Brewing Instructions

There is no better tea than loose leaf tea. Thats a bold statement, but its true. Sadly, tea bags have broken leaves and leaf parts that contain pieces of dust and fannings. These can compromise the tea’s essential oil content and fragrance, broken leaves also release an overabundance of tannins which increase the tea’s bitterness and astringency.

TEA & TEMPERATURES

To really get the most quality out of your tea, its best to be familiar with how to brew the type of tea to the right temperature. This way you will get the best nutritional value and flavour.

Brewing teas at too high a temperature will burn young tea leaves, however higher temperatures are commonly used for mature leaves.

Low temperature (70℃ – 80℃) is best for brewing some of the green teas which have tender buds, such as Ming Qian Dragon Well and Bi Luo Chun Green Tea, and some high grade white teas such as Organic Silver Needle.

Medium temperature (80℃ – 90℃) for Oolong with tender buds, or green tea with only tea leaves like Liu An Gua Pian, or some heavily withered white teas, such as White Peony, and Shou Mei.

High temperature (90℃ – 100℃) to brew Oolong tea with mature leaves only, such as Dong Ding (Tung Ting) Oolong Tea, Tie Guan Yin Iron Goddess, Da Hong Poa and post-fermented Pu-erh teas and fully fermented black teas.

WATER TEMPERATURES

For a lower temperature tea, should you boil it and let it cool down?

The best option is a slow boil to the target temperature using a thermometer. The best option is a slow boil to the target temperature using a thermometer however if bacteria is a concern boil to 100℃ and then let cool. Try to avoid reboiling water as it will cause the oxygen in the water to decrease which results in a lack of aroma and an astringent taste.