Tea 101：How Much Does A Teaspoon of Loose Leaf Tea Weigh

How much does one teaspoon of loose leaf tea weigh? In other words, how many grams of tea in a teaspoon?

Why do you need to know this? Knowing how much a teaspoon of loose leaf tea weights would allow you to make a perfect cup of  tea. Besides, it’s also helpful for you to measure out how much tea to make. Loose leaf tea to water radio matters when brewing tea. Also, there are several other factors that determine how great your brewed cup will be, such as the type of tea, the water temperature and steeping time.

Then, how many grams of tea in a teaspoon?

A teaspoon is actually a standard measure, which equals 1/6 fl oz, or about 5 ml.  Some people were aware that 1 teaspoon is 4 grams of tea leaves. It that right? When I use a kitchen scale to test that, I found that 1 teaspoon is 2.5 grams. Then can you say a teaspoon of loose leaf tea weigh 2.5 grams? Absolute no. Why? I then tried to weigh other types of tea, I found that a teaspoon of different tea weighs differently.

Why does this happen? When you measure tea leaves with a teaspoon, you’ll find that the leaves don’t fit nicely. Some leaves are too long and stick out, and others are too big and leave a lot of empty space. Tea leaves differ depending on the type of tea, so measuring by volume is not accurate. Then what’s the way out to weigh the tea leaves correctly? (Learn: how much loose leaf tea per cup of water)

First you need to know how many tea leaves you need for a cup of water.  Generally, 2 grams of loose tea per 8 ounces of hot water is recommend. To brew a 8-ounce cup of perfect tea, 1 teaspoon of green tea is great. But for other types of tea, you’d better try to use a kitchen scale. By the way, to brew loose leaf tea, you’d better use a teapot with built-in filter. Here for a comparison, I took a picture of 4 grams of both gyokuro and houjicha. Notice how houjicha has more than twice the volume as gyokuro for the same weight. So, a  kitchen scale is essential if you want to a perfect cup of tea. But, whatever, if you have your own criterion for a cup of perfect tea, then just follow your own way.  (How many tea bags for a gallon of tea)

You will found that there is no definite answer for how many grams of tea in a teaspoon. The article just give some tips for you to brew tea. Share your opinions if you like. 

Related: Tea 101: Differences Between Green Tea and Black Tea

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How Much Loose Tea per Cup of Water