Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Steeping: The do's and do not's




         I decided to devote an entire post to steeping because I think it's the one aspect of tea that a lot of people over look. If you have a box of tea try to experiment by steeping your tea for different amounts of time. You will be surprised at how it changes your tea. Any tea that has Camellia sinensis in it will eventually become bitter because of the Tannin it contains. One should still be careful even if the tea doesn't contain Camellia sinensis. Some herbal teas, when steeped too long, will create some very funky flavors. The unfortunate thing is that many people don't think anything of this and let the tea steep for far too long. Then they end up saying they don't like tea!

If you mess up try, try again. Even I have had plenty of teas where I thought they weren't so good the first time around and liked them the second try around. I've listed a little guide below for you on steeping times.

For each tea the time is going to differ. The times I've given below are just general guidelines. If your tea gives you a steep time use that. if no time is given use this and then go by taste as well.

White tea:
    Believe it or not this category holds the longest steep time. It starts around 3-4 minutes and can go as long as 15 minutes!

Green tea:
     With usually only 1 to 3 minutes of steeping time, this category tend to have the shortest and most picky steeping time. Even thirty 30 seconds more then what they say can ruin your tea if you over steep.

Oolong tea:
      Now here's a nice variation for you; between 1 to 9 minutes. Most will end up around 3-5 but it truly depends on what Oolong tea you get.
 
Black Tea:
       No matter where you look you will find that black tea is generally stepped 3 to 5 minutes.

Rooibos: You will see 5 minutes for steep time most commonly.

Herbal: There are so many different types of herbal teas that it would be hard for me to give a good number here. Usually, you should go by taste.

Well, that's all I have for you for now. Just always remember: The steep time will determine the taste of your tea.

1 comment:

  1. Puerh tea is a true Camellia Sinensis tea that doesn't always get bitter. My favorite is the young, green Puerh. And I steep mine for hours at a time. It's not recommended, of course, with any other tea.

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