Allowing the water to boil for a long time removes valuable oxygen from the water and can result in tea that tastes flat and listless.
6) Make Sure the Water Temperature Is Right
Our top tip is that you should never pour boiling water over a tea bag or loose tea. The reason for this is because the boiling water will burn the tea, it scalds it and therefore, the tea doesn't release all of its maximum flavours.
But, be careful because over-boiling will cause reducing the oxygen, making the tea taste 'flat'. Next, use 1 tea bag per cup, or 1 teaspoon of loose tea per cup (6 oz.).
Bring water to a rolling boil and immediately pour over your tea bag. Steep for a good 3 to 5 minutes. (Great taste can't be rushed—it really does take the full time to release the tea's entire flavor.)
You can cold steep your teas for as little as 2 hours or even as long as 12 hours and more. The point is to experiment with cold steeping teas yourself. Check back on your tea often to taste where it is at and see if you like the flavour profile then.
Herbal infusions need the most steeping (5 to 7 minutes); white teas need the least (just a minute or two). For every other tea (black, green, oolong, dark), you can probably get away with 3 minutes.
Typically, people bring their water to a boil and then put their tea inside of the cup or pot, but that's not the correct way to steep tea. Using boiling water will make the tea taste bitter and diminish the nutrients and minerals in the beverage.
It's important to brew teas at the proper temperature to get the best flavor from your tea. Use water that's too hot, and you could burn delicate tea leaves, resulting in an unpleasantly bitter cup. Use water that's too cool, and you risk ending up with a weak, less flavorful cup of tea.
"You will certainly extract more benefits the longer you steep a tea. You'll get more flavonoids, polyphenols, and catechins, but you'll also extract more caffeine and tannins, which can lead to a more bitter, unpalatable liquid the longer the leaves remain," Schwartz says.
So yes, the longer you steep your tea, the more caffeine will infuse from the tea leaves to your cup. Each tea type provides a different amount of caffeine, so you should also consider selecting a tea with high caffeine levels if you are looking for that morning energy boost!
Steeping extracts antioxidants, caffeine, flavors, and aromas from tea. With hot water, it takes up to 5 minutes to brew a good cup, whereas cold steeping takes up to 12 hours and produces a smoother tasting tea that's higher in antioxidants.
Steeping time vs acidity level
The shorter the steep, the lower the acidity level and making it nearly neutral and safe for your oral health and digestion. Most loose leaf teas steep best between 2-5 minutes. After five minutes, tea will start releasing more acid.
The common loose-leaf tea should not be steeped for more than 5 minutes. Depending on the variety, steeping longer than 5 minutes won't hurt your cup of tea but it can change the flavor of the tea, increase the amount of potential caffeine and may cause the tea to have a more bitter taste.
The liquid that remains trapped inside the tea bag has even higher instances of tannic acid than what is able to steep out of the bag on it's own. By squeezing the tea bag, you inadvertently release these tannic acids into your tea and in turn create a far more bitter, sour and acidic cup of tea.
Over a hundred years into the modern tea bag, and dunking it continues to do nothing other than help you bide your time. It manufactures the illusion that time is moving more quickly and that perhaps your tea is steeping more quickly too, but it's not.
While caffeine does have a slight diuretic effect, the relatively low levels in tea won't have much of an impact on hydration levels. In fact, decaffeinated tea can be counted cup for cup toward your hydration goal because it is considered just as hydrating as plain water.
While boiling water eliminates bacteria in the water, it does not make the tap water pure. Water can contain other contaminants such as microplastics, pesticides, fertilisers, industrial chemicals, hormones, medications, heavy metals and neurotoxic microorganisms which are not removed through boiling water.
If you're a regular tea drinker, you can continue drinking tea and it will contribute to your overall hydration level. It shouldn't replace water, though, especially if you're drinking more than six or seven cups of black tea per day. It's important to incorporate some water into your daily fluid intake.
Research shows that milk is one of the best beverages for hydration, even better than water or sports drinks. Researchers credit milk's natural electrolytes, carbohydrates, and protein for its effectiveness.
Tea — especially consumed in moderate quantities — is unlikely to have any dehydrating effects. However, consuming large amounts of tea — for instance, more than 8 cups (1,920 ml) at once — may have an insignificant dehydrating effect.
Flavonoids help prevent cell damage. Team leader, Dr Carrie Ruxton, a Public Health Nutritionist, said tea is better for you than water because all water does is rehydrate you. Tea rehydrates you and provides antioxidants. With tea you get two benefits.
Unfortunately, boiling consumes a lot of energy (it takes 1 kg of wood to boil 1 litre of water) and the cost may be prohibitive, particularly in the developing countries where wood and other biomass fuels are not always available.