The Tea Emporium’s Tea Steeping Chart

The Coach & Horses Tea Emporium – A brewing Guide for all teas

THE STEEPING TIMES CHART

The following steeping times chart is designed to give you an idea of where to start when you prepare your teas. It is not an exact science and you should check your purchased teas from the Tea Emporium for instructions for individual teas. However, this chart will help you get started and remember, tea taste is subjective and, therefore, different for everyone, so don’t be afraid to experiment. Some tea drinkers will prefer stronger infusions, some less so….We will be producing some short videos showing how to infuse certain teas; for example, if you were steeping a ‘first flush’ Darjeeling tea, you would want to lower the temperature to around 180 degrees as opposed to following the guide for more typical ‘Black teas’ which I would use slightly hotter water around 203-205 degrees. The reason for this is that the Darjeeling first flush tea is a little less oxidized and slightly more fragile in a sense. You will get better taste this way!

TEMPERATURES

Here is a tip to help you get the right temperature without the use of a thermometer:

• 95°C / 203°F – Boiling water
• 90°C / 195°F – Boil water and let stand for 1-2 minute
• 80°C / 175°F – Boil water and let stand for 2-4 minutes

This obviously isn’t very scientific, but it’s a good guestimate. Just remember the more water you boil, the longer you need to leave it to cool down.

HERE ARE A FEW EXTRA THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

• Don’t over steep green teas or they may taste bitter
• The longer you steep the first infusion, the fewer times you will be able to re-steep your leaves.
• If you want a stronger taste, add more tea and use the same steeping times above
• For Iced Tea, double the amount of tea and follow the above chart for temperatures and times. Remember, the ice will dilute your tea.
• To make Iced tea with cold water, double the amount of tea, cover and leave in a fridge for 4 – 10 hours.