Decoding Tea Brewing: Mastering Temperature for the Perfect Cup
- Alona Pidhirniak
- Mar 3, 2024
- 5 min read
“At what temperature should you brew this tea?” – one of the most frequently asked questions. Some people, seeing brewing temperatures given with an accuracy of one degree and different for each tea, feel overwhelmed and give up buying green or white teas. I would like to show that the issue of brewing temperature is not that complicated, and that it is usually not the most important parameter in brewing tea. I hope that this text will be a scientific help for many of you, and after reading it, you will not need any tips from tea sellers – because you will be able to set the brewing temperature yourself. Let’s start with the least problematic teas.
Black tea (red tea in Asian nomenclature)
Black teas can always be poured with boiling water, or rather water at a temperature of 95-96°C. Freshly boiled, but no longer boiling water has this temperature.
Exceptions:– Delicate Chinese black teas with a high content of young buds (e.g. Jin Jun Mei) can be poured with water at a temperature lowered to even 85°C. This does not mean, however, that lowering the temperature is absolutely necessary or that it will produce a better brew – it is a matter of individual preferences.– Darjeeling FF teas (from the spring harvest) can be brewed at a slightly lower temperature, approximately 85-90°C. This will help reduce their bitterness, but will reduce the aromaticity and overall richness of the infusion.
Pu-erh tea and hei cha
Boiling water. Exceptions:Young raw pu-erh brewed in a Western style (in a large teapot) or simply in a cup, without separating the leaves from the infusion. In this method of brewing, it is better to lower the temperature slightly, to about 85-90°C. However, these are not the brewing methods that I recommend.
(turquoise teas, also incorrectly called blue)
Usually boiling water, especially for high-quality oolongs. For lower quality oolong teas, you can slightly lower the brewing temperature to camouflage their defects. Exception:Good results can be obtained by brewing Bai Hao Oolong at a temperature of approximately 85-90°C. To cool the water to this temperature, you only need to pour fresh boiling water into an unheated container once.Please note that this is the most oxidized of all oolongs (closest to black tea in this respect). However, this tea is plucked to the same standard as green teas, i.e. it is made from young buds and leaves. This does not mean that you cannot pour boiling water over it. Try first which version suits you better.
About 85°C. It is best to brew uncovered to allow excess heat to escape from the vessel and not to “suffocate” the tea.
Yellow tea made from the buds itself is often brewed by throwing it into water. In this case, obtaining water at the ideal temperature is very simple: pour freshly boiled water into a container (preferably glass), wait a minute, add the leaves.
It won’t be that easy here. Don’t brew it, because making tea is always easy. It won’t be that easy to describe.
If we wanted to include instructions on the brewing temperature for green tea in one sentence, it would be as follows: Brew green tea with water at a temperature of 20°C to 95°C. Not very useful, right? Therefore, some distinctions need to be made.
Most often 75-85°C.
The higher the quality, the earlier the spring harvest date and the greater the content of tiny buds, the lower the brewing temperature. Of course, the type of tea also matters.Chinese green tea is most often brewed uncovered to allow excess heat to escape from the vessel and not to “suffocate” the tea. Tea brewed at a higher temperature but uncovered has a lower chance of scalding than tea brewed at a lower temperature but covered.
Exceptions:If the green tea is from a late harvest, the leaves are not delicate and do not have a large bud content, you can pour boiling water over it without any problems. Examples include Taiwanese green teas made from “oolong” varieties of shrubs, green teas from Assam, Nepal and Darjeeling. (We’re talking about Chinese-style processed teas)
– senchaMost often 65-80°C. Higher quality tea may be brewed at a lower temperature. Asamushi tea can be brewed at a lower temperature than fukamushi.A common practice is to gradually increase the temperature in subsequent brewings (e.g. 1st brewing 70°C, 2nd brewing 80°C, 3rd brewing 85°C).
Very high-quality sencha, especially temomi cha (hand-rolled), can, however, be prepared at a lower temperature, e.g. 50°C, or even in water at room temperature – and I am not talking about a long “cold brew”, just a simple pouring!
How to reach the right temperature for brewing sencha?
Pour freshly boiled water into the kettle. Pour the water into the cups. Pour the leaves into the teapot and enjoy their scent in a heated pot. Wait a while and pour the tea into the water in the cups – the temperature is 75-80°C. If you want to cool the water to an even lower temperature, an additional jug called yuzamashi, or any other jug that serves its purpose, may be useful. Pour water from the cups into it, wait a while and then pour the tea.
– gyokuroMost often 50-65°C. In terms of temperature, this is the most finicky of teas. As in the case of top-class sencha, outstanding gyokuro can be poured with water at room temperature or slightly warmer. This applies to the first or first and second brewing, because the water temperature is gradually raised for later brewing.
– banchaMost often 75-85°C.Less frequently, it is recommended to brew bancha tea at a temperature of 90°C and above. This applies to lower quality teas.
– kukichaAbout 80-90°C.High-quality karigane can be brewed at a lower temperature – 70, and sometimes even 60°C. This is rare, but it happens. There is also a recommendation to brew kukicha with water at a temperature close to boiling.
– hōjichaBoiling water or slightly cooled water (90°C).
– kamairichaJust like in the case of Chinese green teas.
85-95°C – according to your preferences.White tea is very forgiving, you don’t have to worry too much about its brewing temperature. I know that there are people who brew it for a long time in water at a temperature of 60°C. If it tastes better this way, go ahead! However, I do not believe that this is the optimal way to brew white tea. In China, where white tea is produced, boiling water is mainly used. Traditional white tea does not undergo the leaf rolling process, which is key to the fact that it should be brewed at the highest possible temperature.
Please note that these tips apply to traditional white teas: Yin Zhen, Bai Mu Dan, Gong Mei and Shou Mei, as well as teas made after their example. Beware of pseudo-white teas – de facto green teas that pretend to be white due to the high content of white fuzz on the leaves.
Cooking white teas has recently become popular in China. Especially in the case of aged, old white teas.
A final word
The right brewing temperature is important, but not the most important. What is more important is the time of brewing the tea, as well as the amount of leaves used.
I’m sure many people will find the values given above inappropriate. No wonder, because the perception of the taste of tea is a strictly subjective matter. I tried to provide ranges commonly accepted by specialists, mainly Asian ones.
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