Newbie Tea Tips #7: Water Temperature
A very common mistake tea newbies make is brewing all tea with boiling water. Now what this often leads to is a dark, bitter and usually undesirable cup of tea, that leaves you in confusion of what you did wrong, or worse, questioning the quality of loose tea compared to teabags. What most people who are new to teas don’t realize is that unlike teabags, loose teas react better to different water temperatures. Pouring boiling water on any tea isn’t going to go well in some cases and will lead to a very negative experience.
Generally speaking, darker teas like black tea, oolong tea (especially highly oxidized oolongs), and fermented teas can usually handle hotter water temperatures. However white tea, green tea, and yellow teas are very delicate and need to be steeped at lower temperatures. Pouring boiling water on a delicate green tea such as Sencha or Maofeng will produce a very bitter cup of tea and darker color. Why is this?
Well teas that are tightly rolled or highly oxidized usually need a higher water temperature in order to allow the tea to open up and release it’s aroma and flavor, as they will not open up as fast as a delicate tea will. Delicate teas like white and green, which are generally made of either just buds and/or smaller leaves, flatter and longer in shape and size, need to be steeped at a lower temperature. This allows the leaves to open up slower through each infusion and to slowly release their aroma and flavor. This is especially important when dealing with teas that have a lot of catechins like green teas, which when made with boiling water, releases all the catechins at once instead of slowly over multiple infusions. This is what results in the bitter taste.
Now when you purchase a tea, a proper retailer will usually include brewing instructions on the label. And a part of these instructions is usually a recommended water temperature. If not on the label, you can easily find handy charts like the one below, that give you recommended water temperatures for each tea type.
Okay, but what if you don’t have a kettle where you can set the temperature? Well you have a few options. The first would be to purchase an inexpensive kettle with a temperature setting. Usually you can find a suitable one on Amazon for $20-$30. Another option is to boil the water and use a thermometer to keep track of the water temperature. Don’t wanna spend more money on a kettle or thermometer? Well I’ll give you a simple, easy rule of thumb to heat your water.
Black, Oolong & Puerh teas - Turn your kettle off just as you start to see large bubbles form in the kettle. Essentially turn the kettle off just before boiling.
Green, White, & Yellow teas - Turn the kettle off just as the water begins to simmer (small bubbles starting to form), or when the kettle begins to get louder and it heats up.
This rule of thumb will take you a long way, and eventually you may want to upgrade to a better kettle. But for now give this a shot and adjust as you need.
