Proper Tea Brewing Times and Temperatures
| Tea Type | Brew Time | Brew Temp |
| White | 7-10 min. | 200°F |
| Green | 3-4 min. | 180°F |
| Oolong | 4-5 min. | 190°F |
| Black | 5 min. | 210°F |
| Herbal | 5 min. | 210°F |
TEA BAGS
This is the most straightforward method. Place the bag in your cup and pour boiling water over it. Remove the bag when it has steeped long enough.
Oddly enough, most restaurants in the United States are incapable of performing this simple procedure. As many readers of rec.food.drink.tea will testify, asking for tea in a restaurant usually gets one a cup of tepid water with a bargain-basement tea bag floating listlessly in it like a dead fish.
Teapot
First, a general guide; details below.
A) Start with fresh, cold water. Tap water is often acceptable; if your tap water has a noticeable taste, you may want to use filtered or bottled water. Put the water in a kettle to boil.
B) Prepare a teapot: heat it by filling it (or rinsing it) with hot water.
C) Shortly before the water in the kettle boils, empty out the teapot and add the tea leaves.
You may want to put the leaves loose in the pot, or use a strainer, sock, or tea ball. You can, of course, also use tea bags in a pot. If you do, place the bags on the bottom of the pot so that they will be struck by the boiling water as it falls on them.
D) Bring the teapot to the kettle and add the water. For most black and oolong teas, add the water just after it reaches a full boil. See below for more detailed information.
E) Allow the tea to infuse for three to five minutes. Be careful not to let the tea stand for too long. Different teas take different infusion times. See below.
F) During the infusion, give the teapot a good shake or stir to let the leaves circulate. After they settle, pour the tea. Some authorities recommend using cups that have been pre-heated with hot water. This is primarily important if you are using very thin porcelain that could be cracked by the sudden addition of very hot tea.
G) Add whatever accessories you prefer: milk, sugar, honey, lemon, etc. Cream is usually too heavy and should be avoided. There is considerable debate about whether to put milk in the cups before you add the tea or afterwards. See below.
Enjoy!
Steeping Tea / Always Room For Improvement
With the huge array of tea brands and varieties available these days, it might at first appear that finding exactly what you want would be quite easy. The truth of the matter is this: there are so many brands to choose from that the decision can become overwhelming! Here are a few criteria that I focus on when seeking a great tea: freshness, flavour, and packaging. I find that freshness is the most important of all criteria, when tea and herbs are fresh, they are more aromatic and flavourful. There are two keys to freshness, packaging and vertical integration of the company providing the teas. Determining whether a package keeps teas fresh is easy. Tea and herbs packed in foil/poly or foil/saran packets or sealed canisters are usually kept very fresh within. Tea and herbs packed in paper over wraps or sold from bulk bins can be a bit less than fresh, often just plain stale. Vertical integration is a bit more difficult to determine. When it comes down to the nitty gritty of it, many tea and herb companies are really not tea and/or herb companies at all, they’re marketing companies. Our Tea Range Brand is among a few that actually grow, blend and package the products in Sri Lanka firms with Canada / US presence and have excellent teas. Fresh teas are certainly the best beginning but correct steeping of teas is important too. Especially if you are to obtain excellent results in the cup, and another key factor is fresh spring water.
Let’s take a moment to consider the water used in steeping tea. Spring water, fresh and containing some natural minerals and a bit on the hard side (100ppm or so) steeps the best teas. Be sure not to use reverse osmosis water or water that has been boiled for more than a few seconds. Many find that boiling water for tea in electric kettles is most convenient, and it probably is. Unfortunately, almost all electric kettles bring water to a rolling boil and therefore must be watched carefully as, once a rolling boil is reached, allowing the water to continue boiling can cause oxygen depletion and ‘flatten’ the life of the water. This is not desirable as it steeps lifeless teas.Boiling water on the stove in a nice clean kettle allows one to arrest the water at the desired temperature. This allows for the greatest level of control and assures that the water is not ‘overly boiled’.
Generally speaking, the temperatures suggested for tea steeping are somewhat as follows (Fahrenheit):
Black Teas = 208º
China Green Teas = 190º
Japan Green Teas = 170º
White Teas = 170º
In China, origin of teas, water for tea is often boiled in kettles that can be peeked into by opening the lid. The water temperature is determined by the bubbles that rise from the bottom of kettle as follows:170º (+ -) water is called ‘fish eyes’ as there are small bubbles at the bottom of the kettle that resemble ‘fishes eyes’.190º (+ -) water is called ‘string of seed pearls’ as at this stage the bubbles rise to the top of the kettle in tiny strings, resembling a ‘string of seed pearls’208º (+ -) water is called ‘string of large pearls’, the bubbles rise to the top of the kettle in large strings, resembling a ‘string of large pearls’212º water (rolling boil) is called ‘ruined water’.Once you get used to your kettle, you can determine these stages of water simply by listening to the kettle.The next thing to consider when steeping tea is the amount of water used. Generally, 2.2 grams of tea per 5 ounces of water works quite well. Weighing the tea assures that you use the proper amount. The old adage of one teaspoon per cup is great if you steep only black teas that have mid sized leaf, but for green and white teas, yellow and oolongs, this adage does not hold true.Now comes the important decision of just how long to steep your teas. Certainly this crucial decision will hinge upon personal preference, how much caffeine you wish to transfer into your liquor and what tea you are steeping. Again, as a generalization I would suggest never steeping teas longer than 6 minutes. For stronger tea, use more tea; do not increase the steeping time over 6 minutes.