Hi, Tea Friend! Hope you have been steeping up and sipping down lots of good tea lately. This post shares a confession about tea steeping temperature.
Experiment with Tea Steeping
I would like to encourage you to experiment AND “do you” with how you prepare your tea. While the steeping temperature listed on a tea’s package can be a very helpful reference point, the MOST important reference point is what tastes good to YOU.
In my many years of experimenting with black teas and oolongs, I’ve found that I sometimes enjoy (even love) them at lower temperatures than are recommended. (Not always, but sometimes!) I used to feel awkward about this because I’ve seen so many “hardcore” tea lovers insist that all good teas (except green) should taste delicious with near boiling water poured over their leaves. If you love tea that way, great!
But, I often don’t love tea steeped with near boiling water. In fact, I often enjoy teas well below their non-boiling, recommended temperature.
I recently tried several absolutely delightful first flush Darjeeling teas in a recent Being Tea Tasting Box. Sooz of Being Tea is always encouraging us to find the temperature that works for us. So, it’s refreshing to have that support from such a knowledgeable person with so much tea industry and tea teaching experience. And, I think this message deserves amplification!
Darjeeling Confession
For many years, for example, I have found that I consistently love First Flush (FF) Darjeeling tea at around 175-185F (80-85C), often toward the lower end of that range, too. Some FF Darjeeling teas taste really astringent and bitter to me at the often recommended 195F (90C) on the package. So, it feels almost like magic to taste it steeped just 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit lower. I marvel at how that reduces the really astringent and bitter notes and lets the delightful muscatel and floral notes come forward (FOR ME).
We all have unique taste buds, cultural associations with flavors, and preferences. So, let’s be proud (maybe even “loud and proud”) about steeping the way we enjoy different teas.
Is there a black or oolong tea that you enjoy at a considerably lower temperature than recommended on the package? If so, please share!
Interested in tea as part of a practice to help with equanimity? If so, check out: Tea Practice Equanimity.