Brew tea properly: leaf weight, water, temperature and steep time for each tea type, plus an estimated caffeine total.
Caffeine figures are estimates: leaf, grade and steep time change real caffeine a lot. Temperatures and times are guides; taste and adjust.
Tea leaf needed (g)
How to use this tool
Pick green, black, oolong, white, herbal or matcha. Each type sets a recommended water temperature, steep time and caffeine estimate.
Enter how many cups you are brewing and the size of each cup in millilitres (a standard mug is about 250 ml).
Light uses 6 g of leaf per litre, standard 8 g and strong 10 g. Weighing leaf beats counting teaspoons, which vary by leaf size.
Heat water to the shown temperature, steep for the shown time, then taste. Shorten the steep for less bitterness, especially with green tea.
Formula & worked example
Two 250 ml cups of black tea at standard strength need 500 ml of water and 4 g of leaf, brewed at about 95 C for 4 minutes, with roughly 90 mg of caffeine in total.
Limitations — read this before you rely on it
Temperatures, steep times and caffeine are guides, not laboratory values. Leaf grade, leaf size, water quality and steep time shift flavour and caffeine, so adjust to taste. Herbal teas are shown as caffeine-free, but blends containing true tea are not.
Frequently asked questions
About 2 g per 250 ml cup at standard strength, which is roughly one heaped teaspoon of most loose leaf, though large-leaf teas weigh less per spoon.
Boiling water scorches delicate green leaves and extracts more bitterness. Around 80 C gives a sweeter, smoother cup; let boiled water cool for a couple of minutes.
About 4 minutes is a good starting point. Shorter gives a lighter cup, longer gives more body and tannin; beyond 5 minutes most black teas turn bitter.
Matcha is whisked powder, not steeped leaf, so use about 2 g per 80 ml of water at around 80 C and whisk until frothy, rather than the standard leaf ratio.
It is an estimate only. Published per-cup values for black tea range roughly from 30 to 70 mg depending on leaf and steep time, so treat the total as a guide.