How Many Times Can Loose Leaf Tea Be Used?

How many times can loose leaf tea be used? Or to say, how many times can you steep loose leaf tea? 

Many tea lovers like to experience how a tea’s color, taste and depth opens and changes over brewings. 

Well, the answer to this question is that it depends on the tea, on how you brew it, and on what kind of taste you like. 

For the most part, with fresher teas, for example, greens and greener oolongs, it’s better to brew the tea within a few hours, unless you’re in a very warm and humid climate. Surely, it’s probably safe to brew these kinds of tea again the next day without the same good taste. For ripe pu’er, heavier oolongs, aged teas, overnight steeping and brew them the next day, that will be better. (Leran: how to store tea leaves for reuse)

As far as how many times can you steep loose leaf tea, it’s not just the type of tea, but also the quality of the individual tea, and the ratio of tea to water. Obviously if you use a lot of tea and shorter infusion, you will be able to brew the tea more times than if you use a smaller amount of tea and a longer infusion time. (Tip: how long should you steep tea)

Traditionally, in Chaozhou gongfucha, only the first 3 or 4 infusions (after a rinse) are drunk, and each one should be of equal strength to the previous infusion. 

Well, there’re still some common points about the different teas’ steeping times:

• White teas: most of the white tea can be steeped at least 5 times.
• Green teas: at least 4 times, except Dragon well, Bi Luo Chun, Huang Shan Mao Feng, Xin Yang Mao Jian, Tai Ping Hou Kui, and Liu An Guan Pian. These green teas just can be steeped not more than 3 times.
• Black teas: for keemun teas, usually can be brewed for 3-4 times, however, for Yunnan teas, the steeping times are more than 10 times until it lose its flavor.
• Pu-erh teas: more than 12 times
• Oolong teas: for the common Tie Guan Yin Oolong teas, most of them can be brewed in 7 times, for the premium ones, the steeping time can last 9 times.

Actually, to brew loose leaf tea, you’d better choose a teapot with built-in infuser. I am using this glass teapot, which helps me a lot. Surely, if you have any suggestions, welcome to comment below and share with all tea lovers. 

Related Article: Tea 101: How Many Times Can You Use A Tea Bag

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