Brewing tea at home should be simple, easy, and satisfying. When you start with high quality loose leaves, you can expect a delicious, flavorful cup of tea.
But even with the best tea leaves from around the world, if you’ve ever steeped a cup that didn’t turn out right, whether it lacked flavor, tasted bitter, or was just disappointing, chances are you might have made one of these common mistakes most people make when steeping tea.
Here are the top five steeping mistakes and the easy fixes to ensure you consistently brew an amazing cup of tea, every time.
FIVE COMMON STEEPING MISTAKES MOST PEOPLE MAKE
1. Using Tap / Unfiltered Water
Tea is made with only two ingredients so the water quality is just as important as the quality of the leaves. The water can affect the flavor of the tea so it’s best to always use fresh, filtered water for the best tasting tea.
2. Using Boiling Water
Most tea leaves need hot, but not boiling, water. Boiling water can burn the leaves and make the brew taste bitter. Let the water cool after boiling but not for too long, or you’ll have a weak brew. Click here to find out how to know you’ve got the right water temperature (even without a thermometer).
3. Using Restrictive Infusers
Tea leaves need ample space to expand in water (up to 5x their dry size) so they can release their full flavor. Most loose leaves won’t fit comfortably in small infusers like mesh balls or small filter bags. Use a brew method, like a french press, tea pot, or large infuser, that doesn’t restrict the leaves from fully unfurling as they steep.
4. Over-Steeping
The best cup of tea is steeped for the right amount of time—no more, no less. When the steep time is up, remove the tea leaves from the water to ensure they don’t over-steep, which makes the tea taste bitter. Allowing the leaves to remain in the water for too long will ruin their flavor, making them useless for the next steep.
5. Not Re-Steeping
If you’re not re-steeping your tea, you’re missing out! Loose leaf teas are meant to be re-steeped multiple times. Each re-steep is a brand new cup of tea with new flavors to explore. Learn more here.
THE EASY PATH TO BETTER TEA
Follow these simple steps and you’ll be steeping the perfect cup of tea in no time. Speaking of the perfect cup, you can find our easy 4 step guide to the perfect cup of tea here. Cheers!
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