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 changes quickly with a few degrees of heat or a few extra seconds of steeping. Use this calculator to get the right time, temperature, and leaf amount for the tea style you are brewing.
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.
Last updated:
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.