This Is Why Your Tongue Feels Like Sandpaper When You Drink Tea
A tea expert explains how to get your brew just right.
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Have you ever drunk a strong tea and noticed it made your tongue feel funny? There’s a pretty simple explanation: Over-steeping tea releases tannins, making it taste bitter and causing the same dry mouthfeel as red wine. To avoid a too-strong brew, there are a few factors to keep in mind.
How long should you steep tea?
It depends on the tea, but you’ll usually want to steep a cup of tea for no longer than five minutes. When in doubt, follow the package directions.
“Steeping time is very important in the world of tea brewing,” Elena Liao, owner of Té Company, a Taiwanese-style tea shop in New York, tells Food Network. “It's one of the dials that determines the strength and aroma profile of the cup of tea. Steeping too long makes the tea too bitter when it's over-extracted and may overpower and mask the flavor nuances.”
What other factors affect the strength of your tea?
Water temperature is another way to control the strength of your tea. The optimal temperature varies depending on the type of tea, but overall, the hotter the water, the faster the extraction and the stronger the resulting brew.
You can also adjust the amount of tea you brew while keeping the water temperature and steeping time consistent. More tea will make a stronger brew, and more quickly, while less tea will take longer to achieve the same strength.
All three of these elements — steep time, water temperature and amount of tea — work together.
“Cold brew, for example, requires at least six hours of brewing time if not more because cold water extracts extremely slowly,” Liao points out.
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Does the type of tea matter?
Yes, the variety of tea you’re brewing does make a difference. Green teas typically take less time to brew, since they’re not oxidized (the least processed) and require less to draw out their fresh flavors. On the other end of the spectrum, black teas are fully oxidized (the most processed) and require more time, temperature or volume to brew.
Under those umbrellas, individual teas might be processed a little differently.
“Some teas are rolled tightly, which requires hotter water or slightly longer brewing time,” Liao says. “Some teas are twisted or unrolled, which would benefit from shorter steeping time or cooler brewing temperature.”
At the end of the day, though, it’s all a matter of preference. Liao suggests following a tea’s brewing directions the first time you make it, then adjust to your tastes.
“There are no wrong answers,” she says.
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