Brewing Tea

Tea Blog Tea Tips

by Imperial Tea Garden July 10, 2017

Brewing loose tea leaves into the perfect cup of tea begins with its two main ingredients: Tea & Water. From there its PROCESS, PROCESS, PROCESS!

Choosing quality loose leaf teas from Imperial Tea Garden® is a smart choice because we've done most of the work for you by narrowing down the thousands of available teas world wide into a few select teas. Which tea you choose: White Tea, Black Tea, Green Tea or an Oolong Tea will ultimately depend on your individual tastes. Start with our loose leaf tea samples and begin the journey of a lifetime.

Assuming you have already determined your favorite tea type we move on to the process of brewing the perfect cup of tea. Measuring the loose leaf tea is a good idea for beginners. Use approximately 1-2 teaspoons per 8 oz cup depending on the strength you prefer. We recommend going light and working your way to stronger brews to avoid bitter tannins overtaking the cup. Then add the tea to your favorite infuser (We recommend using the Paris tea strainer and brewing one cup at a time).

A great cup of tea begins with fresh, cool oxygenated water. Never use tepid, long standing, preheated, or hot tap water. Heat the water to the point where bubbles begin rising to the surface for more delicate green and oolong teas (180-190° F) and allow the water to come to a gentle boil for black teas (200°F). A full rolling boil is 212° F and is too hot!

Then steep the tea for about 2 minutes as a baseline and adjust from there. You will want to adjust the measurements, and brewing times as you become more familiar with steeping your teas. Here is a recap on the most important factors to achieve the perfect cup of tea.