How long steep green tea

When given room to expand , loose tea leaves swell to their full capacity, creating more room for water to flow in and extract all those desirable compounds. Tea that comes prepackaged in a bag, on the other hand, only has so much room to grow, and the quality suffers as a result. This is why some tea companies have started selling tea in roomier, pyramid-shaped bags, though the size matters more than the shape.

But even before the tea touches the water, there's a difference in quality. Loose leaf tea usually consists of whole leaves, while most teabags are filled with broken pieces of tea leaves called dust or fannings, which have less-nuanced flavors and infuse fewer antioxidants than whole leaves, no matter how long you let them steep.

So if you have a choice, go with loose leaf. But if tea bags are all you have on hand, don't bother adjusting your brewing method: The difference in taste and antioxidants isn't something that can be fixed with a few extra minutes, and according to Sang, you should follow the same steeping times for both tea bags and loose leaf. To calculate the perfect brew times for what's in your mug, first consider what you want most out of your drink.

Tea leaves are packed with beneficial compounds. Research indicates that flavanols such as catechins and epicatechins, found in both green and black teas, help suppress inflammation and curb plaque build-up in arteries. Drinking tea may improve vascular reactivity , which dictates how well blood vessels adjust to stress. According an analysis of multiple tea-related studies published in the European Journal of Epidemiology in , drinking three cups of tea a day reduces your risk of coronary heart disease by 27 percent, cardiac death by 26 percent, and total mortality by 24 percent.

Polyphenolic antioxidants in tea may also protect against diabetes , depression , and liver disease. Past research has shown that it takes to seconds to extract half the polyphenol content from green and black tea leaves.

According to a study published in in the journal Beverages , you can get more polyphenols into your drink if you allow the leaves more time to steep. However, the returns may not be worth the extra effort: Most of the compounds the researchers measured after 10 minutes of steeping were extracted in the first 5 minutes.

Sang makes another argument for not waiting too long to drink your tea. Antioxidants are slightly unstable, which means they will eventually break down and lose their healthy properties after infusing with water. So if you brew it in the morning, then you drink it in the afternoon, that's not good. Though less potent than its rival coffee, a properly brewed cup of tea packs a caffeine punch.

According to a study published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology [ PDF ], letting your tea brew for at least a few minutes has a big impact on the caffeine content.

The study found that after brewing for one minute, a cup of regular Lipton black tea had 17 milligrams of caffeine per 6 ounces of water, 38 milligrams per 6 ounces after three minutes, and 47 milligrams per 6 ounces after five.

The nutritional information for Lipton black tea says a serving contains 55 milligrams of caffeine per 8 ounces, so it's pretty accurate. Here at Smith Teamaker, we believe strongly in making tea a personal experience.

The instructions and guidelines above are simply recommendations. You may find that you enjoy a much shorter extraction. The beauty is being able to control that experience, and removing the leaf from the water at your choosing to create something you like. Have fun and keep experimenting and adjusting so eventually, you can easily become your own tea master.

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The ancient Chinese philosophy of "Ta Shun" is alive when people naturally care about the world and depend on one another for Harmony for the Whole. Through goodwill and good work, we are committed to embracing Ta Shun for the well-being of people and the planet. How long should green tea steep? The longer you steep, the more flavors released. The key is striking a balance, one that changes with each type of green tea. So how long do you steep green tea? The answer is—it depends.

Green tea has a variety of strands, each with its own optimal steeping time. But overall, there are a few tips for making the perfect mug. For your average cup, start with these guidelines to steep a balanced blend:. Of course, the best tea is the one that tastes good to you.

Steep your leaves longer for a richly flavored tea, or slightly reduce time or water temperature for delicate flavors. How long should green tea steep when loose vs. The general rule—bagged green tea takes slightly less time to steep. Bagged tea contains leaves broken down into smaller pieces, which release flavor molecules faster during steeping. In a low-quality tea bag, this faster release can overproduce bitter-tasting tannins.

But for high-quality bagged teas like ours, it just means a shorter steep time—about one to three minutes, instead of two to four. Does green tea have caffeine? And the longer you steep it, the higher the caffeine content. But the total amount is far less than your average coffee cup. Among most varieties, green tea contains a low milligrams of caffeine.