Brewing a cup of your favorite tea can be taken as a moment to slow the world down for just a few minutes. The trick to steeping the highly sought perfect cup mainly comes down to a preference of taste and fundamentals of brewing. The guidelines below will help lead you in the right direction and can be adjusted to your liking. All it takes is a little experimentation and time.
Brewing Guidelines
Vail Mountain Coffee & Tea Co. recommends using 1 tsp of leaves for every six to eight ounces of water. Each of the measurements below are based on an 8 oz cup.
A basic starting principle is if your tea is too strong, use less tea at a lower temperature. If the tea is too weak, use more tea at a similar temperature. As a good rule of thumb, you generally want to let the water for all teas sit for about a minute, as you don't want the water to be quite at its boiling point.
Most teas can be steeped a second, third or fourth time, depending on the tea. Keep in mind that the amount of tea you use will depend also on the leaf size. Some teas like Egyptian Chamomile are large and may require up to a tablespoon for each cup. While a dense tea like Temple of Heaven Gunpowder will require less tea. There is a lot of flexibility when it comes to tea. Try changing the amount, temperature, and time to discover new flavors within each cup.
| BREW AMOUNT | TEMP | TIME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black: | 1 tsp | 205- 210° | 3-5 minutes |
| Green: | 1.5 tsp | 170- 175° | 2-3 minutes |
| Oolong: | 1.5 tsp | 190- 195° | 3-5 minutes |
| Pu-Ehr: | 1.5 tsp | 200- 205° | 3-5 minutes |
| White: | 1.5 tsp | 175- 180° | 5-7 minutes |
| Flavored: | 1 tsp | 175- 195° | 2-3 minutes |
| Herbal: | 2 tsp | 205- 210° | 5-7 minutes |