Western-Style Brewing
Western-style brewing uses a small amount of leaf in a large pot or mug for one or two long infusions of 2-5 minutes.
Definition
Western-style brewing is the method most tea drinkers in Europe and North America learned first: about 2-3 g of leaf, or one tea bag, per 240 ml (8 oz) of water, steeped for 2-5 minutes and then separated from the leaf. The ratio is roughly 1:80 to 1:120 by weight, several times more dilute than gongfu brewing. The method developed around large porcelain and silver teapots in 18th- and 19th-century Britain, where black tea was brewed strong enough to take milk and sugar. It suits broken-leaf and CTC black teas, blends such as English Breakfast and Earl Grey, and tisanes, all of which give up most of their flavor in a single steep. Western brewing is also the reference point for most published caffeine figures and for the instructions printed on tea packaging. Many whole-leaf teas can be brewed this way with good results if the time and temperature are adjusted; the difference from gongfu is less about quality than about getting one large cup instead of a sequence of small ones.
In Depth
Baseline by type (per 240 ml): black tea 2-3 g at 95-100°C (203-212°F) for 3-5 minutes; oolong 2-3 g at 90-95°C (194-203°F) for 3-4 minutes; green tea 2 g at 70-80°C (158-176°F) for 1.5-3 minutes; white tea 2-3 g at 80-90°C (176-194°F) for 3-5 minutes.
The leaf must come out at the end. Leaving it in turns a balanced cup bitter within minutes, especially with broken grades. A basket infuser, a pot with a removable strainer, or a French press with the plunger pushed down and the tea decanted all work.
Most whole-leaf oolongs and many black teas take a second Western infusion; add 1-2 minutes to the first steep time. Leave room for the leaf to expand: rolled oolong can open to four or five times its dry volume, which a small mesh ball cannot hold.
See Also
- British Tea Service
- Teapot Brewing
- Tea Bag Brewing