Tea 101: How Long Should You Steep Tea

Throughout history, tea has been favored a lot by people across the world. It used to be a pretty elegant hobby for the ancient Chinese to steep tea, not only for its thirst-quenching functions, but also for its mind-refreshing and unique health-care functions. Then, how long should you steep tea for a cup of perfect tea? I guess it may have bothered you a lot.

It’s common thought that the longer you steep your tea, the more perfect tea you can get. Actually, the steeping time for your tea depends on the types of tea you are using and how strong you like your tea. Here are some details for a cup of perfect tea.

Green tea

This kind of tea has a distinctive grassy taste, and it has many health benefits—cancer prevention, heart disease prevention and etc. Typically, steeping for approximately 2 to 3 minutes is enough. And the proper water temperature for steeping is 176 – 185 °F (80 to 85°C).

White tea

Generally, it tastes light & sweet. And it has less caffeine than the other varieties. Compared with green tea, it has more active cancer-fighting antioxidants. So, it’s really good for your health. As for the steeping time of it, 1 to 2 minutes are proper enough. And for its steeping water temperature, 176 – 185 °F (80 to 85°C) is ok.

Oolong tea

Oolong tea, which is also called Weight Loss and Beauty, is especially popular among girls. And it is both fresh and fragrant. For the steeping water temperature and steeping time, it should be prepared with 185-205 °F (85 to 96 °C) water (not boiling) and steeped 3–5 minutes.

Black tea

Black tea is very good for human heart health. Word has it that its anti-aging effect is much more than that of garlic and carrot. Usually, the longer it is being steeped, the healthier it is. And 5 minutes is the best choice. The water temperature should be 205-210 °F (96.1 to 98.9°C).

Learn how to brew tea with teapot

Herbal tea

No matter for losing weight or simply for having a better health condition, herbal tea should be given priority. And there are varieties of herbal tea available. You can choose to have a cup of chamomile tea to relax your body when you are under a lot of pressure, and a cup of jasmine tea to comfort your headache, and etc. the proper time for steeping it is 5-7 minutes, and the water temperature for steeping it should be 206°F (96.1°C).

Teas vary a lot, so does their steeping time. So, you should pay much attention to it. Perfect steeping time is the premise of a perfect cup of tea. Only when you know the proper steeping time, can you benefit from tea. After everything is perfectly done, what you need to do is enjoying the pleasant fragrance and flavor your tea brings you.