How to Brew

The basics of brewing:
Keep It Simple

Brewing loose-leaf tea is simple. Remember—the custom of tea drinking was started over a thousand years ago by people who didn't have clocks or thermometers.

Here are the basic steps:
1. Put 1-2 tsp. of loose-leaf tea in a mug or small teapot.
2. Pour in hot (but not quite boiling) water.
3. Wait a few minutes.
4. Sip and enjoy.

For stronger flavor, use more tea and/or wait a few minutes longer.

You can use a strainer to remove leaves after steeping to your desired taste. The leaves will still contain flavor for one or more steeps, each steeping bringing out a slighly different flavor profile.

If you don't have a strainer, you can just allow gravity to pull the steeped tea leaves to the bottom, and slowly sip or pour from the top.

Some teapots also have built-in strainers, others have top-sitting ones that allow the tea to sit above the water after you pour some out. These are all excellent options.

Water Temperature

The optimal temperature for extracting the flavor and health benefits from green tea is slightly cooler than boiling, or around 80-90 degrees Celcius (170-200 F).

If you don't have a thermometer: When heating up water, remove the heat right when small bubbles start to form. Or, allow it fully boil, then wait a few minutes before steeping your tea.

Even from the same tea, you can draw out different flavor profiles by varying the amount of leaves, steeping time, or water temperature. Feel free to explore different methods to find your favorites.