Water Temperatures?
Hello fellow tea drinkers! I’ve been drinking tea for over 5 years & I’m ashamed to say that I never knew about water temperatures. I always just put my black kettle on boil & had hot water. But Im thinking about getting some more expensive teas & I would also like to get some green tea matcha. So I’m just wondering, are there specific temperatures for the four types of tea: Green,White, Oolong & Black, also the beloved herbal even though it isnt technically a tea since it doesnt come from the camellia sinensis plant.
Thank you for any replies you may have! Peace, Love & Tea ♥ =]
I’ll start w/ greens since there’s different categories of greens.
Japanese Greens: Here’s a great page I use for all my Japanese green steeping:
http://www.denstea.com/perfect_brewing.html …the one exception is matcha- when preparing hot matcha, I don’t think water temperature really matters, whatever temperature you’re comfortable drinking. (This company is a great place to get matcha from as well)
Chinese and other Greens: I’m not aware they require different parameters so I normally steep them 160-180
Blacks, Pu Erhs, Yerba Mate, Red and Green Bush, and other Herbals: boiling (I normally do about 210 as I heard boiling water kills health benefits
Oolongs: I prefer darker oolongs in the 190-210 range and green oolongs in the 180-195 range
Whites: Suggested temps range from 140-195… I prefer 140-160. The trick for whites is to use enough leaf. Whites are not condusive to measuring by volume (i.e. a teaspoon or tablespoon) so I got a scale and use 3g/8oz water which is normally well over a TB of leaf.
Temperatures are really an individual thing, but take some of our suggestions and start from there.
here is a site i found. http://www.steep.it/
I use it as my tea timer when i am at work. but it shows you the different temps
Hey Hippietea!
You can also check out our “Know Page” which has cute infographics on brewing (which include water temperatures)!
http://www.shopsanctuaryt.com/know/
Sanctuary T
Yay! Let us know if you would want to see any other infographics made and we can try to make them!
Looks like we are at about the same point in our learning curve. Personally I start by reading the instructions that come with the tea. Then I play with the temp and steeping time and find what I think tastes best. I am finding this to be part of the fun and art of brewing tea. Even if you are using bag tea the same idea works.
I agree- I always steep it as directed 1st. But that’s also because of my philosophy on tasting notes. I always rate based on accuracy and then leave the commentary for my personal opinions. SO glad I do that- otherwise I never would have dreamed to use boiling water for some Japanese greens. Although I’ll never use 195 degree water for whites as one company suggest for anything other than the original accuracy rating. I love companies that don’t make generalizations for their tea, but can’t stand it when they are way off the mark on steeping parameters.
Does variations in steeping tempatures REALLY make a significant difference… say 10-20 degrees off? I’m wondering if I’m missing out on the possible flavors.
Depending on the tea and the way the connection between your tastebuds and brain works (it’s different for everyone), it definitely can.
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