Each tea can has a specific brewing method to optimize the flavor. A general guideline for each type of tea is below, though you can play with the brewing temperatures and times to find the way you like it best.

Heat good quality water, then steep your loose tea, strain, and serve. Many teapots strain the tea leaves when you serve into your teacup, or you can use a strainer or filter. To brew tea right in your teacup, you can use an infuser to keep the leaves separated. See below for some product recommendations. With tea bags, steep your tea in your cup or a pot, following the time and temperature guidelines below. A teabag can be re-used to brew a second cup of tea, though the second cup will be weaker in flavor than the first.

Tea Brewing Guidelines

For an 8 oz cup of tea:

• Green Tea 1 tsp.              160°                       1 – 3 minutes
• White Tea 1.5 tsp.           180°                       4 – 8 minutes
• Oolong Tea 1 tsp.             190°                       1 – 8 minutes
• Rooibos Tea 1.5 tsp.          208°                       5-6 minutes
• Black Tea 1 tsp.             212° (rolling boil)   3 – 5 minutes
• Herbal Tea 1.5 tsp.          212° (rolling boil)   5 – 8 minutes

How do you know what temperature the water is? There are tea kettles with built in thermometers, this is the pros way of determining the optimal water temperature (see below for product recommendations). Or you can bring your water to a rolling boil, remove it from the heat, and let it sit for about 30 seconds for white tea, or 60 seconds for green tea to reach the optimal temperature.

Brewing tea at too hot of a temperature can burn the tea leaves and produce a bitter flavor. Over-steeping the tea (leaving it in the water for too long) can also create strong, unpleasant flavors.

Traditional tea kettles are simply used to heat the water for you tea, then the tea can be brewed in an individual cup. This is a classic tea kettle that we recommend:

Water Kettle “Boiling water for tea is rarely this much fun. Watch water go from the cold calm to rapid boil in this stylish, easy-to-use kettle. It works with all sources of heat (gas stoves, electric cookers, ceramic hobs), and is dishwasher safe. Made in Germany. 60oz.”

For more temperature control, an electric kettle like this one can be programmed to give you water at the exact temperature needed for your cup of tea. This is very helpful when trying to find your optimal tea brew, as you can experiment with the temperature and keep notes to be able to replicate that perfect cup in the future.

utiliTEA Kettle “Green tea lovers no longer have to struggle to achieve the optimal steeping temperature, while darker tea drinkers can still expect impeccably boiling water. With an innovative temperature control system, this versatile device can heat to your preference. At last, an all-inclusive kettle for heating water for the perfect pot of tea. This durable stainless steel kettle is a must-have for tea lovers of all kinds. Made in China. 30 oz (1L).”

A large tea filter can be used for a teapot without a built in filter.

Swiss Gold Tea Filter This 23k plated gold filter is designed to brew tea in a pot. It’s perfect for those pots that don’t have a built-in filter. The fine mesh design keeps the leaves out of your tea, but the shape and size allows tea to steep just right.

This is a smaller version of the tea filter for use in a single cup.

Swiss Gold Tea Filter Small This 23k plated SwissGold filter rests in a cup. Fine mesh brews a full flavor and keeps broken leaves out of your tea.

Another route for brewing loose tea is to create your own tea bags for a single cup by using paper filters, like these:

Perfect Paper Tea Filters These paper tea filters are perfect for creating tea bags from loose leaf teas. This size makes normal tea bags for a cup of tea. Includes 100 tea bags made with abaca pulp (a strong fiber procured from the stalk of a specific banana tree), cellulose, and sealing fibers. They are bleached with oxygen and are biodegradable. We make sure that they are designed as purely as possible so that the taste of your tea is not affected by the bags. This is the only way we recommend tea bags!

Some creative tea companies have come up with great tea brewing systems that let you create a cup of loose leaf tea anywhere very easily – no mess. Check out Adagio’s ingenuiTEA system – you can microwave your water right in the pot, add in your loose tea, let it steep, place it on top of your cup and your tea filters into the cup. No spills, dishwasher safe and only $19 (click the image to purchase). I keep one in my office for that afternoon caffeine craving.