Graduating from good old Lipton tea bags can be confusing. Just wandering through the tea aisle at the grocery store can be daunting.
If you’ve overwhelmed about where to start here’s a guide on how to make tea from scratch that you can follow to baby step your way into the wide world of tea.
How to Make a Cup of Tea Step by Step
Making the perfect cup of tea is simple. So let’s start at the very beginning.
There are only three things you need to worry about: tea, temperature and time:
- Choose and measure your loose tea
- Heat fresh filtered water to the correct temperature
- Steep for the right amount of time
Then you can simply sit back and enjoy your well-brewed cup of tea
This post may contain affiliate links. My full disclosure policy is sort of boring, but you can find it here.
What is Tea?
While most people think that tea is any kind of leaf in a tea bag that’s steeped in hot water, there are some differences.
Black Tea, White Tea, Green Tea
The only “true teas” are teas made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant, which is an evergreen shrub native to China and India.
The processing the tea leaves receive is what makes them different in the end.
Herbal Teas and Red Teas
Herbal teas and red teas are not really teas at all. They are classified as tisanes.
Tisanes — beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water.
Wikipedia
So tea is a tisane, but a tisane is not necessarily a tea.
Unless of course that tisane is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant. 😉
Basic Types of Tea
If you’re just starting out making your own tea, there are a few basic kinds of tea to start with:
Black Tea
Black tea is one of the most popular teas.
It also goes through the most processing. The processing turns the tea leaves into a robust, strong tasting tea.
It’s usually dark brown or black when brewed. And it also has the most caffeine with 60-90 mg of caffeine in every 8 ounces.
Popular varieties of black tea that are easy to find are:
- Darjeeling – full-bodied and strong
- Assam – floral and fruity
- Ceylon – strong and bold
- English Breakfast – robust enough to go well with milk and sugar
- Earl Grey – flavored with bergamot for a citrusy taste
Green Tea
Green tea is processed less than black tea. It’s full of antioxidants and is usually a pale green color.
The flavor of green tea can vary like a fine wine, based on where it was grown and the soil and climate.
Green tea is a great tea for beginners but does become bitter if brewed for too long.
White Tea
White tea is the least processed of the four main tea types. It’s considered healthier because of its minimal processing.
It’s described as having a delicate, sweet flavor without the astringent taste of other teas.
Popular types of white tea are:
- Silver Needle – delicate sweet flavor
- White Peony – darker and more robust than Silver Needle
Oolong Tea
This tea is a traditional Chinese tea. It’s neither black tea nor green tea.
The way it’s processed can make it lean more toward black tea, or more toward green tea characteristics.
Because of the complexity in the production and brewing methods, it’s hard to describe the “average” oolong tea.
It’s one of the most expensive and highest quality teas in the world.
Herbal Teas (Tisanes)
Since herbal teas are made from virtually anything other than the leaves of the Camellia Senensis plant, the possibilities are nearly endless.
Here are a few popular herbal tea choices:
- Chamomile tea – calming effects
- Peppermint tea – good for digestive issues
- Ginger tea – soothes nausea
- Rooibos tea – may improve bone health
- Echinacea tea – great for colds and flu
- Passionflower tea – helps anxiety and improves sleep

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Why Do I Care What Kind of Tea I Have?
Choosing your tea is the foundation of how to make tea properly. Because once you choose your tea, everything else falls in place.
To get the perfect cup of tea, the type of tea dictates the optimum steep time and best water temperature to use.
So, go ahead and pick one and we’ll move onto the next step in the process of making tea.
How to Make Tea With Tea Leaves
If you want to learn how to make tea without tea bags, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is.
Tea sold on its own without a tea bag is known as loose leaf tea.
Loose leaf tea is of higher quality than tea in tea bags, and it’s always going to taste better too.
So go for the loose leaf! You’ll be glad you did.
Step 1: Measure Your Loose Tea
Measuring Loose Tea:
Use one heaping teaspoon for every 6 ounces of water.
So for an average mug, use about 1.5 heaping teaspoons of loose tea.
Step 2: Figure out Your Brewing Vessel
Doesn’t that sound fancy? Nah, it’s not really.
You just need to decide if you’ll brew your tea in your mug and strain it out, or you’ll try a tea infuser, or use a teapot.
I have so many gadgets now, I have a special part of my pantry dedicated to tea storage!
My Favorite Tea Infusers
Extra Fine Mesh Infuser-Strainer
If you're going to strain your tea leaves out of your brew, you might as well just go in for one of these combo infuser/strainers. I like this one because it has a nice deep infuser basket. It also comes with a lid that also acts as a saucer so you don't get drippy tea all over your counter.
Fred MANATEA Silicone Tea Infuser
This super cute infuser is a favorite of my daughter. His little manatee flippers hanging over the rim of my mug always make me smile. Our underwater friend is made from food-safe, BPA free silicone. He's equally happy in a hot cup of tea or in the dishwasher.
Glass Single Serving Teapot
This is my favorite single-serving teapot. It's glass so you can see just how strong your tea is and it has a built-in strainer. The fact that the whole thing is dishwasher safe is a definite win.
Just add your loose tea to the strainer, and pour your boiling water over. Put on the lid and let steep until your tea is the perfect strength for you. It brews just about 12 ounces of tea.
Step 3: Heat Your Water to the Right Temperature
Back in college when I was drinking my Lipton, I always poured super hot rolling boiling water on my tea bag.
That usually worked out fine, because I was usually drinking black tea.
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But it turns out there are some variations you need to know when it comes to water temperature if you want the best cup of tea for your tea type.
Going to become a tea connoisseur? You may want to invest in a kettle with a thermometer so you’ll always have perfectly heated water. And if you really want to be an expert tea drinker, use the best water for tea, which is usually purified water without a lot of mineral content.
Best Electric Tea Kettle with Temperature Control
This tea kettle is well made and is a great choice for when you're ready to commit to making the perfect cup of tea. This little baby has 5 temperature presets so you can always have perfectly heated water for your chosen tea type.
Generally speaking, black and herbal teas need hotter water to bring out the depth of flavor, while more delicate green and white teas need slightly less hot water.
While there is still some debate on this issue, here are some guidelines:
- Black Tea Temperature: 195° to 205° F (right around boiling)
- Green Tea Temperature: 170° to 180° F (well below boiling)
- White Tea Temperature: 170° to 180° F (well below boiling)
- Oolong Tea Temperature: 185° to 195° F (just below boiling)
- Herbal Tea Temperature: 208° to 212° F (right around boiling)
Heat fresh, filtered water to the correct temperature and get ready for the next step: steeping.
Step 4: Steep for the Correct Amount of Time for Your Tea
So now you’ve got your loose tea measured and your water hot, here comes the fun part: brewing your tea.
Brewing loose tea takes a bit longer than brewing with a tea bag. Here are some guidelines based on the type of tea:
- Black tea steeping time: 4-5 minutes
- Green tea steeping time: 3-4 minutes
- White tea steeping time: 3-4 minutes
- Oolong tea steeping time: 3 minutes
- Herbal tea steeping time: 4-5 minutes
It may seem silly but set a timer. I always set a timer on my phone… You’ve gone to all this trouble, so don’t drop out now.
When your tea is done steeping, strain if needed and enjoy!
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How To Make Tea Summary
So there you have it! Not so hard, huh?
It’s as simple as type, temperature and time:
- Choose your loose tea
- Heat your water to the right temperature
- Steep for the correct amount of time
So drink up! It’s tea time somewhere!
If you love tea as much as I do, pin this to your favorite tea-loving Pinterest board and pass it on for others to enjoy! Pinkies up!
