How do I brew loose leaf tea?
How much leaf to use, what to brew it in, and how to get multiple infusions from good leaves.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 5 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Use about 2–3g of leaf per 200ml of water in something that lets the leaves expand fully — a teapot or a wide basket infuser, not a cramped ball. Brew for the type's time, strain completely, and re-steep good leaves two or three times.
The main practical difference between loose leaf and bags is room. Whole leaves need to unfurl and circulate to extract evenly, which is exactly what a compressed ball infuser prevents. Get the vessel right and loose leaf is no more effort than a bag.
What you'll need
- Loose leaf tea
- Teapot or a wide basket infuser
- Scales or a teaspoon
- Timer
- Strainer
Step by step
- Choose an infuser that gives the leaves room — a basket, a teapot, or a simple mug-and-strain.Ball infusers compress the leaves and produce weak, uneven extraction.
- Warm the pot with hot water and discard.Keeps the brewing temperature stable, particularly noticeable in a cold room.
- Measure 2–3g per 200ml — roughly a heaped teaspoon for most black teas.Fluffy teas like white tea need more by volume; dense rolled oolongs need less.
- Heat the water to the right temperature for the type.Boiling for black and herbal, 70–80°C for green, 80–90°C for white and oolong.
- Pour over the leaves and time the steep.3–4 minutes black, 1–2 green, 2–3 oolong, 3–5 white.
- Strain everything out into a cup or a second pot.Leaves left in the water keep extracting, and the pot's second cup will be bitter.
- Re-steep the leaves, adding 30–60 seconds each time.Good leaves give two or three infusions and the flavour evolves between them.
Tips
- A simple mesh basket that sits in a mug and lifts out is the cheapest and most practical loose-leaf setup there is.
- Look at the dry leaf: whole, intact leaves indicate quality; dust and fragments extract fast and bitter, much like bagged tea.
- Used leaves go on the compost or straight onto the garden.
- Buy small amounts of several teas rather than a large amount of one — tea deteriorates and variety is most of the pleasure.
Common mistakes
- Using a small ball infuser — The leaves can't expand, so extraction is weak and uneven.
- Leaving the leaves in the pot between cups — Over-extraction. Decant or strain fully.
- Throwing leaves away after one steep — You're discarding two-thirds of what you paid for.
Questions people ask
How much loose tea per cup?
About 2–3g per 200ml, or a heaped teaspoon for most black teas. Fluffier leaves need more by volume, tightly rolled ones less.
Is loose leaf better than bags?
Usually, because bags typically contain broken leaf and fine particles that extract quickly and unevenly. The gap has narrowed with better pyramid bags, but whole leaf with room to move still wins.