Water temperature

Water temperature is one of the two or three variables that decide whether a cup of loose leaf tastes right. Green and white teas are the most sensitive, usually brewing best well below boiling, often in the 160 to 185 degree Fahrenheit range, while black tea, pu-erh and most herbal tisanes hold up fine at or near a full boil.

The reason comes down to how heat pulls compounds out of the leaf. Delicate green and white teas contain compounds that turn bitter quickly at high heat, so boiling water can scald them in seconds. Black tea and rooibos are sturdier and were essentially built around near-boiling water, so cooler water just leaves them weak and under-extracted.

When shopping, a kettle with adjustable or preset temperatures removes the need to guess or wait for water to cool. The most common mistake beginners make is pouring straight from a rolling boil onto every tea, including delicate greens, which is the single fastest way to make a good tea taste bitter.