Are you one of those people who don’t like green tea because it is too bitter?  Or do you perhaps think white tea has no flavour?  The reason is probably due to a poorly brewed cup of tea.

It may seem like a lot of work (trust me it’s not), but it is really worth the little extra effort to taste tea the way it was meant to be brewed.

All true tea is from the same plant family.  At the end of processing we are left with either a white, oolong, green or black tea to indulge in.  And each of these types of tea require a different brewing temperature and time.  If we oversteep our tea it will be bitter.  If we understeep it, it will have no flavour.   But if you get it just right, well, let me just say there really is nothing quite like the perfectly steeped cup of tea.

For the guidelines below I have included times and water temperatures for herbal and rooibos “teas”.  Both of which are not from the tea plant, but rather are tisanes.

For all teas a rough measuring guideline is 1 tsp. per cup of water.  If making a pot of tea the rule of thumb is 1 tsp. per cup of water, plus one for the pot.

White Tea: White tea is the least processed of all the leaves, and therefore, has the least amount of caffeine.  To truly develop the flavour of the buds of white tea, it should be steeped in steaming water that has not yet reached the boiling point (82 degrees Celsius).  It is brewed for 7 minutes.

Green Tea: Green tea should be steeped in steaming water that has not yet reached the boiling point.  (82 degrees Celsius ).  Green tea is only brewed for 3 minutes – No More!  The biggest reason people think green tea is bitter is because most are overbrewed in boiling water, thus burning the leaves.

Oolong Tea: Oolong Tea is part way between a green and a black tea.  It is brewed very much like a black tea for 5 minutes in boiling water (100 degrees Celsius).  The great thing about Oolong tea is that it can be re-steeped multiple times with a new aspect of it’s flavour emerging with each brew.

Black Tea: Black tea is the most commonly consumed tea in North America and the United Kingdom.  It is steeped for 5 minutes in boiling water (100 degrees Celsius).  There are so many varieties of black tea, some even fermented over pine smoke!

Rooibos Tea: Rooibos tea, also known as Red Tea is actually harvested from a bush in South Africa.  It is known for it’s relaxing properties, and has a very high vitamin C content.  Rooibos contains no caffeine, and is brewed for 7 minutes in steaming water (82 degrees Celsius).

Herbal Tea: Herbal “Tea” is actually a Tisane, and like Rooibos does not contain any tea leaves at all.  It is brewed the same as Rooibos, in steaming water (82 degrees Celsius) for 7 minutes.

For those who like their tea strong, don’t let it sit for longer than the above mentioned times.  It will only result in a bitter cup, not a stronger cup, of tea.  To increase the strength of your cup of tea, simply increase the amount of tea you steep per cup of water.  Then follow the same guidelines above.

Happy Indulging!

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