Steeping Times

Choose the amount of tea that best suits your palate. In general, begin with either a teaspoon of green or black teas for each 6-8 oz serving, a tablespoon of fluffy white or long twisted oolongs. Experiment with the right quantity of leaves and water for the flavor and caffeine content that pleases you best. The best tea is the tea you like to drink again and again.

Caffeine Content

How does caffeine get in the tea you drink? Caffeine is water soluble, it washes off the leaves and into your cup each time you steep it. Caffeine content varies in each and every cup you make. Very generally speaking, white and green have less caffeine; oolong, black and puerh have more.

Caffeine content varies in your cup depending on how many leaves you steep, and how long you steep them. The shorter the steeping, or the fewer the leaves, the less caffeine. Note that this does not necessarily correlate with less flavor. The longer the steeping, the greater the amount of leaves, the more caffeine. You can steep tea several times, and the more steepings you do, less and less caffeine is washed into your cup each time. By your final steeping, you would have few worries that caffeine left in your tea would keep you up.

To decaffeinate any tea at home, steep tea for 30 seconds and pour away the wash: your tea is now 80-90% caffeine free.

Steeping Guidelines

    Gaiwan:
  • White tea: water @180°, steep about 30 seconds, up to 4 steepings.
  • Green tea: water @170°, steep about 25 seconds, up to 4 steepings.
  • Phoenix Oolong tea: water @ full boil, steep about 15-20 seconds, up to 9 steepings
  • Taiwanese and Chinese oolong tea: water @ full boil, steep 45 sec - 1 minute, up to 8 steepings.
  • Red tea (Hong Cha): water @ full boil, steep 5-15 seconds, up to 6 steepings.
  • Black tea (Puerh): water @ full boil, steep: begin with 15 second steepings and adjust to taste. Up to 15 steepings.
    Glass tea pot:
  • White tea: water @180°, steep 30 - 40 seconds
  • Green tea: water @ 170°, steep 25- 45 seconds
    Clay pot:
  • Phoenix oolong tea: water @ full boil, steep 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes, up to 9 steepings
  • Taiwanese and Chinese Oolong: water @ full boil 45 seconds to 1.5 minutes, up to 6 steepings
  • Red Tea (Hong cha): water @ full boil, 15 to 45 seconds, up to 6 steepings
  • Black tea (Puerh): water @ full boil, 15seconds - 1 minute, up to 15 steepings

You can also put tea leaves directly in your cup and pour hot water over them (at the appropriate temperature). When the leaves fall to the bottom of the cup, sip off the top! Add more hot water later for another cup.