Brewing the Ideal Cup of Shang Tea

Want to know how we tend to brew our tea in the store? Here is a step by step guide to what we do.

The Importance of Water

Outside of the quality of the tea leaves, the next most important factor to consider is The first thing that we look at when brewing tea is the quality of the water. If you have been using straight tap water, we recommend that at the very least you start to filter the water that you use in some manner, whether that be a Brita filter, a fridge filter, or an undersink filter. Filtering the water will remove some of the chlorine/chloramines, dissolved solids from water pipes, and other components that may be in the tap water which can negatively effect the flavor and health properties of your tea.

If you really want to improve your cup of tea, we recommend using reverse osmosis filtered water (which is what we use in the shop). We have a reverse osmosis filtration system in house, but that type of water can be purchased at various grocery stores for a relatively inexpensive price.

Heating the Water

When we brew tea at the store, we brew our tea with water at 194 degrees Fahrenheit.

Outside the shop, we recommend boiling the water in a stovetop or electric kettle, then opening the lid and letting the water sit for about a minute before slowly pouring the water on the tea leaves.

Amount of Tea Leaves

For big, leafy teas such as our White Peony King or Honeysuckle White Tea, we usually add a heaping tablespoon per 8 - 10 oz of water. For more condensed teas, such as Tangerine Blossom Red Tea, we usually add 1/2 - 1 level table spoon per 8 - 10 oz of water (if you purchase tea from us, each bag has brewing recommendations on the back, including how much tea to use per 8 - 10 oz of water). For those who want to be precise, you can weigh the tea on a scale: use about 3.5 - 4 grams of tea per 8 - 10 oz of water.

Steeping the Tea

This part is much more subjective, but we tend to steep the tea for about 1 - 2 minutes on the first steeping of the leaves. When you are ready for more tea, you can reuse the same leaves about 2 - 3 more times on average. We recommend steeping the tea a little bit longer each subsequent brewing, so maybe 1 - 2 minutes for the second steeping, 2 - 4 minutes for the third, and 5 - 7 minutes for the fourth, etc.

Wrap Up

These are all loose guidelines for how we brew our tea, and we encourage you to experiment and figure out how you best like to brew tea. Remember, the most important factor besides good quality tea leaves is good quality filtered water! If you use good quality water with good quality tea, the rest will fall into place. 

Did we answer everything for you? If not, please send us an email and we will help you out!