Crave a stronger cup of tea? Don’t make the common mistake of steeping a cup of tea longer in order to make it stronger. This is partially true, your tea will be stronger, but it will also be awfully bitter.

True teas (black, white, Oolong, Green) increase in bitterness as they are steeped beyond the producer’s specifications. Herbal teas, however, can be steeped beyond their suggested length without becoming bitter.

Add more tea to your diffuser or bag to increase the strength of black, green, white and Oolong teas.

For suggested steep times and tea descriptions see our tea guide.

Get the most flavor out of your brew by following the steps in our guide for steeping the perfect cup of tea.

Anybody can boil water, but not everybody knows the few key components needed to brew the perfect pot of tea. Water quality, tea quality, tea quantity, temperature, and the proper tools, are essential to bring out the full expression of the leaf.

Items you may need to brew your tea:

• Tea Strainer
• Tea ball
• Tea bags (that you can stuff with loose leaf tea)

Water quality
Starting with good water is crucial to creating a delicious pot of tea. If the water is highly chlorinated, that flavor will be transferred to your tea. Hard water is also a problem for tea drinkers. Not only does the hard water add unwanted minerals and impurities, it can also corrode your tea pot. If you’re unfortunate enough to have hard water or highly chlorinated water, you would be better off using bottled or filtered water to make your tea.

Tea quality
Always use loose leaf tea for optimal flavor. Pre-bagged, grocery store teas are pulverized into tiny particles to allow for quick diffusion. They are produced for convenience, not quality. Flavor bearing essential oils evaporate rapidly from these pulverized teas. This is why grocery store teas are often bland. Stick with loose leaf tea if you want the full scope the leaves flavor.

Tea Quantity
Make sure you are using the correct proportion of tea to water suggested by the producer. Generally speaking, 1tsp of to each cup (8 oz.) of water should yield a tasty brew. However, feel free to adjust to your preference. Some herbal and green blends may require a smidge more than the 1tsp rule. See our tea guide for the proper portions and steeping times for teas based on variety.

Temperature
Start off by filling your pot with cold rather than hot water. Cold water contains more oxygen which aerates the tea, releasing it’s flavor. Black teas should be steeped in water that has been brought to a rolling boil, about 190-210 degrees Fahrenheit and steeped for 3-4 minutes. Green and other delicate teas (some herbal varieties) should be steeped in water that has been removed from the heat source just before it has begun to boil. Extremely hot water can burn green tea and give it a bitter flavor. If you think the water might be too hot… add 1 part cold water to 3 parts boiling to cool it down before steeping. Green tea should be steeped in water between 170-190 degrees Fahrenheit.

To Prepare the Tea:

1. Fill your pot with the appropriate amount of cold, filtered, water
2. Bring to a rolling boil for black tea or remove water from the heat source just before boiling for green tea
3. Gently pour water over the producer suggested quantity of tea for your serving size
4. Let tea step for 1-3 minutes for green or herbal teas, 3-4 minutes for black tea
5. Remove tea leaves and serve

Quality teas can be infused multiple times. In fact, tea looses almost all of it’s caffeine content after the first steeping. If you are sensitive to caffeine, steep the tea once, discard, and re-steep the tea for a caffeine-free cup. See our article on caffeine content in tea for more information.

Green tea has been lauded throughout time for it’s many health benefits. It’s healing properties have been known to the Chinese since the ancient times and is still used today to treat illnesses raging from heart disease, to weight loss, and cancer.

The ancients may have been onto something. Modern science has proven the cancer fighting and fat burning abilities of green tea. One of the things that makes green tea so special is its powerful concentration of antioxidants. Antioxidants are molecules or chemicals that slow down the oxidization of another molecule. The antioxidants in green tea hunt down free radicals (rogue cells) in the body that cause cancer… and destroy them. Thereby inhibiting the growth cancer causing cells.

Scientific studies in Asia have shown that the more green tea that subjects drank, the less the risk of developing stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer and other gastro-intestinal cancers — sometimes as much as sixty percent. Drinking green tea before and after cancer removal surgery also lessens the risk of recurrence.

Green tea is also a great helper of the heart. It’s proven to lower cholesterol and prevent blood clots. The antioxidants and caffeine in tea work to dilate the blood vessels and keep them flexible — making them less susceptible to clogging.

What makes green teas healing powers different from that of black tea?

It’s all in the preparation. Green and black tea both derive from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The difference is the way that the teas are processed. In preparing green tea, oxidation is halted soon after the freshly picked leaves are harvested, thus preserving their ripe hue. The leaves are air or steam dried no longer than two days after being plucked from the bush. The steaming and absence of fermentation in green tea preserves the naturally occuring compound EGCG. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is a catechin polyphenol, the powerful antioxidant that gives green tea most of it’s cancer fighting, and LDL cholesterol lowering abilities.

Black tea and Oolong teas are fermented which morphs EGCG into other chemical compounds, making it a less effective agent of good health than it would be in it’s original form.

Here are a few of the diseases/ailments that green tea is reputed to heal:

• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Increase metabolic rate
• Burn fat
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Infection
• Boost immune system
• Prevent cognitive deterioration

Here are some of my favorite loose leaf green tea varieties:

• Chinese Sencha Green Tea
• Japanese Bancha Green Tea
• Ginger Sencha Green Tea
• Green Chai Tea
• Enchanted Forest Almond Tea
• Macaebo Exotic Spice Tea
• Orange Sencha Green Tea

Now that you know all the health benefits of green tea, enjoy a steaming cup. The lack of flavor is one of the widest complaints about green tea. Unfortunately, green tea has been given a bad wrap because many people only experience pre-bagged green tea from the grocery store. These teas are absolute rubbish. The best tea is loose leaf tea.

Loose leaf teas preserve the full flavor of the tea. Bagged tea leaves are pulverized in order to allow for rapid diffusion. However, in doing so, the surface area of the tea leaves is increased, allowing for quick evaporation of the essential oils that give tea its distinct flavor. That’s why most grocery store tea bags are just flat-out bland.

Happy sipping!