Calculate perfect tea steeping time, temperature, and tea-to-water ratio by variety. Covers green, black, oolong, white, herbal, and pu-erh with multiple infusions.
Brewing excellent tea is all about matching the right temperature, steeping time, and leaf-to-water ratio to your specific tea type. Unlike coffee, where near-boiling water works for most methods, tea demands precision: green tea scalded with boiling water turns bitter and astringent, while black tea brewed too cool tastes flat and underextracted. The difference between a perfect cup and a mediocre one is often just 10°F or 30 seconds.
Each tea family has evolved a set of ideal brewing parameters. Delicate green teas like Japanese gyokuro need cool water (140-160°F) and short steeps (1-2 minutes). Robust black teas like Assam thrive at a full boil (200-212°F) for 3-5 minutes. Oolong sits in between and rewards multiple short infusions (gongfu style), where the same leaves are brewed 5-10 times, each revealing different flavors.
This calculator provides optimized brewing parameters for every major tea variety, handles both Western-style (large pot, single infusion) and gongfu-style (small vessel, multiple infusions) brewing, and adjusts leaf quantity for your vessel size. It also tracks caffeine content and multiple infusion flavor profiles.
Tea brewing parameters are hard to remember across 20+ varieties. This calculator gives you the exact temperature, time, and amount for a perfect cup every time. Keep these notes focused on your operational context. Tie the context to the calculator’s intended domain. Use this clarification to avoid ambiguous interpretation. Align this note with review checkpoints.
Western: 2-3g tea per 8 oz water, single steep 2-5 min. Gongfu: 5-8g tea per 100-150 mL, multiple steeps 15-60 sec each. Temperature ranges: Green 160-185°F, White 170-185°F, Oolong 185-205°F, Black 200-212°F, Pu-erh 200-212°F, Herbal 212°F.
Result: 3g tea, 175°F water, steep 1.5-2 minutes
Sencha (green tea) brews best at 170-180°F for 1-2 minutes. For a 350 mL (12 oz) cup: 3g loose leaf. Water that's too hot or steeped too long makes green tea bitter.
**Green:** Unoxidized, vegetal/grassy/sweet. Japan: sencha, gyokuro, genmaicha. China: Dragonwell (Long Jing), bi luo chun. **White:** Minimally processed, delicate/floral/sweet. Silver Needle, White Peony. **Oolong:** Partially oxidized (15-85%), complex/fruity/toasty. Light: Tieguanyin, Ali Shan. Dark: Da Hong Pao, Shui Xian. **Black:** Fully oxidized, bold/malty/rich. Assam, Ceylon, Darjeeling, Keemun, Lapsang Souchong. **Pu-erh:** Aged/fermented, earthy/smooth. Sheng (raw) and Shou (ripe). **Herbal:** Not technically tea (no Camellia sinensis), caffeine-free. Chamomile, peppermint, rooibos.
Camellia sinensis leaves contain catechins (bitter), amino acids (sweet/umami), and volatile aromatics (floral/fruity). **Below 160°F:** Amino acids dissolve well, catechins barely extract: sweet, light. **160-180°F:** Moderate catechin extraction balanced with amino acids: the green tea sweet spot. **180-200°F:** Higher catechin extraction, more body and tannin: oolong territory. **200-212°F:** Maximum extraction of everything, including heavy tannins: black tea needs this to develop full flavor. Brewing black tea cool produces weak results; brewing green tea hot produces bitter results.
Quality tea evolves across infusions. A typical oolong journey: **1st steep:** Light, floral, "opening up." **2nd-3rd:** Peak flavor, full body, complexity. **4th-5th:** Sweeter, smoother, less intense. **6th+:** Lighter, subtle, pleasant fade. High-quality pu-erh can maintain flavor across 15+ infusions in gongfu style.
Green tea should be brewed at 160-180°F (70-82°C). Delicate Japanese greens (gyokuro, sencha) prefer the lower end (160-170°F). Chinese greens (Dragonwell, gunpowder) can handle 175-185°F.
For Western brewing: 2-3 grams (about 1 teaspoon) per 8 oz cup. For gongfu: 5-8 grams per 100-150 mL gaiwan. Fluffy teas (white peony) need more volume; dense rolled teas (gunpowder) need less.
Yes! Most quality loose leaf teas can be steeped 2-5 times (Western style) or 5-15 times (gongfu). Each infusion reveals different flavors. Herbal teas and tea bags are usually single-infusion only.
Water too hot (above 180°F) or steeped too long (over 2 minutes) is the most common cause. Green tea catechins release bitterness rapidly above 175°F. Cool the water and shorten the steep.
Gongfu (kung fu) is a Chinese brewing style using a small vessel (gaiwan or Yixing pot), a high leaf-to-water ratio, and many short infusions (15-60 seconds each). It produces more concentrated, complex cups and is ideal for oolong and pu-erh.
Yes — caffeine extraction increases with time and temperature. An 8-minute steep extracts roughly 80% of available caffeine, vs 60% in 3 minutes. But it also extracts more tannins, which can make the tea bitter.