How should I Steep Tea?
    Tips for steeping
    Measuring
    Water Temperature
    Steeping Times

How do I prepare an Herbal Tisane?
What size are the tea samples?

STEEPING TEA: TIPS FOR STEEPING GREAT-TASTING TEA

Rule # 1: Steep tea as simply as possible. If you can heat water, you can prepare tea!

Rule # 2: Watch the water temperature. Never brew tea in water that is TOO HOT.

Rule # 3: Steep tea according to the traditional method for each particular tea, until you become familiar with it. Then adjust to taste.

Rule # 4: Use plenty of leaf, because you want your tea to taste great and there is no reason to save it (there will be more fresh tea again next year). Tea is the 2nd least expensive beverage on the planet after water, so there is no good reason to skimp and end up with a flavor-less cup.

STEEPING TEA: MEASURING THE LEAF

‘Normal’ measure is always 2-3 grams leaf per 6 ounces of water, but the volume of leaf will differ from tea to tea. A pound is a pound, but a pound’s volume can vary dramatically.

So, when steeping tea, make sure that you use the correct amount of leaf. When the leaf is large, (whole leaf, or a budset) use more leaf; when using a small leaf or CTC, use less. The idea is to maintain the correct proportion of leaf to water by weight.

BLACK TEA
Use 2-3 grams of tea per 6 ounces of water
That’s a standard teaspoon in many cases - leafy orthodox styles require more

OOLONG TEA
Use 2-3 grams of tea per 6 ounces of water
That’s a standard teaspoon for ball-rolled style oolongs
and a standard tablespoon or two for strip style large leaf oolongs

GREEN TEA
Use 2-3 grams of tea per 6 ounces of water
That can be from a teaspoon to two tablespoons
Green tea leaf varies more than any other tea

WHITE TEA
Use 2-3 grams of tea per 6 ounces of water
That’s a heaping tablespoon or two, depending on whether bud or leaf style

STEEPING TEA: WATER TEMPERATURE:

Water temperature is critical for obtaining the proper flavor from your tea. Most tea leaves do not like to be blasted with boiling hot water. After you have steeped tea ‘properly’, try experimenting with different water temperatures and decide what temperature your tea wants to be prepared with.

PU-ERH TEA ‘turbulent waters’
Use water that is 200 - 212°F
That’s just off the boil

BLACK TEA ‘old man water’
Use water that is 190 - 200°F
That’s just under a full boil

OOLONG TEA ‘string of pearls’ water
Use water that is 180 - 200°F
That’s when tiny bubbles thread along the surface

CHINESE GREEN TEA & JASMINE TEA ‘fish eyes’ water
Use water that is 170 - 180°F
That’s when large bubbles first appear

CHINESE SPRING GREEN TEA, YELLOW TEA & JAPANESE GREEN TEA ‘column of steam steadily rising’ water
Use water that is 160-170°F

WHITE TEA
‘column of steam steadily rising’ water
Use water that is 160 - 170°F
That’s when a column of steam begins to rise from the surface

STEEPING TEA: STEEPING TIMES

Start with a 2 minute steep, and taste a tea that is ‘new to you’ every 30 seconds after. Jot down the results. White and Green teas are rarely ‘in the water’ for longer than 2 minutes at a time (often less). Oolong tea can steep 3-5 minutes depending on whether the leaf is ball-rolled or a long, folded leaf. Most ball-rolled oolongs are only steeped for 30 seconds to a minute, and re-steeped many times.

White, Green, and Oolong tea leaves can always be steeped again, sometimes 3 times or more, depending on the type. Additional steepings may call for a cooler or hotter water temperature than that used for the initial steeping.

Black tea steeping time varies depending on the cut of the leaf. Finely cut leaf usually needs just 2-3 minutes, whereas large leaf may need 5 minutes to fully develop.  A few large leaf orthodox black teas can be steeped a second time.

© 2007 Mary Lou Heiss

Measuring the Leaf:

Use 2-3 grams of tea per 6 ounces of water
That’s a teaspoon to a tablespoon depending

Water Temperature:

Use water that is 195 - 205
That's just under a full boil

Steeping Time:

Steep 3 - 5 minutes

Tea Trekker sample sizes are 14 grams, so each will yield 5 standard measures of tea.

If used all at once this will make 30 ounces of tea - enough for a "standard" one quart or one liter teapot.

Because many of our website visitors have written to us to let us know that they would like to purchase small packets of tea we are now offering sample sizes of most of our teas. We offer sample sizes from January until November, but not in November or December. This will allow you to taste a tea before stocking-up, or taste a tea that you only want to enjoy once-in-a-while.

We have kept the cost of these sample sizes as modest as possible, but we all know these are fun and a convenience; they are not a good value for regular drinking.

We hope you enjoy making friends with new varieties of tea from exotic places of origin.