How to brew black tea

Brew loose leaf black tea with water just off the boil, 96 °C (205 °F), using 2 g of leaf per 100 ml and a 4-minute steep, then take the leaf out. Chinese black teas, called red tea (hong cha) in China, also work gongfu style: 6 g per 100 ml at 92 °C (198 °F) with steeps of 8, 12, 18, 25, 35 and 50 seconds. Bitter black tea almost always means the leaf stayed in the water too long.

Updated 2026-11-12 · 6 min read

Black tea brewing chart

Tea	Water	Mug or teapot: leaf per 100 ml, time	Gongfu: leaf per 100 ml, steeps
Black tea (general, incl. Assam, Ceylon, breakfast blends)	96 °C (205 °F)	2 g, 4 min	not usual
Chinese red tea (hong cha)	94 °C western, 92 °C gongfu	2 g, 3.5 min	6 g: 8, 12, 18, 25, 35, 50 s
Keemun	90 °C western, 88 °C gongfu	1.6 g, 3–4 min	3 g: 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 55, 75 s
Dian Hong Golden Buds	85 °C (185 °F)	2 g, 3–5 min	3 g: 20, 25, 25, 40, 45, 50, 60, 70 s
Jin Jun Mei	82 °C (180 °F)	1.6 g, 2–4 min	3 g: 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, 45, 60, 80 s
Golden Monkey	88 °C western, 85 °C gongfu	2 g, 3–4 min	3 g: 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 65, 80 s
Lapsang Souchong	90 °C (194 °F)	1.2 g, 3–5 min	3 g: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 35, 45 s
Earl Grey style (bergamot)	95 °C (203 °F)	1 g, 2 min	not usual

For a 300 ml (10 oz) mug of everyday black tea that is 6 g of leaf. Small broken leaf fits into about two teaspoons, while big twisted whole leaf takes up much more space for the same weight, so a scale beats a spoon. More on that in how much tea per cup.

Black tea or red tea? The name confusion

China names tea by the colour of the liquor, not the leaf. What Europe and America call black tea is hong cha, red tea, because the cup is red-amber. Keemun, Dian Hong, Jin Jun Mei and Lapsang Souchong are all hong cha.

The Chinese word for black, hei cha, belongs to a different family: dark, post-fermented teas such as pu-erh. They are aged, often pressed into cakes and brewed with their own rules, see how to brew pu-erh. And rooibos, sometimes sold as "red tea", is a South African herbal with no tea leaf at all.

How to brew black tea in a teapot or mug

Bring fresh water to the boil and let it settle for a few seconds, to about 96 °C.
Rinse the teapot or mug with hot water so it does not chill the brew.
Weigh the leaf: 2 g per 100 ml. That is 6 g for a 300 ml mug, 10 g for a 500 ml teapot, 20 g for a litre.
Pour the water over the leaf and cover the pot.
Steep for 4 minutes.
Lift out the infuser, or pour all of the tea through a strainer into cups or a second pot.

Give the leaf room. A wide basket infuser or loose leaf in the pot works far better than a small tea ball, where whole leaf cannot open. Our recipe for general black tea is a single steep: a second pour on the same leaf comes out thin, so brew a bigger pot if you want more cups. Chinese red teas are the exception and handle several steeps, especially gongfu style.

Tea bags hold finely broken leaf that gives up its flavour quickly. With near-boiling water a few minutes is usually plenty, and squeezing the bag against the cup pushes extra bitterness into it.

Chinese black teas: cooler water, shorter steeps

Strong breakfast teas like Assam can take near-boiling water. Many Chinese red teas cannot: tippy, bud-heavy teas lose their honey and cocoa notes and turn flat with boiling water.

Jin Jun Mei is made almost only from tiny buds. It gets the coolest water of all black teas, 82 °C, and little leaf: 1.6 g per 100 ml for 2–4 minutes in a mug.
Dian Hong Golden Buds from Yunnan is malty and sweet with golden, fuzzy tips. 85 °C, 2 g per 100 ml, 3–5 minutes.
Golden Monkey has long golden tips and a honeyed, gentle cup. 88 °C in a mug for 3–4 minutes.
Keemun from Anhui is the classic of English blends: winey, a little smoky, with a hint of cocoa. 90 °C, 1.6 g per 100 ml, 3–4 minutes.
Lapsang Souchong is dried over pinewood smoke. Use less leaf, 1.2 g per 100 ml, at 90 °C. In gongfu the first steep is only 5 seconds, because the smoke comes out fast.

How to brew black tea gongfu style

Gongfu means a lot of leaf in a small vessel and many short steeps. It shows how a good red tea changes from cup to cup, from sweet and bready to fruity and mineral.

Take a gaiwan or small teapot of 100–150 ml and warm it with hot water.
Add the leaf: 6 g per 100 ml for a general red tea, 3 g for bud teas like Jin Jun Mei, Dian Hong or Golden Monkey.
A rinse is optional. Many skip it with black tea; if you rinse, pour it off after a few seconds.
Pour water at 92 °C and pour the tea out after 8 seconds. Drain it completely.
Continue with 12, 18, 25, 35 and 50 seconds.
When the cup starts to taste thin, add 10–20 seconds to each further steep until the leaf is spent.

The basics of the method, from vessel size to steep progression, are in gongfu tea brewing.

Why black tea turns bitter

Steeped too long. Black tea is full of tannins. After the right time they keep coming, and at 8–10 minutes the cup turns harsh and drying.
Leaf left in the pot. The tea keeps brewing while it sits. The second cup from a pot with leaf still inside is always stronger and more bitter than the first.
Too much leaf. 2 g per 100 ml is enough for a full-bodied cup. If you want it stronger, add a little leaf, not minutes.
Water too hot for delicate teas. Bud teas like Jin Jun Mei need 82–85 °C.
Hard water. It dulls the taste and leaves a film on the surface. Filtered water gives a brighter, clearer cup.
Old or dusty tea. Stale leaf and fine dust brew fast and flat. Store tea in a closed, opaque tin away from strong smells.

A strong cup and a bitter cup are not the same thing. Strength comes from the amount of leaf; bitterness comes from time.

With milk, lemon, sugar, or iced

Milk. Choose robust teas: Assam, breakfast blends, Keemun, Dian Hong. Brew them stronger by adding more leaf, keep the usual steep time and add the milk after the leaf is out. For milk tea the base has to be strong enough not to vanish under the milk.

Lemon and sugar. Lemon lightens the colour and sharpens the taste, so add it to the cup, not to the pot. Sugar or honey is a matter of taste and does not change how you brew.

Earl Grey. Bergamot gets perfumey and bitter if overdone. Our recipe is gentle: 95 °C, 1 g per 100 ml, 2 minutes.

Iced tea. Brew hot with extra leaf at the usual time, then pour it straight over plenty of ice so it chills fast and stays clear. For a softer, sweeter glass, try cold brewing in the fridge instead.

Questions

How long should you steep black tea?

4 minutes at 96 °C for everyday black tea. Chinese black teas take 2–5 minutes depending on the tea, and Earl Grey style tea only 2 minutes.

Should black tea be brewed with boiling water?

Nearly boiling, about 96 °C, suits Assam, Ceylon and breakfast blends. Delicate Chinese bud teas like Jin Jun Mei and Dian Hong need 82–85 °C.

Can you re-steep black tea leaves?

In a mug or teapot black tea is best brewed once; a second steep is thin. Chinese red teas brewed gongfu give 6–8 steeps from the same leaf.

How much loose black tea per cup?

2 g per 100 ml, so about 6 g for a 300 ml mug and 10 g for a 500 ml teapot.

Is red tea the same as black tea?

Yes: in China black tea is called hong cha, red tea, after the colour of the cup. It is not rooibos and not pu-erh, which the Chinese class as dark tea.