How to make green tea - 3 methods

How to make green tea? There are several options available to you depending on whether you have full leaf tea, loose leaf tea, or tea bags.

Full leaf and loose leaf

Here’s a secret – these are the same thing. Companies use the two names interchangeably.

OK, this is your How To Brew Green Tea 101 course. Let’s get started…

For one serving you need:

• 2 teaspoons of loose leaf green tea
• 8 ounces (1 cup) of hot water (about 160 degrees F).

There are three common methods to brew the tea.

1. Brew it in your glass

This is the most common way to make green tea in China. Just toss some loose leaves into an empty glass or mug and add hot water. I personally don’t care for this method because the leaves go in your mouth. But that’s just me. Here’s how it’s done.

1. Put about 2 teaspoons of loose leaves into an empty glass. More if you like it strong and bitter, less if you don’t.
2. Pour hot water into the glass until the tea leaves are submerged. About a quarter of the glass should be filled.
3. Swirl the glass a bit to make sure all the leaves absorb the water, and then let it sit for a minute or so.
4. Next, fill the rest of the glass up with hot water, and let it sit for about 2 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

2. Traditional brewing tea pot

This is my favorite way of brewing green tea. Lift the lid and you’ll find a small wire screen where the tea leaves go. With a tea pot, you get all the flavor without the soggy leaves going in your mouth. Here’s how it’s done.

1. Put about 2 teaspoons of loose tea leaves into the wire screen. More if you like it strong and bitter, less if you don’t.
2. Place the screen in the top of the tea pot.
3. Slowly pour 8 ounces (1 cup) of hot water over the tea leaves. Make sure you soak all the leaves as you pour. They should be in a small pool of water at the bottom of the screen.
4. Let it sit for about 30 seconds and then pour it into your glass. If you like it stronger or more bitter, you can let it steep longer.
5. Enjoy!

3. Just get it done

If you don’t have all of the fancy equipment to make green tea, and you still don’t want to get soggy leaves in your mouth, try this.

1. Pour about 8 ounces (1 cup) of water into a small pot.
2. Bring the water to a boil and then turn off the burner.
3. Put about 2 teaspoons of loose tea leaves into the hot water. More if you like it strong and bitter, less if you don’t.
4. Let this sit for about 30 seconds. Longer if you like it strong and bitter.
5. Pour the tea into your glass through a small to medium sized wire-mesh strainer. This will keep the leaves from getting into your drink.
6. Enjoy!

Tea bags

How to make green tea using tea bags?

This is by far the easiest way to brew green tea. The only downfall is that bagged green tea doesn’t give you all of the same benefits as you would get from from loose tea. This is because bagged tea is usually broken and finer than loose leaves causing the loss of important catechins.

However, It is much easier to do this if you are pressed for time. If you’re not in a big hurry though, have some loose tea. It’s better for you!

Important – I wouldn’t recommend cutting the tea bag open and brewing it like loose tea. Doing this would just get a bunch of bits in your drink. I suggest using it the way it was designed.

And remember!

So, now you have some ideas on how to make green tea. But, remember the longer it sits in hot water the more bitter it becomes.