A lovely cup of tea is refreshing, comforting and soothing. Unfortunately, we still come across people who tell us they find tea too strong, or too weak to enjoy. Or they tell us they don’t like to drink green tea because it gives them a bitter aftertaste (which is not necessary!) A lot of it is a matter of personal taste. Maybe you enjoy your black tea as strong as you can get it with a little drop of milk? Or you enjoy a really delicate Japanese green sencha tea, with its refined savoury-sweet notes. Preparing tea is not a difficult task, but there are a few things you need to take into consideration. This will help you enjoy your tea moment the best way.

In our online shop we offer you fresh teas, herbs and fruit infusions of high quality. Every package contains specific advice on how to prepare your variety as well as possible. Every variety has its own specific preparation method. There are a few aspects which will influence the taste of your beverage: your preparation method, the use of water, its temperature, amount of steeping time, etc.

Preparing your variety
On average about 2 grams of tea is used to prepare a cup or a mug of tea; this is the size of an ordinary tea spoon. For a tea pot of about 0.8 litres you will thus use about three to four tea spoons. We advise you to use either a tea egg (or ball), filter (bags) or an infuser to prepare your teas. This will make it easier to remove the leaves from the water after the appropriate steeping time.

In the chart below we show you a general guideline for temperatures and steeping time. Extraordinary teas may diverge from this chart. On every package that we offer we will always give you the appropriate advice for your varieties.

As you can see we never use boiling water. More about the use of water you can find HERE.

Explanation of the chart:

Black teas
Black teas consist of oxidized tea leaves. You may use higher temperatures as they won’t give you a bitter aftertaste. Black teas on average steep longer than green teas.

Green teas
Green teas consist of non-oxidized tea leaves. The leaves contain high levels of tannin, which will be released immediately if you steep the leaves at a too high temperature or for too long. This will cause a bitter, sour aftertaste to your tea. You can prevent this by preparing your green teas at a lower temperature and limit the steeping time. You will have a nice, full-flavoured tea, without the bitterness.

Oolong and white teas
These are also varieties of which the leaves are not (completely) oxidized. For these varieties it is therefore also important to lower your water temperature to prevent the bitter taste. On average oolong teas don’t steep that long; white teas however need a longer time in the water to give off their flavours.

Herbal and fruit infusions
Usually it takes longer for herbs or fruits to release their flavours to the water, so you may steep them a little bit longer. A higher temperature may be used as the leaves (or pieces of fruits) don’t contain tannins. Make sure you remove your herbs or fruits after some time. The flavours can become very intense after a too long time in the water.