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How long should this tea steep?

Steep any tea for the right time at the right temperature, in a mug or gongfu style, and watch the cup darken toward its color.

Time left for black tea: 4 minutes

98 °C water

1 teaspoon or 1 bag per cup

Sources say 3 to 5 min at 90 to 100 °C. Where these numbers come from

Teas

Gongfu schedule for black tea

Settings

Temperatures in

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How it works

Pick a tea and a style. Western means a mug or teapot with about a teaspoon of leaf per cup; gongfu means a small pot with much more leaf and many short infusions, each a little longer than the last.

The times and temperatures come from tea bodies and growers: the UK Tea & Infusions Association, the Tea Association of the USA, Whittard, Twinings, Ippodo, Yunnan Sourcing and TeaDB. They don't always agree, so the table shows each default with its range and who says what. Times you change are kept. ISO 3103 (6 minutes for black tea) is a standard for tasting panels, not a way to make a cup you'd enjoy.

The cup's color is an illustration, not a measurement; real liquor varies with the leaf, the water and the cup. Studies find that tea's caffeine and color come out fast at first and then level off, and the cup follows that shape, reaching 90% of its color at your chosen time (our rule of thumb). If you leave it, it keeps darkening, as an over-steeped cup does. Each gongfu infusion is drawn a little paler.

Times come from the clock, so they stay right in a background tab. A phone may pause a background page, so keep the screen on.

Defaults, ranges and sources for each tea. Temperatures are stored in °C.
Tea Western: water, time, leaf Western range and sources Gongfu: water, leaf, rinse Gongfu sources and infusions
Black tea 98 °C (208 °F), 4:00; 1 teaspoon or 1 bag per cup 90 to 100 °C, 3 to 5 min. UKTIA 90 to 98 °C, Assam 3 to 4 min; TeaUSA 100 °C, 3 to 5; Whittard 95 to 98 °C, 3 to 5; Twinings 3 to 5. 90 °C (194 °F), 5 to 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 10 s 90 °C (Yunnan Sourcing; Wikipedia's typical gongfu value), 5 to 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 10 s. Yunnan Sourcing: 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60 s, then 60 s each
Green tea 80 °C (176 °F), 2:00; 1 teaspoon per cup 65 to 87 °C, 1 to 3 min. UKTIA about 80 °C, jasmine 2 to 3, gunpowder 3 to 4; TeaUSA 175 to 185 °F, 1 to 3; Whittard 65 to 80 °C, 2 to 3; Twinings 2. 80 °C (176 °F), 5 to 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 10 s 80 °C (Wikipedia typical; Yunnan Sourcing says 85), 5 to 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 10 s. Yunnan Sourcing: 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60 s, then 60 s each
Sencha 80 °C (176 °F), 2:00; 1 teaspoon per cup 1 to 2.5 min. UKTIA 2 to 2.5 min; Ippodo 60 s with much more leaf (10 g in 210 ml). None None in our sources. None in our sources.
Gyokuro 60 °C (140 °F), 1:30; 10 g in 80 ml 40 to 70 °C; about 2 min (Wikipedia) or 90 s (Ippodo, 60 °C, 10 g in 80 ml). None None in our sources. None. Re-steeps use "Steep again": 25 s (Wikipedia: 3 to 4 re-infusions of 20 to 30 s).
White tea 80 °C (176 °F), 2:30; 2 teaspoons per cup 75 to 85 °C, 1 to 5 min. Twinings 1 to 2; Whittard 2 to 3 (2 teaspoons per cup); TeaUSA 2 to 5. 85 °C (185 °F), 5 to 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 10 s 85 °C (Yunnan Sourcing; Wikipedia typical), 5 to 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 10 s. Yunnan Sourcing: 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60 s, then 60 s each
Oolong, rolled (Taiwanese) 90 °C (194 °F), 2:30; 1 teaspoon per cup 80 to 96 °C, 1 to 5 min. TeaDB 1 to 2; TeaUSA, Whittard and Twinings 2 to 3; UKTIA 3 to 5. "Steep again" adds about 1 minute (TeaDB). 95 °C (203 °F), 4 to 7 g per 100 ml, rinse 5 s 95 °C (Yunnan Sourcing; TeaDB "just under boiling"; Wikipedia says 80 to 90), 4 to 7 g per 100 ml, rinse 5 s (TeaDB "flash-rinse"). Yunnan Sourcing: 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, 60 s, then 60 s each (TeaDB starts at about 30 s). TeaDB: 6 to 10 or more infusions.
Oolong, dark (Wuyi) 95 °C (203 °F), 2:30; 1 teaspoon per cup 1.5 to 3 min (TeaDB); TeaUSA up to 96 °C. "Steep again" adds about 1 minute (TeaDB). 100 °C (212 °F), 6 to 7 g per 100 ml, rinse 5 s 100 °C (TeaDB: "boiling temperature or just off boiling"), 6 to 7 g per 100 ml, rinse 5 s. The Wuyi rock tea evaluation schedule (Zhang et al. 2020): 20, 30, 45, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, 260, 300, 340, 380 s, then 40 s more each time.
Pu-erh, raw (sheng) None Not given by our sources. 95 °C (203 °F), 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 20 s 95 °C (Yunnan Sourcing 95 to 100; Wikipedia 90 for young raw), 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 20 s (Yunnan Sourcing; Wikipedia says 2 to 5 s). 10 s, then 3 s more each time (TeaDB "a few seconds"; Wikipedia adds 2 to 10 s); 10 to 20 infusions.
Pu-erh, ripe (shou) None Not given by our sources. 100 °C (212 °F), 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 15 s 100 °C (Wikipedia; Yunnan Sourcing 95 to 100), 6 g per 100 ml, rinse 15 s (Yunnan Sourcing washes twice). 12 s, then 2 s more each time (Wikipedia: first 12 to 30 s, then 2 to 10 s more); 10 to 20 infusions.
Rooibos 100 °C (212 °F), 4:00; 1 teaspoon or 1 bag per cup 3 to 6 min. Twinings 3 to 4; TeaUSA herbal 3 to 6; Whittard 3 to 5. Herbal water is freshly boiled (UKTIA). None None in our sources. None in our sources.
Chamomile 100 °C (212 °F), 4:00; 1 teaspoon or 1 bag per cup 3 to 6 min. TeaUSA herbal 3 to 6; Whittard 3 to 5; Twinings herbal 3 to 4. Herbal water is freshly boiled (UKTIA). None None in our sources. None in our sources.
Peppermint 100 °C (212 °F), 5:00; 1 teaspoon or 1 bag per cup 3 to 15 min (brands vary, per Wikipedia); TeaUSA herbal 3 to 6. Herbal water is freshly boiled (UKTIA). None None in our sources. None in our sources.

Questions people ask

How long should black tea steep?
Three to five minutes in water just off the boil: the UK Tea & Infusions Association says 90 to 98 °C, and TeaUSA, Whittard and Twinings all say 3 to 5 minutes. This timer starts at 4 minutes and remembers your own time.
What temperature should water be for green tea?
About 80 °C (176 °F), which the UK Tea & Infusions Association and TeaUSA both give; hotter water tends to make green tea bitter. Gyokuro goes cooler still: Ippodo brews it at 60 °C.
What is gongfu brewing?
A small pot or gaiwan with lots of leaf, around 5 to 6 g per 100 ml, and many short infusions. Yunnan Sourcing's schedule starts at 10 seconds and goes 15, 20, 30 and 45 seconds, then about a minute each until the leaves are spent.
What happens if tea steeps too long?
It gets more bitter as more of the leaf comes out; Red Blossom Tea notes that "steeping tea leaves for too long can produce bitterness". The cup in this timer keeps darkening after the time is up to show it.
Does altitude change the water temperature?
Yes: USDA says water boils just under 1 °F lower for every 500 feet, about 198 °F at 7,500 feet. For black and herbal tea, use water as close to the boil as you can get.

Sources

  1. UK Tea & Infusions Association: how to make a perfect brew
  2. UK Tea & Infusions Association: infusions FAQ
  3. Tea Association of the USA: how to brew
  4. Whittard: how to brew the perfect cup
  5. Twinings: how to brew the perfect cup
  6. Ippodo: basic sencha
  7. Ippodo: basic gyokuro
  8. Yunnan Sourcing: brewing guide for green, black, oolong and pu-erh
  9. TeaDB: Taiwanese oolong compendium
  10. TeaDB: Wuyi oolong compendium
  11. TeaDB: pu'erh for beginners
  12. Wikipedia: gongfu tea (temperatures by type)
  13. Wikipedia: pu'er tea (rinse and infusion times)
  14. Wikipedia: gyokuro
  15. Zhang et al. 2020: Wuyi rock tea across 14 infusions
  16. Jaganyi and Price 1999: kinetics of tea infusion
  17. Fernando and Soysa 2015: extraction of black tea over time
  18. Red Blossom Tea: brewing guide
  19. Wikipedia: black tea (green teas turn bitter at higher temperatures)
  20. USDA FSIS: high altitude cooking