How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Tea

A remarkable cup of tea begins long before the water touches the leaves.

It begins in the tea garden, where climate, soil and craftsmanship shape every harvest. It continues with careful processing, preserving the delicate aromas and natural compounds hidden inside each leaf. But the final chapter of the story belongs to you.

Even the world's finest tea can taste flat, bitter or disappointing if it is brewed incorrectly.

Fortunately, brewing exceptional tea is not complicated. With a few simple principles, you can unlock the full beauty of every leaf and transform a daily habit into a mindful ritual.

Great Tea Deserves Great Water

A cup of tea is almost entirely water. Around 99% of what you drink is water, making it one of the most important ingredients in the brewing process.

Many people focus on finding exceptional tea while overlooking the water itself.

Yet water can dramatically influence aroma, flavour, colour and mouthfeel.

Very hard water, rich in calcium and magnesium, can bind to many of tea's aromatic compounds. The result is a duller cup with less clarity and a flatter finish.

On the other hand, extremely purified or distilled water contains almost no minerals at all. Surprisingly, this can also produce a disappointing cup, as the tea lacks the subtle structure that a small amount of natural minerals helps create.

For most loose leaf teas, moderately soft water offers the best balance.

If your tap water has a strong mineral taste or leaves limescale in your kettle, a good quality water filter can noticeably improve your tea. Natural spring waters with low mineral content also work beautifully.

Just as healthy soil allows plants to flourish, good water allows tea to express itself.

Temperature Is Everything

One of the most common mistakes when brewing tea is assuming that every tea should be prepared with boiling water.

In reality, every tea has its own ideal temperature.

Hot water extracts flavour, aroma, caffeine, amino acids and polyphenols from the leaves. The hotter the water, the faster this happens.

This is beneficial for some teas.

For others, it can overwhelm their delicate character.

Scientists know that many of tea's volatile aromatic compounds evaporate quickly at high temperatures, while tannins and other polyphenols responsible for bitterness are extracted more rapidly.

Finding the right balance allows sweetness, freshness and complexity to shine.

As a general guideline:

• White tea: 70–75°C

• Green tea: 70–80°C

• Light oolong: 80–85°C

• Dark or roasted oolong: 90–95°C

• Black tea: 90–95°C

• Herbal infusions: 95–100°C

If you're unsure, it's usually better to brew slightly cooler rather than too hot.

Tea is remarkably forgiving.

Boiling water is not.

The Science Inside Every Cup

Tea contains hundreds of naturally occurring plant compounds that contribute to both flavour and wellbeing.

Among the most studied are polyphenols, including catechins and flavonoids, which contribute to tea's antioxidant activity.

Tea also naturally contains L-theanine, a unique amino acid associated with calm alertness, and caffeine, which provides gentle stimulation.

Different temperatures favour different compounds.

Lower temperatures help preserve delicate floral aromas and sweetness.

Higher temperatures extract richer body, deeper flavour and more robust structure.

This is why a Japanese sencha brewed at 60°C tastes completely different from the same leaves brewed with boiling water.

Neither is wrong.

One simply allows the tea to reveal its finest qualities.

Give the Leaves Room to Dance

Exceptional loose leaf tea is alive with possibility.

As soon as water touches the leaves, they begin to unfurl, releasing layer after layer of flavour.

This is why the brewing vessel matters.

Choose a teapot with a generous infuser or a spacious basket infuser inside your cup.

Avoid very small tea balls whenever possible.

The leaves simply cannot expand properly, limiting extraction and reducing complexity.

Watching the leaves gradually open is one of tea's quiet pleasures.

Nature reveals herself slowly.

Finding the Right Balance

Brewing tea is always a balance between three simple elements:

• the amount of tea

• the amount of water

• the infusion time

A useful starting point is around 2–3 grams of loose tea for every 200–250 ml of water.

From there, adjust according to your own taste.

Prefer a lighter cup?

Use slightly less tea.

Enjoy more intensity?

Increase the amount of leaves rather than dramatically extending the brewing time, which often introduces unnecessary bitterness.

Steeping Times

Every tea has its own rhythm.

As a general guide:

These are starting points rather than strict rules.

The best cup is ultimately the one you enjoy most.

One Tea, Many Infusions

One of the great joys of premium loose leaf tea is that it rarely tells its whole story in a single brew.

Many high-quality green teas, oolongs, white teas and even some black teas can be infused several times.

Each infusion reveals something different.

The first may highlight floral aromas.

The second often develops greater sweetness.

Later infusions uncover minerality, depth and lingering complexity.

Rather than discarding the leaves after one cup, let them continue their story.

Common Brewing Mistakes

If your tea tastes bitter, the water was often too hot or the leaves steeped for too long.

If it tastes weak, try slightly more tea, a longer infusion or a slightly higher temperature.

Change only one variable at a time.

Tea rewards curiosity.

Brewing Tea Is More Than Preparation

At Farmatuur, we don't see tea as simply another beverage.

We see it as an invitation.

An invitation to pause.

To notice the aroma rising from the cup.

To watch the leaves slowly unfold.

To appreciate the extraordinary craftsmanship behind every harvest.

Brewing tea becomes a small daily ritual that gently slows the pace of modern life.

The finest teas deserve that attention.

Perhaps so do we.

Why We Love Brewing Tea

One of the beautiful lessons tea teaches us is that remarkable things rarely happen instantly.

A great cup cannot be rushed. Neither can healthy soil. Neither can exceptional craftsmanship.

Every infusion reminds us that patience often reveals what speed cannot.

At Farmatuur, that is exactly what draws us to exceptional tea, because of the way it invites us to reconnect, with nature, with craftsmanship, and with ourselves, one cup at a time.