How many times can you re-steep tea?

A good whole-leaf tea can be re-steeped two to four times Western style, and far more Chinese style, with plenty of leaves and infusions lasting a few seconds. Broken tea, like the tea in ordinary tea bags, gives almost everything in the first cup. To re-steep a tea, the rule is simple: same temperature, slightly longer time with each round.

The exact number depends on the leaf, its shape and what has been added to it. Here is how to find your way, family by family.

Why a leaf gives several cups, and why not all of them do

One infusion does not exhaust the leaf in one go. Hot water extracts the aromas, the tannins and the theine (caffeine) gradually, and each round draws on what is left. The second cup is therefore not a diluted copy of the first: it is often softer, less astringent, and sometimes brings out notes that the first one masked.

What makes the difference is the leaf surface exposed to the water. A leaf broken into small fragments offers a huge surface and gives up most of what it has within a few minutes. A whole leaf, or a rolled one, opens slowly and keeps something in reserve for the following cups. That is why supermarket tea bags, filled with very fragmented leaves, are poorly suited to a second infusion, while a good loose-leaf tea is very well suited to it.

Some teas are tightly rolled during processing. Gunpowder, a Chinese green tea whose Chinese name, zhu cha, means "pearl tea", is the most telling example: its leaves form small balls that unfurl in the water. Rolled teas need time to open fully, and they generally take several infusions well.

That is the case with our Nuit de Marrakesh green tea, made from China Gunpowder and whole peppermint. Give the pearls room: a tea ball filled to the brim stops them from opening, in the first infusion as in the second.

By contrast, teas with flat, thin leaves open quickly and give a lot in the first round. They can be re-steeped too, but a few times less.

How many times, family by family

• Whole-leaf green tea: two to three infusions Western style. Our Mojito green tea, based on China Sencha, can be steeped a second time, as its product page states.
• Whole-leaf black tea: at least two infusions, sometimes more for the largest leaves.
• Pu erh: the champion. Western style, our Pu Erh d'origine takes 3 to 4 successive infusions, lengthening the time slightly with each round, and many enthusiasts find the second better than the first. Chinese style, pu erh and oolong teas are commonly re-steeped six to ten times. There is more on this singular tea in our article pu erh, the fermented tea of Yunnan.
• Rooibos: a second infusion is possible, lighter than the first.
• Ordinary tea bags: one infusion, rarely more.

For the details of what sets these families apart in processing, see our article green tea, black tea, pu erh.

Re-steeping tea: adjusting time and temperature

The temperature does not change. A green tea is re-steeped at 70 to 80 °C, just like the first time. It is tempting to pour hotter water to "revive" tired leaves: that is the surest way to extract the remaining tannins and end up with a bitter cup. Black tea, pu erh and rooibos are re-steeped at 100 °C, as in the first round.

The time gets longer. Western style, a simple guideline is to add about one minute for the second infusion and two for the third, then adjust to taste. For the Pu Erh d'origine, whose product page gives 4 to 5 minutes, the second cup will therefore need a little more, and so on.

The amount stays the same: you keep the same leaves. If the third cup seems too weak despite a longer time, the leaf has given what it had. The starting settings for each family are gathered in our guide how to brew loose-leaf tea.

Chinese style: gong fu cha

In China, the way of drawing the most infusions from the same tea has a name: gong fu cha, which can be translated as "making tea with art" or "with skill". This way of brewing is thought to come from Fujian or from the Chaozhou region, in eastern Guangdong, where it is believed to have developed around the 18th century.

The principle is the opposite of the Western cup:

• a very small vessel, a Yixing clay teapot or a gaiwan (lidded bowl), often holding between 60 and 200 ml;
• far more leaves in relation to the water;
• very short infusions, from a few seconds to around thirty seconds, lengthened slightly with each round.

You drink a succession of small cups, each a little different from the one before. It is the method of choice for oolong and pu erh teas, which then take a great number of infusions.

Flavoured teas and rooibos: the second cup changes character

Dried fruit, flowers, spices and flavourings added to a blend give up their taste faster than the tea leaf. In a flavoured tea, the first cup therefore carries most of the flavouring, and the second lets the base speak more.

With the Mojito or the Nuit de Marrakesh, expect a second cup that is more vegetal, with the mint more discreet. It is not a flaw, it is a different cup.

Rooibos follows the same logic. Nainfusion rooibos combines rooibos, cocoa bean, caramel and lemon, and is steeped for 7 to 10 minutes at 100 °C. Expect the indulgent caramel to come through mainly in the first cup: the second will be lighter, and the rooibos will take up more room in it. It is theine-free according to its product page, but the cocoa bean naturally brings a little caffeine. Allergen: milk (cream and butter in the caramel).

How long to keep the leaves

Re-steep the same day, ideally within a few hours. Between two infusions, leave the leaves in the teapot with the lid on: leaves that dry out in the air lose some of their intensity.

Do not keep them damp until the next day. Wet leaves left for a long time at room temperature become a favourable ground for mould.

If you do not plan to re-steep them hot, one last option: put them in a large glass of cold water and leave them overnight in the fridge. You will have a light cold infusion for the next morning.

Frequently asked questions

Does the second infusion still contain theine?
Yes. The first infusion does not extract all the theine from the leaf, and each round draws on what is left. We explain this in detail in our article theine and caffeine.

Should the leaves be rinsed before each infusion?
No. The rinse of about ten seconds is done only once, before the first infusion, and it is mainly useful for pu erh, whose cup it makes cleaner. After that, you steep directly.

Why is my second cup bitter?
Most often, the water was too hot for a green tea, or the leaves stayed in the water after the first infusion. Remove them or empty the teapot completely between two rounds.

Can a fruit infusion be re-steeped?
It can, but dried fruit and flowers give most of their taste in the first infusion, which is already long. The second will be much paler.