5 Ways to Brew Oolong Tea!

At Aimee Sher Makes, we consume copious amounts of our in-stock oolong tea on a daily basis. We have some fancy Taiwanese style tea equipment involved, but you don't need fancy equipment at all. 

All you need is a container with a spout (such as a tea pot or a measuring cup), and a strainer (sometimes built into the tea pot!), and you're good. 

Here's basic instructions on how to get a delicious brew.

For most of our teas, we find that 5 grams is plenty for 8 oz of tea, all day long. We use as little as 2 grams for smaller cups that we can re-brew throughout the day. 

• Step 1: Measure out the recommended serving size into your teapot.
• Step 2: Add hot water.
• Step 3: Steep tea at recommended brew time.
• Step 4: Strain and serve in your favorite teacup or mug of choice!

You can continue to enjoy your tea throughout the day and rebrew at least another 2-3 times (if not more).

For those who want to get creative, we've also included 5 additional ways to brew your oolong tea (adapted from Bang Tea's "Foolproof ways to brew good oolong). 

Preparation: none

Equipment: Preferred drinking device (mug, glass, etc)
This is the original brewing method, where you just have 1 glass + leaves + boiling hot water. Measurements are optional, it's really "whatever eyeballed amount of leaves happen to fall out of your bag & water that’s hot, most likely boiling." Once you’ve drunk the tea down to half full, you can fill it back up with more water for a second steep. 

Preparation: 5g of tea for 150g device, water heated to ~208℉

Equipment: Small teapots, gaiwans (traditional teapot used for brewing loose leaf tea made from clay, porcelain, glass)
This method uses small teapots or gaiwans made of clay, porcelain, or glass. These brewing devices generally hold between 110ml–200ml of water per brew (or ~4-7oz of water) and serves tea in small 1oz cups.

Preparation: ~8-10g of tea for a large teapot, boiling water
Equipment: Large teapot or french press, cups/mugs

This method uses larger teapots, generally 16oz + in size. Grab a teapot or a french press, add hot water and let it steep for five minutes before you start drinking. Since these are larger in size, we can use ~8-10g of tea for a 20oz teapot, adding fresh hot water for a second steep.

Preparation: 8g of tea for 16oz water

Equipment: Fridge-safe container (~16oz)

Similar to coffee, a cold brew tea will require slower extraction but the resulting tea will be super smooth. The recommendation is to add 8-10g of tea leaves for a 16oz water bottle. Throw the leaves in cold water, leave in the fridge, and let it steep for ~10-12 hours. Pour over ice and enjoy with a splash of milk (Aimee prefers full fat cow's milk, while Symphony prefers Táche Pistachio Milk).

Preparation: 5g of tea for 12oz gin

Equipment: Fridge-safe container, ice, cocktail shaker (optional)

Why drink tea in water when you can drink tea in gin (or your favorite non-alcoholic alternative)? The recommendation is 5g of tea leaves per 12oz of gin, and this only requires about 12-24 hours for a pretty potent tea flavor. Add your preferred syrup (something fruity) if you prefer your cocktails on the sweet side.

The producer's note that "high mountain oolong plants grow more slowly and produce thicker tea leaves that are suitable for using boiling water for extraction. Our teas are specially selected to taste delicious no matter how you brew them."