Guidelines for Steeping Tea

Series Summary

Tea is characterized as the most mystical and healing of all the beverages. With the variety of flavors, tea seems to perfect drink for any occasion. As Chinese legend describes, tea originated by divine intervention. A legendary emperor was sitting in the grass sometime around 2737 B.C. As he was pondering life, he drank a bowl of boiling water when all of a sudden leaves blew into his bowl. When he looked down, he noticed that the water had started to change color. The ever inquisitive and curious monarch took a sip of the brew and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and its restorative properties. However, due to the desire that tea arouses, one creation myth can not possibly be enough to explain the beginnings of tea. Another legend claims that the founder of the Zen school of Buddhism discovered the beverage. Regardless of truth to these myths, tea has played a significant role in Asian culture for centuries as a staple beverage, a curative and a symbol of status.

In this free video series, learn how to brew tea. Our expert, Matt Graham, starts every morning with a fresh cup of tea. He shows you everything you need to know to brew tea. Get tips for brewing different kinds of tea: green tea, white tea, Oolong tea, red tea, Darjeeling tea, and many more. Learn how to use a teapot to brew tea. If you are curious how much water to use, Matt shows you this as well. So, what are you waiting for? Learn how to brew tea today!

Video Transcript

"Okay, we are talking about how to steep tea and again when I say steep or brew those words are interchangeable. I am talking about adding hot water to the dry tea leaves and allowing all of the flavors and caffeine and oxidants and wonderful, healthy chemicals to come out of the tea leave and into your water to make a cup of tea that you will get to enjoy. Water boils at two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit or a hundred degrees Celsius. Some teas as I will tell you later require a boiling water temperature to steep while other teas require specific temperatures which are less than boiling. You can purchase a hot water dispenser that will dispense water at several key temperatures which are good for steeping those teas which require temperatures below boiling. If you cannot afford one of those water dispensers you can use a thermometer to check the temperature of your water so that you will be using consistent water temperatures for your teas or if you do not have any of those available to you simple boil the water and then allow a minute or so for it to cool down to the desired temperature. You are not going to be able to get an exact temperature, but just make sure that however long you are waiting for your water to cool down you are doing it consistently from cup to cup. So you can find the brew time and temperature that best suits your needs. So again let's start looking at how to specific types of tea."