 - 300 parts per million or PPM. When purchasing spring water look for a pH of 7.0 and TDS of 300 PPM. TDS is sometimes measured in milligrams per liter. If that's the measurement used, below 300 mg/l is excellent.

Please don’t stress over pH, TDS and PPM. Just know that clean cold water is best to start with.

Temperature and Times

Green teas do better with shorter brewing times and lower water temperatures. Most green teas and greener oolong teas taste best when brewed at temperatures 30° - 40° F below boiling point (180° - 170°F).

Water temperature that is just below boiling (212°F) is ideal for black tea and oolong tea. Green tea is more delicate and requires a more delicate temperature.

Selecting the right water temperature for the specific tea type will bring out the desired characteristic flavors.

If you want to be very precise, there are some excellent kettles with built-in thermometers for brewing tea.

A simple trick is to boil the water and let it sit for five minutes. In that amount of time, the approximate temperature will drop to the desired 180° F.

Tea Type Determines the Volume

The size of the leaf helps to determine the brewing time and the amount of tea used.

•          Smaller cut leaves have more surface area and will infuse faster, requiring a shorter steeping time and smaller amounts of tea per cup.

•          A larger leaf size requires a larger volume of leaf and longer steeping times.

•          Measure volume in weight instead of teaspoons for best results: 2 - 2.5  grams for a 6-ounce cup is ideal. Because a large full leaf tea at 2 grams of weight may be much larger than one teaspoon in volume. A digital kitchen scale comes in handy.

The art of brewing tea takes all of this into account and helps you determine the precise time, volume and temperature at which your tea provides your favorite aromas and flavors.

Don’t stress about this! Experiment and have fun with it. Start with this guide but in the end brewing tea is all about the way you like it.

I use the teaspoon method. I adjust the amount of tea also based on the flavour I am after, weak or strong.

Did you know Water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, so adjust your temperatures accordingly.