Sam said

Is there a standard "grams/6oz" measure for tea?

I know there is a lot of talk out there about weighing tea amounts, but could not find anything on steepster that detailed a starting point. I like to brew more of a gongfu style when I have the time, but for those times that i just need a mug to go, I am never sure about how much leaf to use per x amount of water. Teaspoons and tablespoons are fine, but that is obviously very different depending on the tea.

Additionally, sometimes I see it written as a tablespoon per cup. What exactly is a cup? A standard 8oz, or 6oz?

Obviously, a big part of tea is personal preference, but it is always nice to have a starting point to then experiment from.

Thanks!

5 Replies

I believe it is 2 to 3 grams per 6 oz cup.

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GuyOne said

When brewing gongfu style, my usual rule of thumb is one gram of tea for one ounce of water. But as teas differ I make adjustments after trying this. For instance, I find that some Dan Cong teas get a bit bitter at this rate so I use a gram or two less in an 8 ounce teapot. Then for western brewing, which I hardly do anymore, I adopted my own style. I would start with one gram for two ounces of water and use a brewing time of 2 minutes instead of the 4 minutes most vendors recommend. Sort of a hybrid method I guess.

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Sam said

Thanks for the answers! I too love gongfu and enjoy it more than western brewing, but it is difficult to truly appreciate the subtleties of a tea at work. Some days, when things are low key, I can find the time to slowly go through many steepings of a good tea as the day progresses, but at other times I am more interested in making an 8-10oz mug to take with me or to sip at my desk.

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Donna A said

When I am more time-pressed, I brew Western. Often I start at 2.5-3 gm per 8 oz, but have gone to 5 gms or more to get enough flavor sometimes. I prefer weighing it because some teas, such as Dragonwell, are so lightweight that they end up too weak if you don’t use a lot of spoonfuls. With Gongfu, I go with about one gm per oz of water, unless it’s company like Verdant that gives exact recommendations on their website.

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Sam said

Great recommendations Donna. I find that Gongfu can be overwhelming if not done in the right setting. It’s easy to feel that the level of attention needs to be greater in order to enjoy the tea. It’s easier with a green tea that steeps a handful of times but Verdant’s Laoshan black just went forever today! I went through about 11 steepings and it was still going – that was spread out from 9:30-3pm as I was at work and had stuff going on. That’s a tea that I would love to really sit down and enjoy over a period of time or to share with somebody.

I might just have to relegate Gongfu brewing to home unfortunately. That’s not to say that brewing western style with 8oz water is not enjoyable for me. It just presents a more complete picture of the tea.

Thanks for all of your responses. I find that 3-4g per 6-8oz is a goo baseline. I’ll have to give it a try!

What started as an odd cup of tea here and there when I wasn’t enjoying coffee has become part of my life now. I really love it!

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