How much tea should I use and how long should I brew it?

Different teas are processed differently and their compounds dissolve at different rates. One temperature and one time cannot suit all of them, and applying black tea's method to green tea is the single most common reason green tea tastes harsh.

What you'll need

• Tea
• Scales or a teaspoon (optional)
• Thermometer or variable kettle (optional)

Step by step

1. Use about 2-3g of leaf per 200ml.Roughly a level teaspoon, though light fluffy leaves take more by volume. Weighing once tells you what your spoon actually holds.
2. Black tea: water just off the boil, 3-4 minutes.Full boiling water is correct for black tea. Longer than four minutes extracts tannins and turns it harsh.
3. Green tea: 70-80°C, 2-3 minutes.This is the important one. Boiling water scalds green tea leaves and produces bitterness that no shorter steep will fix.
4. White tea: 75-85°C, 3-5 minutes.Delicate and easily overwhelmed. It rewards a longer steep at a lower temperature.
5. Oolong: 85-95°C, 3-5 minutes, and re-steep.Good oolong gives three or four infusions, each different. Discarding the leaf after one wastes most of it.
6. Herbal infusions: boiling water, 5 minutes or longer.They are not tea leaves and cannot become bitter in the same way. Longer steeping only makes them stronger.
7. Cool boiling water by adding a splash of cold, or waiting.Boiling water left two or three minutes falls to roughly green tea temperature. A variable-temperature kettle removes the guesswork.
8. Give the leaves room to move.A cramped infuser ball extracts poorly. A basket infuser or a pot lets the leaf unfurl, which matters more than most people expect.

Tips

• Time it rather than judging by colour. Tea continues darkening well past the point where it starts tasting harsh.
• Remove the leaves rather than leaving them in. Tea left on the leaf keeps extracting and gets progressively more astringent.
• Warm the pot first. It keeps the water at the intended temperature for the whole steep, which matters most for delicate teas.

Common mistakes

• Using boiling water for green tea — It scalds the leaf and creates bitterness immediately. Temperature matters more than time for green tea.
• Leaving the bag or leaves in the cup — Extraction continues and the tea becomes increasingly astringent as you drink it.
• Judging by colour rather than time — Colour develops faster than flavour balances. A tea can look right and already be over-brewed.

Questions people ask