Time and Temperature
Temperature First
The suggested amount of tea to use is one teaspoon per 8 ounces of water. This is typically correct with black, green, oolong and white teas, but with herbal tea or fluffier, lighter teas, we suggest two teaspoons per 8 ounces of water to get the most flavor from the tea. If you use too little tea, your tea may taste watered down. If this occurs, experiment using a little more tea or even steeping a tad bit longer.
For black, dark oolong and herbal teas, using boiling water(212F) will be perfect but it's important to use cooler water(180F) for green, white and light oolong teas. The reason is because of the subtle flavor of these teas, using boiling water can burn the leaf and effect this subtle flavor. Although there are electric tea kettles that have a green tea setting or even a water temperature gauge, you can pretty well figure out when the water is the correct temperature by waiting until the bottom of the teapot or pan is covered with bubbles. This will be about 180F but it doesn't have to be perfect.
Timing is Everything
It's important not to over-steep your tea, this can cause it to become very bitter. Below are suggested tea steeping times by tea type.
Black tea - 3-4 minutes
Green tea - 2-3 minutes
Oolong tea - 4-5 minutes
White tea - 5-6 minutes
Herbal tea - 5-6 minutes*
*It's interesting to note that although we suggest 5-6 minutes steep time on herbal teas, actually the longer you steep them the better they get typically. This is because they do not come from the actual tea plant and thus do not have the bitter causing acids. Some herbal teas, like rooibos for instance, get better the longer you steep them.
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