- How much tea should be poured to achieve good taste and aroma.
- What should be the temperature of water for tea?
How much tea to brew? Many people ask themselves this question more than once when encountering a new variety or trying to brew fresh tea for the first time. The correct quantity or weight of tea leaves, as well as the correct water temperature and steeping time, is the key to a successful and well-brewed tea, at least until you have memorized these aspects of preparing or brewing tea. Soon you will begin to apply them subconsciously in your daily life. This article will discuss two concepts of measuring tea - weight and temperature, in order to brew tasty and good tea.
There are two popular ratios of tea leaves to water in official documents or ISO standards for brewing tea in a teapot for 5 to 6 minutes. Figures have been rounded for ease of use.
Tea brewing temperature. Water temperature table.
Of course, if you pour hot water at any temperature into tea, it will begin to brew. However, most teas develop their flavor and aroma better at a certain temperature. Some even brew certain green and white teas with cold water. The temperature of the water for brewing tea is important immediately at the moment it comes into contact with the tea leaves. Therefore, tea utensils for brewing are preheated with boiling water. The following tea brewing temperature chart is valid at normal room temperature of 20-25 degrees.
| Tea category | Temperature °C |
| Green tea | 60~90 |
| Green, whole leaves, rolled, curled or straight | 75 |
| Green, whole small leaves (flashes, tips) in a non-twisted form or in the form of needles | 80 |
| Green, large leaves with fluff (single or pairs) | 85 |
| Green, large, rough and mature leaves | 85~90 |
| Green, gyokuro and other large-leaf shade-grown teas. (60~65°C to avoid bitterness in tea) |
70 |
| Green, HouKui or other JianCha (Chinese Sencha) | 90 |
| Slightly oxidized teas (White, Yellow, Shen Pu-erh) | 85~100 |
| White, needles, traditional | 90 |
| White, orchid shape (slightly open), traditional | 85~95 |
| White, mature | 95 |
| Bely, “New technology” | 95 |
| Yellow, thin leaves | 85 |
| Yellow, large leaves | 90 |
| Shen-Puer, mature | 100 |
| Shen Puer, fresh* | 95 |
| Oolongs | 85-95 |
| Green oolong, from Anxi or Taiwan | 95 |
| Phoenix Oolong (Fen Huang) green or aromatic | 90 |
| Brown oolong, classic or honey (Phoenix too) | 85 |
| Mature oolong (aged) | 90 |
| Black tea (Red) | 90~95 |
| Red (Black), fully fermented | 95 |
| Red (Black), not fully fermented | 90~95 |
| Post-Fermented (Shu Pu'er, Dark Tea) | 100 |
| All post-fermented teas, fresh or mature** | 100 |
This temperature sheet is applicable to luxury tea and is provided for reference only. The taste and aroma of the infusion varies greatly even within the same variety. It is advisable that you use this information as a starting point to create a flavor that is right for you.
Different brewing techniques and methods using different utensils and materials also affect the specific temperature of the brewing water. For example, you need to pour water at a slightly higher temperature into a large kettle. I will describe ways to control the temperature during the tea ceremony in the following articles.
The amount of brewing required for good tea taste.
The standard ratio of water to tea leaves (infusion) during tasting is:
- 2 grams per 100 ml;
- i.e., 3 grams per 150 ml cup;
- or, 4 grams per 200-250 ml mug.
Ratio of tea leaves to water when drinking tea daily:
- 1 gram per 100 ml;
- 5 grams per 500 ml (standard volume of a Russian teapot).
These ratios are suitable if you usually fully pour out the infusion of brewed tea and prepare it for 1-2 people, then following these ratio instructions, you will get a really wonderful taste of tea.
How many tea leaves are in 3 grams?
So how do you measure the required weight of tea? Different types of tea have different densities, so it is impossible to say for sure that there are 3 grams in a teaspoon. Even in mass market black tea (Usually old broken Orange Peco leaves from Sri Lanka) in supermarkets, the weight varies from one brand to another. Therefore, if you do not want to use scales, and are ready to determine the weight by eye with all responsibility, then the photos above are especially for you, there is also a photo of a more familiar black tea (Orange Peko) from the store.
The tea leaf ratios for the Chinese Kung Fu Cha ceremony are slightly different and will be discussed in a separate article. For those who want to start experimenting today, you need to start with 8 grams of tea per 140 ml gaiwan.
What is the volume of a cup of tea?
It all depends on the type of service, but as a rule it is equal to 250 ml when filled to the brim. However, not many people pour themselves that much tea J. When most people pour themselves tea, they leave about 1.5 cm to the edge, i.e. if you round it up it will equal 150 ml.
Sources:
- Standards ISO 3103:1980/BS 6008:1980, Tea - Preparation of liquor for use in sensory tests
- USDA point of reference in their Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods, 2007
- Basis of article http://www.teaguardian.com/about/standards/measurements/
Tea master, Andrey Shkarin.
Surely you have at least once come across recommendations regarding water temperature for brewing tea, something like “red tea - 95 degrees Celsius, oolongs - 85-90, green tea - 75-80.” There is no need to say that such statements are ambiguous, controversial, and in general, water temperature should not be considered separately from all other circumstances. But even those who are inclined to take categorical formulations seriously should be discouraged by these numbers: how can these 80 or 90 degrees be determined?
Recently, thanks to the generosity of Alexander Yuryev (https://vk.com/id199467746)
An impressive laboratory thermometer appeared in our tea room. So now it has become possible to find out what temperature the water has depending on certain manipulations with it. As the evil sorcerers sang in one cartoon, “we are practicing the most modern approach to spells!”
And this is what British scientists found out... Firstly, water really does not boil at 100 degrees! Having more than a vague understanding of physics, I was suspicious of claims that the temperature of water, boiled correctly (and not to the point of boiling), is several degrees below one hundred. But this is really so! Either it’s the uneven heating of the water (it’s already boiling at the bottom, but closer to the surface it’s still far from reaching 100°C), or the non-zero altitude above sea level, which affects the atmospheric pressure, but know: if you turn off the kettle on time, it works not 100, but 96-97°C.
Further. If you immediately pour water into a thermos at room temperature (as I usually do if I need hotter water), then its temperature drops to 93°C (most likely, this depends on the ratio of the volume of water and thermos; I took about 1.2 liters , and my thermos is 1.8). If you leave the water for 4-5 minutes in a kettle with the lid open (as I do when I need cooler water), then its temperature reaches 87-88°C.
If I need an even more gentle regime, then I do not pour water from a thermos directly into a gaiwan or a kettle of tea, but first pour a portion of the required volume (120-200 ml) into the teapot, and after half a minute or a minute - from the teapot into the teapot. So, it turned out that ninety-three-degree water from a thermos, after being kept in a chahai for a minute, cools down to 80°C, if the chakhai was not preheated. And even if the chahai has already been heated with boiling water, pouring it through it cools the water by more than ten degrees - to 82°C. This is serious!
And finally, I was interested in what temperature the water is when I get the feeling that it has already cooled down too much and needs to be warmed up. It turned out to be 75-77°C.
So, if the playful mercury column does not lie, then even a few minutes of waiting will noticeably affect the water temperature, and any additional manipulations, especially using unheated dishes, will cool the water even more noticeably. That's why:
- a) the utensils for brewing tea must be heated;
- b) if you need really hot water, then you should also warm up the thermos, and pour the boiled water into it without delay;
- c) if the water is hotter than necessary, it is not necessary to wait until it cools down - pouring it through the chahai provides ample opportunity to control the temperature.
Camellia sinensis is the scientific name of the tea bush, which we commonly call tea. There are many varieties of tea bush: Chinese, Japanese, Ceylon, Indian (including Darjeeling - tea grown in the Himalayas), Vietnamese, Indonesian, Georgian. The taste of tea depends not only on the place of growth, but also on the time of collection and the method of preparation. Thanks to the variety of the latter, we can enjoy the most subtle notes of the taste of tea leaves. Let's figure out how to brew each of them.
White tea
Tea from unopened tea buds and young leaves that has undergone a minimal number of processing steps during the production process (usually only withering and drying). Tea leaves that have not been twisted open quickly in water, so white tea is very sensitive to the brewing mode - the optimal temperature for it is 65 degrees.
Yellow tea
Elite Chinese tea, some varieties of which were previously produced only for the imperial court and were prohibited from being exported from China. It should be brewed at a temperature of 60 to 80 degrees.
Green tea
Tea, the oxidation of the leaf takes place within a short time (no more than two days). Does not tolerate boiling water: if green tea is brewed in too hot water or for too long, it will be bitter and astringent, regardless of the quality of the variety. Possible brewing temperature range: from 60 to 85 degrees, brewing duration from several seconds to three minutes. High quality green tea can be brewed several times: the second or third brewing brings out its flavor better.
Oolong
Semi-fermented tea, which according to the Chinese classification occupies an intermediate position between green and “red” (that is, black). Oolong combines the properties of green– bright aroma and red– rich taste. There are two subspecies: the first is closer to green teas (the degree of fermentation is lower), the second is closer to red teas (the degree of fermentation is higher). Oolong brewing temperature is 85-90 degrees.
Pu'er
One of the most expensive varieties of tea in the world, it is distinguished by a specific production technology: the collected leaves, processed to the level of green tea, are subjected to a microbial fermentation procedure– natural or artificial (accelerated) aging. The brewing temperature for pu-erh is 90-95 degrees.
Even the usual one Black tea reveals the taste better when brewed with water whose temperature does not exceed 95 degrees.
Determining the temperature of water is sometimes difficult - our perception is influenced by both air temperature and body temperature, so the optimal solution would be to purchase a kettle, whose functionality is to bring water to a certain temperature. For example,Tefal Electronic KO331830allows you to select the desired temperature for brewing five types of tea (white, green, oolong, herbal and black) and maintain the set temperature.
Tea– one of the most popular drinks today, which everyone drinks at least once a day. Those who especially appreciate the taste and aroma of tea become real gourmet collectors, collecting all sorts of varieties of this drink in the form of tea leaves.
At first glance, the process of brewing tea is not complicated. However, with this approach, there is a high risk of getting a decoction with the usual taste and smell of tea instead of a charming drink. Therefore, true tea connoisseurs adhere to certain rules when preparing it, so that the bouquet of each variety is revealed to the maximum.
Proper brewing of tea consists in observing the proportions of the brew and pouring it with water at a certain temperature. The last condition is perhaps even more important, since it depends on the temperature whether the tea leaves will release all its taste and aroma.
The water temperature directly depends on the type of tea:
- Whole leaf green tea – about 75°C;
- in the form of tips, crushed leaves - approximately 80°C;
- Large leaf green tea – from 85 to 90°C;
- Large leaf varieties of green tea that were grown in the shade - about 70°C;
- Slightly oxidized types of tea (Shen Puer, White and Yellow) are brewed with water from 85 to 100°C;
- (oolong) is filled with water at an average temperature of 90°C;
- and black tea – approximately 95°C;
- Post-fermented teas are brewed with 100°C water.
It should also be remembered that teaware It is pre-dipped with boiling water because if it is cold at the time of pouring water into the tea leaves, the tea will not reveal its taste. In the correct preparation of tea, the moment of contact between the tea leaf and water at a certain temperature is important. And so that other factors, such as the temperature of the dishes, do not influence this moment, it must be doused with boiling water.
Another nuance that needs to be taken into account: the larger the tea container in which the tea is brewed, the higher the temperature of the water with which it is poured should be. That is, if it is customary to pour whole-leaf green tea with water at 75°C, then more than 150 ml of teapot should be filled with water at a temperature of 80-85°C.
The brewing temperature is also affected by the material., from which tea utensils are made. It is believed that it is better to use earthenware for making tea. Clay or porcelain in combination with the right water temperature allows the tea leaf to more fully reveal its taste and aroma.
It’s not easy for a novice tea connoisseur to remember all these tips, and not everyone has a thermometer to determine the temperature of the water. But there are a few simple recommendations that, if followed, will allow even a beginner to enjoy tea:
- Only fresh purified water is used to brew tea;
- Brewing water should not be boiled for a long time. If you are preparing black tea and need boiling water, then the kettle must be turned off as soon as bubbles appear on the surface of the water;
- If you are brewing another tea that requires a lower temperature, then cool the water slightly after boiling: 2-3 minutes - this is minus about 5°C;
- In order not to get confused about the brewing temperature of each type of tea, you should remember that the lighter the tea, the cooler the water should be.
So, some varieties are filled with very cool or even cold water.
But the amount of brewing does not at all affect the temperature of the water with which it should be brewed. This is a matter of taste, although there are rules here too.
During the day we snack between meals, and in the cold season we also warm up with hot tea, so each of us is concerned with the question of how much tea to pour into the kettle, and what should be the temperature to brew a strong, aromatic drink.
In order for the drink to be tasty, it is important not only to calculate the correct amount of brew, but also to use water at a certain temperature. Over time, these actions will be performed automatically, on a subconscious level.
When brewing any tea, be it in bulk form or in a bag, with hot water, it will undoubtedly brew, but will such a drink be tasty - that is the question. After all, the taste and aroma of tea is revealed only if the brewing procedure has been carried out correctly.
Of course, when brewing, you should observe the temperature regime, but you should also focus on individual taste preferences. Some varieties will require a little more brewing time to produce a tasty tea; the brewing temperature for hibiscus, for example, is about 85 C. Consider the approximate water temperature:
65-85 C– for white and green tea, provided that it is not fermented;
85-95 C– yellow, flowery leaf, non-fermented teas;
95-100 C– red and leaf oolongs, fermented tea.
It is worth noting that when adding various components to a drink, it is worth not only increasing the temperature of the water, but also the infusion time. Antiviral tea brewing temperature ginger , which is added to the drink, increases immunity, should be infused for at least 40-45 minutes.
On average, the brewing temperature for tea leaves ranges from 65 to 100 degrees, depending on the variety and type of tea leaves. In addition, there are also various techniques, as well as special utensils for preparing a delicious hot drink. The brewing temperature for pu-erh tea, the water for which must be heated to 85 C, will turn out tasty only if brewed correctly. For example, the larger the volume of the teapot, the higher the water temperature should be.
About the amount of brewing and water temperature
For example, a standard 100 gram cup will require 2 grams. brewing, to make delicious tea, the brewing temperature for oolong and milk oolong is about 100 C, for a 150 gram cup you will need to take 3 grams, and for a 200-250 gram large cup you can use a teaspoon to measure the tea leaves (4-5 grams). .
This ratio of water to tea leaves is only suitable for drinking tea immediately, in which case you can get a drink with a delicious taste. Herbal drinks to which tea is added, the brewing temperature of fireweed tea will be at least 80-85 C.
The brewing temperature, or infusion temperature of tea, is the temperature of the water used for brewing. Along with the amount of dry tea and the brewing container, it is one of the key factors for brewing.
Many websites, tea companies, and other sources recommend simple brewing instructions. They usually recommend a water temperature of 100 degrees Celsius for black tea and a temperature of 71-82 degrees for green varieties. Some sources advise intermediate temperatures for oolong and delicate black teas. White teas are usually mixed with green teas, in which case brewing temperatures that are not too high are recommended.
In this article, Teapedia's experts took a deeper look at choosing the right temperature, helping you break through the standard recommendations so that you can find the right brew for you.
Teas may have varying degrees of sensitivity to temperature
Some teas have high temperature sensitivity, in which a small change in temperature results in a noticeable difference in the taste of the finished product. In certain cases, such teas are simply impossible to drink if they were brewed with too hot water. At the same time, if the water is colder than recommended, the tea will be too weak. In the case of other types of tea, the water temperature is not so critical, which is why they are called easy-to-brew teas that forgive mistakes when choosing the brewing temperature.
At the same time, brewing temperature is, in a certain sense, a matter of taste. The taste, color and aroma of some types of tea may be liked by some people and not liked by others. This mainly refers to bitterness and strength - qualities that people treat strictly individually. Brewing at a higher water temperature will result in stronger tea.
Water temperature in cases of multiple brews
In the case when several successive brews of tea are made, which under normal conditions do not require the hottest water, there are two options: leave a constant high temperature or raise the temperature with each brew. Tea connoisseurs often raise the temperature or keep it constant (instead of lowering it) with each subsequent brew, which adds additional flavor to the final product. However, if you find that the water temperature is too high, you can lower it for subsequent brews.