How to brew loose-leaf tea

Everything on this page fits on a fridge magnet. If you only remember one thing, make it this: taste it early. Almost every cup of bitter tea was simply left too long.

Getting the water right without a thermometer

Boil the kettle, then wait. Off the boil is roughly 205°F after about thirty seconds, 195°F after a minute, and 175°F after three. Pouring an inch of cold water into the cup first gets you close enough for green and white tea.

Re-steeping

Good loose leaf is not a single-use thing. Oolong and pu-erh will give you five to ten cups from one measure if you keep the steeps short and add a few seconds each time. Black and green tea will usually give you a second cup, rarely a third. Keep the wet leaf in the pot, not the fridge, and finish it the same day.

Storing it

Airtight, out of the light, away from anything that smells — tea takes on the character of a spice cupboard faster than you would believe. Not the fridge: condensation does more damage than a warm shelf. Our pouches are resealable and work perfectly well as the container.

Common fixes

• Bitter or drying? Steeped too long, or water too hot. Cut the time by a minute before you change anything else.
• Thin and watery? Not enough leaf. People under-measure loose leaf almost every time.
• Flat and dull? Water that has been boiled twice, or has been sitting in the kettle since this morning. Start it fresh.