What is the best way to brew tea?  Every tea is different, but if you stick to our advice you can't go wrong.  The quality of water, temperature, quantity of dried tea, and steeping time all play together to make the perfect pot. 

Start with fresh, cold good-tasting water

The best tea is only as good as the water with which it is prepared. We recommend using filtered or bottled spring water with a natural mineral content that is neither too hard nor too soft. Distilled water is not recommended since water purified of its mineral content produces a flat tasting infusion. The freshness of the water is important as fresh water contains more oxygen, which enhances the taste of the tea. Never use hot tap water or water that has already boiled for a long time as this will result in a flat and dull tasting tea with little aroma.

Preheat the teapot

It is important to preheat the pot or cup in which the tea will be steeped. If hot water is poured into a cold vessel, the temperature of the water will drop too quickly and the full flavor of the tea will not be extracted. To preheat the pot: pour a little of the boiling water from the kettle into the pot and then pour this water off into the drinking cups to warm them.

Measure the appropriate amount of dry leaves

Ideally, 3 grams of dry leaves should be used for every 8 ounces of water. Since you may not have a gram weight scale, we recommend starting with one rounded teaspoon of dry leaves for each 8-ounce cup. Since different teas have widely varying weights, it is important to adjust the amount of dry leaves accordingly. With lighter weight teas such as large, wiry oolongs and whites, try 2 teaspoons per 6 oz cup.

Green Tea generally needs cooler water at about 165-170F/80C.  Use a heaping teaspoon of dried leaf per 8oz pot and steep for two minutes.  You should be able to get 2-3 steeping from the same leaves.  We prefer to make our Japanese green teas in a pot with a strainer on the inside, because Japanese green tea is not usually whole leaves and it is a little bit more tedious than other teas.  Tea bags don't give the tea room to expand, thus you don't get everything out of your tea.  Avoid microwaves when heating your water.  It is best to use a tea kettle on the stove or and electric device.

Oolong Tea is best prepared using the Gong-Fu method.  Gong-Fu in Chinese means skill.  This is the skillful/artful way of making tea.  Really any tea can be prepared this way and it will be great.  We suggest that you use a small clay teapot to prepare our teas in.  One from Taiwan or China will work fine.  Make sure that the volume of the pot is not too big and between 100-350cc.  First, make sure that your water has just finished boiling.  Now fill the teapot with 1-2 tablespoons of dried leaf depending if you like it stronger or not.  Pour in the hot water, replace the lid, and immediately pour out the tea into a tea vessel or tea ocean.  This first rinsing of the leaves is used to warm the pot and awaken the leaves.  It also gets rid of any small bits of tea that might give off a bitter taste too.  You may discard the first rinsing by pouring it in each cup and then back over the clay teapot.  The first steeping is much the same as the rinsing.  You just pour the water in, replace the lid, then let the tea steep for 30-50 seconds.  Pour out the tea into a vessel/ocean or cups.  With each additional steeping you should double the time that you let the tea steep.  Our high quality teas should produce 7-10 fragrant steeping per pot.  If you have any questions about tea preparation, please contact us.

Black Tea is easy to prepare.  Just add water that has just been boiled to the tea.  Usually a tablespoon per 8oz pot works, but you might want to let is steep 3 minutes depending on the tea and your own tastes