Seven steps to brew a delicious cup of black tea

YuanJia131

Black tea is a common type of tea in China. The brewing method is also important, especially for those who enjoy drinking black tea—brewing it requires extra care and attention. Additionally, there are many different ways to brew black tea!

There are many nuances in brewing black tea, with seven key points to pay attention to. Let's follow along to explore them.


(1) Tea Utensil Selection. Prefer tea sets made of porcelain, purple clay, or glass.

(2)Before brewing, first warm the teacup. Use boiling water to heat the teacup, teapot, and other tea utensils to maintain the temperature after adding the black tea.

(3) Master the amount of tea leaves to be added. The quantity varies from person to person and also depends on different brewing methods.
(4) Control the brewing water temperature and steeping time. The ideal water temperature for brewing is around 95℃ to 100℃. The steeping time should be determined based on the coarseness and grade of the tea leaves.

(5) When pouring the brewed black tea into a cup, a filter is usually used to remove the tea leaves.

(6) Do not leave brewed black tea for too long, as the tea polyphenols will oxidize rapidly, resulting in a bitter taste.


(7) The color of brewed black tea cannot be judged solely by its hue, as different types of tea leaves may exhibit slight variations in color, which can also change with the duration of steeping. The principle is: delicate leaves require a shorter time, about 2 minutes; medium leaves about 2 minutes and 30 seconds; and large leaves about 3 minutes, allowing the tea leaves to achieve a settled state.

As long as you master these seven key elements and steps, you can brew a good cup of black tea. I won’t claim it’s perfect, but at least it won’t be bad.