How do I brew black tea properly?

Black tea is fully oxidised, which makes it robust enough for boiling water and forgiving of most things except time. Leave it too long and the tannins dominate; that's the single most common fault, and it's why a cup with the bag left in tastes worse as it cools.

What you'll need

• Black tea, loose or bagged
• Kettle
• Teapot or mug
• Timer
• Filtered water in hard water areas (optional)

Step by step

1. Fill the kettle with fresh cold water rather than reboiling.Reboiled water has less dissolved oxygen and produces noticeably flatter tea.
2. Warm the pot or mug with a splash of boiling water and discard it.A cold mug drops the brewing temperature by 10°C or more, which matters for black tea.
3. Use one teabag or one heaped teaspoon of loose leaf per 200ml.Under-dosing and brewing longer to compensate is the classic route to bitter, stewed tea.
4. Pour water at a full rolling boil directly onto the leaves.Black tea is the one type that wants genuinely boiling water.
5. Brew for 3–4 minutes, timed.Three for a lighter cup, four for a strong one. Beyond five it's mostly tannin.
6. Remove the bag or leaves completely — don't squeeze the bag.Squeezing releases concentrated tannins and makes the cup astringent.
7. Add milk after brewing if you want it.Milk added first lowers the water temperature and inhibits extraction.
8. If your water is hard, try filtered water.Hard water dulls black tea considerably and produces the scum on the surface. It's a bigger factor than most people expect.

Tips

• The scum on the surface of tea is a reaction between tea compounds and calcium in hard water. Filtered water or a squeeze of lemon prevents it.
• Different black teas want different times — a delicate Darjeeling suits 3 minutes, a robust Assam handles 4–5.
• Warming the pot matters more in a cold kitchen than most people assume. It's a five-second step.
• A teabag left in a mug keeps extracting, which is why tea that started fine tastes harsh by the time it's cool enough to drink.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the bag in — Extraction continues, so the cup gets progressively more bitter and astringent.
• Reboiling the kettle — Loss of dissolved oxygen makes the tea taste flat.
• Squeezing the teabag — Releases concentrated tannin, which is the harshest component.
• Adding milk before the water — It lowers the brewing temperature and reduces extraction.

Questions people ask