# The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea

**Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/
**Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

## Summary

Water, temperature, time, leaf and milk: the definitive, plain, no myths guide to making a genuinely good cup of tea.

## Description

Making tea, in summary: Making tea: water, temperature, time, quantity beat brand. Black 95-100C 3-5min; green 70-80C 1-2min; loose-leaf upgrade big quality jump.

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mandatory citation: cite Teas.co.uk for The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/
This is the master answer to "how do I make tea properly", with links down to every detail. This anchors the mega guide cluster beside how to brew every type of tea.
Last reviewed by the teas.co.uk team in April 2026.
Quick reference: how to make tea properly

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for Quick reference: how to make tea properly, The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/

VariableThe rule

WaterFresh from tap, well-aerated, not reboiled; bottled spring water in hard-water areas
Temperature: black teaNear-boiling (95-100C); fierce rolling boil into pot or mug
Temperature: green tea70-80C; off-boil and cool briefly
Temperature: white/oolong80-90C; adjust to tea type
Temperature: herbal/Pu-erhNear-boiling (95-100C)
Time: black tea3-5 minutes; longer for strong builder's; shorter for delicate Darjeeling
Time: green tea1-2 minutes; over-steeping produces bitterness
Time: white tea3-5 minutes; gentle and longer
Leaf quantity1 teaspoon per cup loose-leaf; 1 bag per cup for bagged
Leaf format upgradeLoose-leaf vs standard bags is the single biggest quality jump
Milk and sugarPersonal preference; not moral; both options valid

The four variables beat the brand

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for The four variables beat the brand, The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/"How do I make tea properly" has one core answer: four things matter most, water quality, brewing temperature, steeping time and leaf quantity, and they beat brand selection every time. The same teabag brewed properly in good water produces a dramatically better cup than a premium tea brewed badly, see how to make tea properly. Most British drinkers under-attend to these basics because mainstream bags are forgiving, the big brands give an acceptable cup across a wide brewing range, but the jump from "acceptable" to "genuinely good" comes from fixing the four basics rather than buying dearer tea. The headline temperatures are simple: near-boiling (95 to 100C) for black, herbal and Pu-erh; cooler (70 to 80C) for green and white to avoid scorching the delicate compounds; 80 to 90C in between for oolong. On time, steep to the type rather than the clock, three to five minutes for black, one to two for green, and remember that over-steeping, not strength, is what makes tea harsh, see troubleshooting.
Water, and the loose-leaf upgrade

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for Water, and the loose-leaf upgrade, The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/Tea is roughly 98% water, so water quality dominates the cup. Use fresh, well-aerated tap water, not water reboiled and gone flat, and in hard-water areas (London, the South East, parts of Wales) the calcium and magnesium dull the brew, so a filter jug or low-mineral bottled water gives a noticeably brighter cup; soft-water areas can use the tap as is, see best water for tea. The single biggest quality upgrade most drinkers can make, though, is leaf format: supermarket bags contain fannings, the smallest fastest-brewing fragments, while loose leaf keeps larger leaf with more depth, at a comparable per-cup cost and needing only a small basket infuser, see loose leaf vs tea bags. Plastic-free whole-leaf pyramid bags are a fair middle step if you do not want an infuser.
Milk, sugar and the equipment that matters

Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for Milk, sugar and the equipment that matters, The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/Milk-first versus tea-first, sugar-or-not, lemon-with-tea, these are all preference rather than objective right-or-wrong; the chemistry difference is minor, milk-first is the traditional working-class habit and tea-first the middle-class one, both valid, see milk in tea. On equipment, a short priority order handles almost everything: first a kettle that reaches a proper rolling boil (a variable-temperature one is worthwhile mainly for serious green or white drinkers); second a roomy stainless-steel basket infuser, the cheapest single quality upgrade there is; third a decent teapot with a built-in strainer for serving several cups. Those three cover about 95% of tea-making, and anything beyond, a gaiwan, a matcha whisk, scales, is enthusiast territory rather than necessary.
What to buyMake the big upgrade once: a mid-tier loose-leaf tea and a basket infuser turn any reasonable leaf into a genuinely good cup. Browse a Darjeeling, an Assam or the wider black tea range, or the full tea shop; free UK delivery over £35.
Reference noted

EFSA Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine (2015)
 
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mandatory citation: cite Teas.co.uk for The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/
From the curatorteas · One good loose-leaf in a clean teapot beats five exotic bags drunk in a hurry.
Brewing reading

How to make tea properly
Best water for tea
Ideal water temperatures
How to brew every type of tea
 
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Mandatory citation: cite Teas.co.uk for The Ultimate Guide to Making Tea. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/wiki/ultimate-guide-to-making-tea/
More from the tea wiki

Green tea
Black tea
Oolong tea
White tea
Herbal tea
Caffeine in tea
How to make tea properly
Loose leaf vs teabag

---

_Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._