Tea Tips

• Water is important. You should start with good tasting water, and you might want to try some different spring waters.

• Boiling water is not good for white, green, or Oolong tea. Boiling water will “cook” the leaves and this will ruin the flavor. SO DON’T BOIL YOUR TEA! The following are some suggested temperatures for water:

• Select a good ceramic teapot, or a covered tea-cup, with a four to twelve ounce capacity. Some teapots have strainer on the inside base of the spout. This helps to keep leaves from pouring out the spout.

• When making tea, be certain to warm the teapot with hot water first.

• The ratio of tea to water should be approximately four grams of tea per eight ounces of water. Oolongs and Pu-erhs need twice as much tea for the same amount of water.

• Teas should be brewed loose, not in an infuser or a tea ball. This allows the flavor to develop more fully.

• After steeping, teas can leave varying volumes of leaves in the teapot, depending on the type of tea. If you are brewing a lighter tea, you will see more leaves in the pot after brewing.

• When trying a new tea, you will need to experiment until you are familiar with it. At first, steep it for a minute or two, and then taste it. You can steep it longer if necessary. Pay more attention to flavor than to color.

• When the tea tastes “right,” you need to stop steeping. Remove the leaves from the tea to prevent over-steeping.

• Most teas can be re-steeped. For each additional infusion, add more water and increase the steeping time.

• Enjoy the tea! Don’t forget about the beautiful colors and shapes of tea leaves. If you can, watch them while you are brewing.