Five Mistakes I’ve Made While Brewing Tea

Is your tea bitter? Not strong enough?

When I first started drinking tea I was on a tea bag and boiling water bases. I didn’t know anything about tea, I just poured the water and I feel like that’s how most people drink their tea. Us beginners don’t know any different! Here are five mistakes I’ve made while brewing tea.

1. Using Harsh Water

The water that you use to brew your tea has a big impact on the taste. Tap water can leave a chemical taste and microwaving your water can leave a mettalic taste. It’s best to use cool, filtered water and heat it by using a tea kettle.

2. Water Temperature

There are six types of tea and each type of tea requires a different temperature! Using water that is too hot can burn your leaves leaving a bitter taste. If you don’t have a thermometer you can learn to tell the temperature by sight! For white and green teas,  once you begin to see steam come out of the kettle and the kettle begins to vibrate, it’s time to pour. For black teas, once it really starts to vibrate and bubble it’s ready.

Here are your basic temperatures:

Green and White tea: 175°F
Oolong Tea: 195°F
Black tea: 212°F
Infusions: 100°C

 

3. Steeping The Tea Too Long

Steeping longer does not equal strong tea. If you want stronger tea add another tea bag or more leaves. Steeping a tea too long will only make it bitter. The average time you want to steep your tea is 3-5 minutes, though I usually stick to three.

4.Squeezing the Tea Bag

My Grandma actually taught me this! When you squeeze your tea bag, you release tannins into your cup making the tea bitter and rather nasty. When I stopped I noticed a huge difference, expecially in my black tea.

5. Adding Milk Before It Is Done Brewing

Working at a tea booth and serving people tea everyday, this is one makes me cringe everytime. Let your tea brew at least three minutes before you add your milk! During the brewing process your tea is dependant on the chemical reaction that happens with the oxygen in the water. By adding milk right away you suffocate the leaves, stopping it from brewing.

Pro Tip: If brewing in a tea pot, pour the milk in the cup first. Pouring milk on top cools down the tea, while pouring tea over the milk brings the milk to the tea’s temperature. It also helps the tea and milk blend togeter better!

I hope my mistakes will help you make that perfect cup of tea!

Your Turn:

Do you have any questions about brewing tea? Let me know in the comments and I’ll answer them in a future article or video!

I hope you day is filled with tea and happiness, and I will see you next time.

~Rebekah T.

Shout out and Thank you to my baby sister for being my model!