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We work hard to answer your questions about tea. Please contact us if you have any questions that are not answered below.
How do I brew tea?
There are three important steps to follow when it comes to brewing teas:
1. Amount of tea
There is no rule for brewing a certain amount of tea. The quantity you use depends on the type of tea you brew, the size of your teacup, and your personal taste. Generally speaking, to prepare green tea, we suggest that you put 3 teaspoons of dried tea into your 16-oz teapot or fill it to one-third. When preparing black tea, such as Pu’er, we suggest that you add one more teaspoon. Oolong (Wulong) requires two more teaspoons.
2. Water temperature
When brewing green tea, you should avoid adding boiling water of 100 centigrade. If the water is boiling, make sure you cool it down to 90 centigrade This way, the tea will produce a bright, light color, it will taste better, and it will have more vitamin C. If you add boiling water, the tea will turn yellow and it will taste bitter. When brewing black and oolong teas, add boiling water of 100 centigrade. If the temperature is too low, the tea will not brew sufficiently and it will not be flavorful.
3. Brewing tea
a. Put the right amount of tea in your teapot or infuser and pour in just enough hot water to cover the tea.
b. Let the tea brew for 3 minutes. If you are using an infuser, take the infuser out.
c. After you have drunk two-thirds of the tea in your teapot, pour in more hot water. If you are using an infuser, put the infuser back into the teapot, add hot water, and brew the tea for an another 5 mintues. You can brew the same tea leaves up to three times!
How many types of teas are there?
All teas are from the same type of trees, except the herbal teas. According to the processing methods, the tea products can be categorized into: Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, White Tea, etc. It's very common that people consider certain herbs as teas and call them Herbal Tea.
Green tea, known as unfermented tea, keeps the original color of the tea leaves. The primary processing of Chinese green tea includes "fixation", "rolling" and "drying". Because the tea is not fermented, the chlorophyll still remains in tea leaves, which makes the tea in green color.
Black tea is a completely fermented. The production for black tea includes four procedures: Withering, Rolling, Fermenting, and Drying.
Oolong tea is a semi-fermented tea, combining the best qualities of both green tea and black tea. Oolong tea is not only as clear and fragrant as green tea, but also as refreshing and strong as black tea. Famous Oolong teas include AnXi Oolong, Tie Guan Yin, Yellow Gold Oolong, Da Hong Pao, Wuyi Cliff, etc.
White tea is a slightly fermented tea with its body covered with fluffy white hair. White tea can be brewed to a pale yellow/light red color, and has a slightly sweet flavor without the "grassy" undertones which sometimes associated with green tea.
Herbal tea can be either blended from several herbs or just by itself. Herbs don’t have caffeine, which makes them to be used even during night. A common herbal tea is Chrysanthemum, which has very delight taste.
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