Tea FAQ

They all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The difference is processing — specifically how far the leaf is allowed to oxidise before heat stops the reaction. White is barely handled, green is halted early, oolong sits in the middle, and black is fully oxidised.

Something forgiving. A roasted oolong or a hojicha is hard to over-steep and pleasant even when you get it slightly wrong. Delicate greens like gyokuro punish small mistakes, so they are a better second or third stop than a first.

No. A mug, a way to heat water, and something to hold the leaf will make good tea. Equipment like a gaiwan or kyusu gives you finer control and makes short repeated infusions practical, but it improves the process rather than rescuing poor leaf.

Usually, though the reason is grade rather than format. Bags are typically filled with CTC granules or small broken leaf, which brew fast and strong but flatten out the subtleties. A bag roomy enough for whole leaf to expand closes much of the gap.

Western brewing is roughly 2–3g per 250ml — about a heaped teaspoon per mug. Gongfu brewing uses far more leaf, often 5–8g in a 100ml vessel, but steeps for seconds rather than minutes.

As a rough guide: green and white around 70–80°C, oolong 85–95°C, black and pu-erh at or near boiling. Delicate leaf scorches in water that is too hot; robust leaf under-extracts in water that is too cool.

Western style, 2–3 minutes for most teas is a reasonable starting point. Treat it as a variable, not a rule — taste at intervals and stop when you like it. The packet instruction is a suggestion from someone who has never met your palate.

Usually water that is too hot, a steep that ran too long, or too much leaf. Change one variable at a time: drop the temperature by 10°C first, and only then shorten the steep.

Tea has been studied a great deal, and findings vary by tea, dose and study design. We do not make health claims about our teas or on this site. For anything concerning your own health, ask a doctor or registered dietitian rather than a tea company.

Yes, and with many teas you should. Oolong and pu-erh in particular change character across infusions, often peaking on the second or third rather than the first. Quality leaf will give several steeps; dust in a bag will give one.

More than most people expect. Heavily chlorinated water carries its own flavour, and very hard water can mute aromatics and dull the liquor. Filtered water is usually enough; distilled water tends to taste flat because some mineral content actually helps.

Generally not. Boiling water tends to scorch delicate green leaf and pull out harshness. Let it sit a few minutes off the boil, or add a splash of cold water to bring it down.

A Chinese method using a lot of leaf, a small vessel, and many very short infusions, so you taste the same leaf change across a session. Worth trying with a tea you already like, so you can hear what it adds.

Cloudiness comes from brewing hot and chilling fast. Either cold brew it from the start, or brew hot at double strength and pour over a full glass of ice so it drops temperature immediately rather than sitting warm in the fridge.

Leaf steeped in cold water in the fridge for several hours. The low temperature extracts less of the compounds behind bitterness and astringency, so the result is usually softer and sweeter than the same tea brewed hot and chilled.

For compressed and aged teas like pu-erh, a quick rinse that you pour away helps open the leaf and warms the vessels. For most loose greens and blacks it is unnecessary and simply throws away the first infusion.

Matcha is fine enough to compact in the tin. Sift it before whisking, use a little water to make a smooth paste first, then add the rest. A bamboo chasen moves in a W rather than a circle, which helps.

You can, and masala chai traditionally is — simmered in a mix of milk and water with spices. Milk proteins bind some of the compounds behind astringency, which is part of why strong black tea takes milk well.

Simmer rather than steep. Crush whole spices, bring them to a boil in water, add strong black tea, then milk and sugar, and let it come up together for a few minutes. Pre-ground spice and a teabag will not get you there.

It extracts more quickly, but what comes out last tends to be the harsh end — more tannins, more bitterness. If your tea is too weak, use more leaf or steep longer rather than wringing it.

Any tea made from Camellia sinensis does — green, white, oolong, black and pu-erh alike. Tisanes such as peppermint, chamomile and rooibos contain none, because they are not tea.

Less predictable than people assume. Colour is a poor guide; matcha tends to be high because you consume the whole leaf, and young buds generally carry more caffeine than mature leaves. Brewing strength and steep time often matter more than the category.

No, with the exception of herbal blends that include actual tea, or naturally caffeinated plants like yerba maté or guayusa. Check the ingredients rather than the word "herbal".

Yes. Caffeine is removed after processing, commonly with carbon dioxide or ethyl acetate. Decaffeinated is not caffeine-free — a small residual amount typically remains.

Yes, though caffeine extracts relatively early compared with the compounds behind bitterness. A longer steep usually makes tea taste much more bitter before it makes it meaningfully more caffeinated.

Not reliably. The idea that a short first rinse strips most of the caffeine is widely repeated but not supported — caffeine extracts over a longer window than that. If you need to avoid caffeine, choose a tisane.

An amino acid found in tea leaf, present in higher concentrations in shaded teas such as gyokuro and matcha. It contributes to the savoury, brothy quality described as umami. We do not make claims about its effects.

That is a question for your doctor or pharmacist, not for us. Caffeine intake and herb–drug interactions are both genuinely individual, and a clinician who knows your situation is the right person to ask.

Airtight, opaque, cool, dry, and away from anything aromatic. Tea readily picks up smells from its surroundings — storing it next to coffee or spices will change how it tastes.

It rarely becomes unsafe, but it does go stale — aromatics fade and the cup flattens. Green and white teas decline fastest; well-stored pu-erh is one of the few that is meant to change over years.

Usually not. Fridges are humid and full of competing smells, and taking tea in and out invites condensation. The exception is unopened, vacuum-sealed Japanese green tea, which is sometimes refrigerated — let it reach room temperature before opening.

Weeks rather than months. The grinding that makes matcha also exposes an enormous surface area to air, so it loses colour and brightness quickly. Buy small tins and keep them sealed and cold.

Most often age or exposure. Tea stored in a clear jar on a sunny shelf will fade fast. If the dry leaf smells of very little, the brew will too.

It is generally not worth it. Freezing risks moisture damage on thawing, and for most teas a sealed opaque tin in a cool cupboard does the job without that risk.

Airtight. Oxygen is what degrades aromatics over time, so a loose-fitting lid lets a good tea fade while it sits. Double-lidded caddies exist for exactly this reason.

Tea from one garden, estate or region rather than blended across several. Blends exist to taste the same every year; single origin exists to show what one place tasted like in one season.

Up to a point, and then it depends what you are buying. Price often tracks labour — hand-picking, careful sorting, small lots. Beyond a certain level you are paying for rarity and provenance, which is a different purchase from everyday drinking leaf.

The first picking after winter dormancy, prized for delicacy. Better is the wrong frame — Darjeeling second flush is fuller and more muscatel, and many people prefer it. First flush is rarer and priced accordingly.

Smell the dry leaf. Fresh tea is aromatic before water touches it. Look for a harvest date rather than only a best-before, since the latter tells you about packaging rather than picking.

Mostly leaf selection and grind. Ceremonial grades use younger leaf and are intended to be whisked and drunk plain; culinary grades are coarser and more astringent, which holds up in lattes and baking where sugar and milk are present.

Organic certification describes growing practice, not cup quality. Plenty of excellent tea is uncertified, often because certification is expensive for small producers. Treat it as information about farming, not a quality grade.

That the leaf was processed to stay largely intact, rather than through the CTC machinery that reduces it to uniform granules. Orthodox leaf generally gives a more nuanced cup and can be steeped more than once.

Enough for a month or two of actual drinking. Tea is cheaper in bulk but stales faster than most people get through it, and a large bag of fading leaf is a worse deal than a small fresh one.

Partly. Those letters describe leaf size, wholeness and bud content in the orthodox grading system — useful information, but a description of appearance rather than a guarantee of how it tastes.

Attention, mostly. The same four minutes spent watching the leaf open rather than scrolling is the whole difference. Ritual here means doing it on purpose, not doing it elaborately.

No. Using the cup as something to pay attention to — its warmth, smell, and taste — is a complete practice in itself. No posture, timer or app required.

A Chinese brewing approach built on many short infusions from a small vessel. The name points at skill and effort; in practice it is as much a way of paying attention as a set of measurements.

Chanoyu — a formalised preparation of matcha developed over centuries, with its own etiquette, utensils and architecture. It is studied as a discipline, often over a lifetime, and is distinct from simply making matcha at home.

Attach it to something you already do and keep it small enough to survive a bad week. One cup at a fixed point in the day beats an elaborate setup you only reach for when things are calm.

They pair naturally, because both give attention something concrete to rest on. A common approach is a few slow breaths while the tea steeps, using the wait as the practice rather than dead time.

Whatever fits your routine and your caffeine tolerance. Many people keep caffeinated tea to earlier in the day and move to tisanes in the evening, but that is a preference rather than a rule.

No — one cup you like is enough. Equipment can deepen the practice, but a cupboard of unused teaware is a collection, not a practice.