Tea Preparation

Did you know that you can make great tea or undrinkable tea with the very same leaves? It's a fact! Listen to the Tea Tigress here. Personal preference plays a big part in how you'll brew your tea, but you always need to keep the basics in mind. These are: the tea; the water; water temperature; how long the leaves steep.
Notice that I say leaves.

The Tea
Start with good tea. There's no substitute for it. On the other hand, if a mediocre tea is brewed properly, your results can be pretty good. But you'll get a great cup from great tea -- properly brewed, of course. And by great tea, I don't mean bagged tea. Great tea comes from great tea leaves. They cost, but it doesn't take a large amount to make a cup or pot.

So what's wrong with bagged tea? Remember, I'm opinionated, so I'm about to tell you what I think. Though some people think bagged tea is OK, I don't like it. Typically, the tea is in smaller pieces, and it may not be of as high quality as tea you buy as "loose leaf". Not only that, with smaller pieces, more surface area is exposed to the water, and you may get an "overbrewed" (my tiger term for tea that's steeped too long) cup or pot of tea in a shorter period of time. If you like bagged tea, well, I'm not going to stop you from drinking it, but I avoid it unless there's no alternative.

How much tea do you need to make a "cup" of tea. Obviously, this depends upon the size of the cup. A standard western tea cup holds about 6 to 8 ounces (180 to 240 cc) of water, and a mug typically holds between 10 and 12 ounces (300 to 360 cc). How much tea you might use for each depends not only on the size of the cup but also upon the type of tea. Use too much tea, and your brew could taste bitter, too little, and the brew could taste weak. To complicate matters, you could make that teaspoon full of tea flat or heaping. So there's really only one answer. Experiment to see what you like.

A rule of thumb: For one traditional 6- to 8-ounce use about 1 teaspoon full of black or dark oolong tea. For lighter oolongs, which have a lighter flavor, experiment – I find that these delicate, fragrant teas do better with a smaller volume (less than one teaspoon) of tea per cup.
As to white and green teas? Some green teas are best with one teaspoon full of tea per cup or less; others, whose leaves are less "compact", may require more. And the same goes for white teas, which can require up to 2 teaspoons full of tea per cup.

The Water
It stands to reason that the more pure the water, the better. On the other hand, distilled water is said to be "pure", but to me it makes a brew that I can describe only as "flat". So where's the happy medium? If your tap water is good and seems to be free of taste, in my opinion, it's probably pretty good for brewing tea. If, on the other hand, your tap water tastes nasty - like a stream through which a herd of water buffaloes have trampled recently, or if your water is hard (full of minerals), then you may want to consider using bottled water that's sold in gallon or multi-liter bottles. If your water quality is lousy and distilled water is your only alternative, then distilled your water must be.

While we're on the subject, what about home-filtered water? The kind you use from a pitcher that you keep in your fridge or from a water filter at your sink. In my opinion, both of these options are better than hard water, and if they take away the taste of bad-tasting tap water, then they could be your best bet! Your brewed tea will tell you all you need to know.

Water Temperature
All hot water isn't equal. Boiling water – 212 degrees F – is fine for black tea and for dark oolongs. But the more delicate teas such as the lighter oolongs, green teas, and white teas, require a more delicate touch. For those, water that is about to boil – medium-size bubbles come to the surface of the pot or kettle -- seems about right to me. Experiment. See what you like.

Steeping Time
The common wisdom is that black teas, which often come in small pieces and have lots of surface area, should brew no more than 5 minutes. I prefer a shorter brewing time for most because they tend to get bitter if overbrewed. For dark oolong and white teas, personal taste is your best bet. However, for dark oolongs, you can brew longer, for light oolongs three minutes can be sufficient. For white teas, I prefer about four minutes. Green teas, which can be more lightly processed or roasted, for example, brewing times are highly variable. Often as not, the seller of a fine tea will recommend brewing time.

One cup or a multiple-cup pot?
It's up to you. You can make a single cup or a pot of tea and discard the tea after brewing, or you can brew multiple cups or pots from slightly more tea than you would use for a single cup or pot.

Small, individual-size pots (or single cups, for that matter), can give you more control over the the resulting brew.

When it's just me, I prefer to make my tea by the cup, and use my own variation of the Chinese gong fu style for multiple cups. I brew the first cup from tea I place in a bamboo strainer and brew in a cup or mug. I use more tea than I would use for a single cup but brew it for slightly less time. Then I place the strainer in a small bowl. When I am ready for the second cup, I return the strainer to my cup or mug, add water, and steep a little longer than the first cup. Although each cup gets weaker, the flavors and aromas evolve with each cup. Some teas make more cups, others make less.

I often start my morning with a white tea – organic snow buds. I fill a bamboo tea strainer about half full with the fluffy leaves, pour on the water, and allow to brew for about 4 minutes. Then I put the strainer in a small bowl until I'm ready for my second cup. This method typically makes three 12-oz mugs of the organic snow buds tea. For hoji-cha, a smoked green tea, I use less tea and brew for about 5 mintues, and I usually get three to four cups from a single bamboo strainer's worth.

Or you can brew your tea in a pot. Place a sufficient quantity of tea for the number of cups you want into a strainer in a pot, or directly into a pot that has a means of trapping tea leaves so they don't pour from the spout with your tea, let it steep, and enjoy.
For brewing tea in a pot gong fu style (but not by strict rules), use more tea than you would for the number of cups you'll pour, brew your tea for less time than you would if making a single pouring and enjoy the first brew. If you've made a pot for multiple cups, swirl the tea as you pour to ensure equally strong brew for all cups. For subsequent pourings, add more water and steep longer than the first time. Some teas can be brewed more times than others.

Good quality teas can be brewed several times, by repeating the brewing steps above. Often the second and third infusions are considered the best.