Make a Good Cup of Tea
You need tea, clean water, a mug or pot, and some way to remove the leaves. A kitchen scale makes recipes easier to repeat. A thermometer is nice. Neither is required before you are allowed to begin.
The one recipe to try first
- Put 3 g of tea into a mug, basket infuser, or small pot. No scale? Try one level teaspoon of compact tea or two teaspoons of very fluffy tea.
- Heat 250 ml of fresh water.
- Choose a rough temperature:
- 75–85°C for delicate green tea;
- 85–95°C for most white tea and light oolong;
- 90–100°C for black tea, dark tea, roasted oolong, and compressed tea.
- Pour the water over the leaves and cover.
- Taste after 2 minutes.
- When it tastes good, separate all the tea from the leaves. Liquid left behind keeps brewing.
That is your starting cup — not your final exam.
Brew the leaves again
Add fresh hot water and give the next infusion more time. Whole leaves often have several good cups in them. Tiny pieces tend to release most of their flavor earlier.
Fix the next cup, not the current one
| What happened? | Change this first |
|---|---|
| Watery or quiet | Steep longer |
| Bitter or mouth-drying | Steep for less time |
| Smells lovely but tastes hollow | Add a little time; then try different water |
| Heavy, dull, or muddy | Use less leaf or drain sooner |
| Fine at first, harsh later | Remove all liquid between infusions |
If one change is not enough, then adjust the leaf amount or temperature.
The golden rule
Change one thing at a time. If you use less leaf, cooler water, and half the time together, you will get a different cup — but you will not know why.
When you are ready to experiment, open Fix Your Next Cup. For the simple science underneath, read Why Tea Gets Stronger.