How Long to Steep Green Tea: Times and Temps by Source

The short answer

Steep green tea in hot, not boiling, water for a few minutes. Tea Forté says 2 to 3 minutes, while CNET says 1 to 3 minutes. The sources do not agree on exact numbers, so this page puts the figures side by side and shows where they overlap.

Green tea steep times compared

Every row below comes from the linked page. Where a source gives no number, the cell says so.

What the table shows: Tea Forté and GUYA both give 2 to 3 minutes. CNET and Art of Tea start at 1 minute. MEM Tea gives its Japanese green the shortest window, 1 to 2 minutes.

Where the sources differ

The gap is mostly at the cool end. CNET quotes beverage director Joshua Richolt, who prefers the lower temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, steeping one to two minutes. Tea Forté starts at 175°F instead.

They also differ on how firmly to hold the time limit. Tea Forté says that after three minutes the tea turns more astringent and bitter. MEM Tea goes further and says not to exceed any of its listed green tea parameters.

Steep time by green tea variety

Only one of the sources, GUYA, breaks times out by variety:

• Sencha: 2 to 4 minutes (GUYA)
• Gyokuro: 3 to 5 minutes (GUYA)
• Genmaicha: 2 to 4 minutes (GUYA)
• Bancha: 1 to 2 minutes (GUYA)
• Hojicha: 1 to 2 minutes (GUYA)

The GUYA page gives no water temperatures for these varieties, so pair the times with the temperature printed on your package. Its figure for sencha is wider than the one Tea Forté gives for green tea in general, which is 2 to 3 minutes. For the roasted and blended styles on the list, see our guides to genmaicha and hojicha.

Getting the water temperature right

Tea Forté says that without a temperature kettle you can bring water to a boil, remove it from heat and wait approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Art of Tea disagrees with a fixed wait. It says cooling time varies with the amount of water, the vessel and the room, and suggests a thermometer or a variable-temperature kettle instead. Both agree on the goal: boiling water is too hot for green tea, and the package instructions come first.

How much leaf to use

The sources give different measures:

• Art of Tea: 1 teaspoon of loose leaf for every 8 ounces of water. It adds that for a stronger cup you should add leaf rather than steep longer.
• MEM Tea: 2.5 to 3 grams of leaf for its Western style teapot brewing, and it notes that weight is the most accurate way to brew consistently. It does not state the water volume on that page.

Example: if a brew tastes thin at the suggested time, add a little more leaf next round and keep the clock the same, instead of letting the leaves sit longer.

Gong fu and repeat infusions

Short, repeated steeps use more leaf and less time. MEM Tea lists 6 level teaspoons (4 grams) of green tea at 185°F for a small 2 to 4 ounce vessel. Start with an infusion of about 20 seconds, then add 10 to 15 seconds each round. Art of Tea suggests repeated steeps of 30 to 60 seconds for this style, and says to add an extra 30 seconds to a minute per round when re-steeping in a regular pot or cup. The sources do not give a green tea specific infusion count. GUYA only says some teas can be brewed far more than two, three or four times. If you want a vessel suited to this method, see our Asian tea set buying guide.

Matcha is not steeped

Matcha follows a different method. Tea Forté gives 8 ounces of water at 185°F with one teaspoon of powder, whisked until frothy, for usucha. For the thicker koicha it gives 4 ounces of water and two teaspoons. There is no steep time because you drink the leaf. Art of Tea lists matcha at about 175°F, so those two pages differ by 10 degrees. More in our matcha guide.

Iced green tea

Two sources give iced methods:

• CNET: brew hot but not boiling, use twice the amount of tea, steep the same time as for hot tea, remove the leaves, cool, then refrigerate.
• MEM Tea: cold brew with 1/2 gallon of cold water over 1 ounce of loose leaf, refrigerated for 8 to 12 hours.

For ready-made options, see our list of the best unsweetened iced tea.

What to do

1. Check the package first. Both Tea Forté and CNET point you there.
2. If there are no instructions, the ranges in the table overlap at 175°F, which sits inside the ranges from Tea Forté and Art of Tea. Tea Forté also suggests tasting at the two minute mark.
3. Taste at the two minute mark, as Tea Forté suggests, and remove the leaves completely when done.
4. If the cup is too weak, change the leaf amount before the time, as Art of Tea advises. If it is bitter, shorten the time or use cooler water.

What the sources do not cover

None of the pages gives a single agreed temperature, and only GUYA splits times by variety, without temperatures. No source gives a water to leaf ratio for every green tea style, and none gives a set infusion count for green tea. For oolong, which has its own timing, see our oolong tea guide.