Tea note

Just had a cup of White Peony tea, brewed using my new utiliTEA tea kettle in the IngenuiTEA brewer. The tea kettle brings the water to a pre-set temperature and then cuts off, so it’s very good for the lower (non-boiling) water temperatures required by, for example, white, green, and oolong teas. You can google “tea brewing temperatures” and find information such as this:

These steeping times are only approximate, and you should adjust them depending on your own personal tea taste.

Black tea – Black is the most robust of the tea varieties and can be brewed in truly boiling water, usually steeped for 4-6 minutes. [I've also read that Black tea should be brewed with water just under boiling, with Pu-erh teas brewed with water at the full boil. - LG]

Oolong tea – As to be expected, oolong tea falls between green and black. The best temperature is around 190F. But oolong should be steeped longer than black tea, for around 5-8 minutes.

Green tea – You will need to be more gentle with your green teas. The water temperature should be around 150-160F and only steeped for 2-4 minutes.

White tea – Another delicate tea that should be treated gently. Water can be a bit warmer than for green tea, at 180F. You should let it steep longer though. At least 4-6 minutes.

Rooibos tea – This red herbal tea from South Africa is very hardy stuff and should be prepared with fully boiling water, just like black tea.

I brewed the White Peony for 6 minutes, then had the cup: fantastically delicious, with a definite peach flavor. Great stuff. Later, I heated up more water, poured it over the leaves from the first cup, and brewed a second cup from the same leaves—6 minutes again, and equally delicious. The “cup” in this case was actually a pint.