Steep, brew and infuse; they are not terms to confuse.

When you make tea, are you steeping, infusing or brewing? It is time to clarify what these seemingly interchangeable terms for making tea mean, because they are actually quite unique in their meaning. Time for a pop quiz!

Which do you believe is the explanation of ‘steeping’, when it comes to preparing tea?

A.      The process involved when making tea.
B.      The waiting period of leaving an ingredient in a liquid.
C.      To create an infusion of the tea with the water.
D.      The soaking of tea, for a set amount of time.

Just tricking…it is actually option E – All of the above! And this is one reason why there is so much confusion about the tea terminology regarding steeping, infusing or brewing this delicious beverage.

In the simplest of ways, we can say that the steeping of tea begins when heated water is poured over the leaves (or other ingredients), with the aim of steeping being to infuse the water with the tea.

Essentially, to make a cup of tea, you steep the tea in water; once a certain period of time elapses, the tea is removed from the water. This process as a whole can be called an infusion.

This differs to brewing, whereby brewing most often refers (in the tea sense) to leaving the tea in the water indefinitely (as opposed to removing it after a steep-time is reached). This is most common for creating cold or iced teas.

Brewing tea creates a ‘tea soup’, which often has water added to replace the infusion poured out, to balance out the flavour; the longer a tea is steeped, the stronger the flavour will be.

Only specific teas are advised to be brewed however, as if some types are left to steep for too long, they will become bitter, and can also release excessive caffeine. Those teas best suited to brewing are green and white teas, as well as fruit fusions and tisanes. Within our signature range of Personalitea’s, this includes Equanimity, Resplendent, and Sanguine.

So whilst all terms are accepted to mean ‘making a cup of tea’, they each respectively describe a specific action, outcome or process. Regardless, if made properly the outcome of a delicious cuppa results, no matter how you describe it, and that’s what really matters!