Brewing and Water
Water Temperature: Why Boiling Water Ruins Green Tea
Temperature determines which compounds you extract and in what order. It is the most consequential brewing variable.
7 January 2026
8 min read
Making the cup
Brewing and Water
The four variables that determine what a leaf gives you. Getting them right transforms tea you already own, which is considerably cheaper than buying better leaf.
Brewing and Water
Gongfu and Western Brewing: Two Approaches Compared
One method produces a single balanced cup. The other produces a sequence of changing ones. Both are legitimate.
24 January 2026
9 min read
Brewing and Water
Leaf Quantity: The Variable People Guess At
A teaspoon of one tea weighs three times what a teaspoon of another does. Volume measurement cannot work.
12 February 2026
7 min read
Brewing and Water
Water: The Ingredient That Is Ninety-Nine Percent of the Cup
Tea is almost entirely water. The mineral content of that water changes the result more than most people believe.
5 March 2026
8 min read
Free improvements first
Everything in this section costs nothing except attention. Adjusting temperature, weighing leaf and filtering water improve the tea you already have more than buying more expensive leaf would.
Both methods, honestly
We cover Western and gongfu brewing without treating either as superior. Gongfu reveals more from teas that have more to reveal; Western brewing is convenient and produces good tea. Both are legitimate.