Tea Blog

Until just recently it never would have occurred to me to use anything more or less than the standard measure of leaves to prepare a cup of tea. But of course you can do just that, if you prefer. As I recall reading quite some time back, the measure of 2.25 grams per six ounces of water is pretty much the industry standard for this sort of thing.

When I went looking for sources that would confirm or deny this, I ran across a Wikipedia entry for ISO 3103, “a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (commonly referred to as ISO), specifying a standardized method for brewing tea.” It specifies that two grams should be used per 100 ml (about 3.4 ounces) of water, which, quite frankly seems like a bit much to me. But what do I know?

The Royal Society of Chemistry weighed in on the issue a little while back with a press release that, quite honestly, is a bit vague, given that it was put out by scientific types. At first they recommend “one rounded teaspoon of tea per cup” and later go on to specify that about two grams should do. However, they never specify whether their “cup” is six or eight ounces.

For my own purposes, I’m realizing as I write this that my own methods might be a bit imprecise. I confess that I don’t actually weigh my tea leaves but for some time now I have been using a specially designed spoon that’s supposed to give the correct measure. Which can also be a bit problematic when dealing with a fine black tea with tiny leaves as opposed to a green, white, or oolong with relatively large leaves, but it seems to be working out well enough for my purposes and has been for quite some time now.

All of which came to mind not so long ago when I read an article that suggested that a branch of a certain well-known tea retailer was giving out samples of tea that was brewed using about three times as much as the recommended amounts of tea leaves already discussed here.

Even if it’s true, it’s not necessarily indicative of a policy that’s in place throughout this particular chain. I can even see some sense in it, though I can’t really applaud the deceptive nature of such a practice. But for many newcomers to tea (including yours truly – once upon a time) its subtleties can be just a little too ethereal for palates that are conditioned to a variety of more strongly flavored beverages.

Which leads to my often cited maxim that we all like what we like and there really is no one right way to do tea – though your mother probably raised you better than to be sneaky about it.

See more of William I. Lengeman’s articles here.

© Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog, 2009-2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this article’s author and/or the blog’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Online Stores, Inc., and The English Tea Store Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.