Brewing Difficulty Levels Explained

We have finally added a general  'brewing difficulty' guide for our teas. These categories are meant to be a guideline for Wonderful Tea People to make the right personal choice in buying tea. They do not represent a value or quality rating for any of the teas. Everyone is different in their brewing experiences and personal preferences. Careful, thoughtful brewing gives a wonderful experience for all of our teas. Just because a tea is easy to brew doesn’t mean that careful brewing cannot also create a complex and beautiful brewing experience. The many flavors of a ball rolled oolong expressed as the leaves unfold during multiple steeps are easy to enjoy for example, and only get better with practice!

Easy Brewing

If you add hot water to these leaves and walk away, you will still get a great experience with these styles of teas. Clear, bright, crowd-friendly flavors, limited bitterness and astringency, and little danger of “ruining” a tea through mistakes of brewing are the name of the game with teas in this category. Great for beginners to high quality tea, those who like Western or Grandpa style brewing, or for those who might be a little distracted while brewing while working at the office.

 Ex/ most oolongs, floral scented teas, high elevation black and red teas

Intermediate Brewing

These teas are still relatively easy to brew, but might have an edge if brewed incorrectly. These teas need to be brewed with care, but are still relatively easy to brew with clear and generally pleasant and accessible flavor profiles. These teas need to follow the brewing parameters a little more closely to avoid an unpleasant brew.

Ex/ boiling water might scald to bitterness a green tea, brewing an Assamica family of tea too long might bring out bitterness and astringency or a too high leaf to water ratio with a charcoal roasted tea might be overpowering.

Expert Brewing

Complex, hard to brew teas with both a higher price tag and more esoteric flavors. Generally not recommended for beginners to high-quality tea. These types of teas do not offer a great value for those without deep experience. With the skill to brew them however, they provide experiences that are highly memorable and extremely satisfying.

Ex/ Aged teas, deep charcoal roasts, older style or traditional teas like Old Master Baozhong, unique cultivars like Bird Planted Red