LeafSteep
The Journal
How to Steep Tea Properly: Temperature and Time by Tea Type
Why the same boiling water that suits black tea ruins green tea, and how to match temperature and steep time to what's actually in your cup.
White, Green, Yellow, Oolong, Black, and Pu-erh: The Six Tea Types Explained
All six major tea types come from the same plant. Here's what actually separates them, and why processing matters more than the leaf itself.
Gongfu Brewing 101: How Multi-Infusion Tea Sessions Work
Gongfu brewing trades one long steep for many short ones. Here's how the method works, why it rewards good leaf, and how to time a session.
Building a Tea Tasting Vocabulary: How to Use a Flavor Wheel
Tasting notes aren't about having a magic palate — they're a shared vocabulary. Here's how tasting wheels work and how to actually use one.
Does Water Really Matter for Tea? A Guide to Hardness and Filtering
The same tea can taste completely different depending on what's dissolved in your water. Here's what hardness is and when it's worth filtering.
A Short History of Tea: From Yunnan to the World
Tea's journey from a single wild plant in southwestern China to the world's second most consumed drink, and how it shaped trade, ceremony, and empire along the way.
Matcha 101: What It Is and How Traditional Preparation Works
Matcha isn't just finely ground green tea. Here's what actually separates it from other green teas, and how the traditional whisking method works.
Leaf-to-Water Ratio: The First Thing to Fix Before You Blame the Tea
A weak, harsh, or flat cup is more often a ratio problem than a temperature problem. Worked leaf amounts for every tea type, by scale and by teaspoon.
Gongfu Ratios and Infusion Schedules: The Numbers Behind the Method
A full worked gongfu session: exact grams for a 120ml gaiwan, the growing infusion schedule, and why the numbers differ so much by tea type.
Reading Your Water: What Hardness Numbers Mean for Your Tea
Your water utility's annual report has a hardness number on it somewhere. Here's how to actually read it, convert it, and turn it into a brewing decision.
Caffeine in Tea Is Arithmetic, Not Magic: How to Actually Estimate It
No lab measurement, just a transparent formula: base amount by tea type, scaled by volume, dose, and steep time. Includes why the quick-rinse myth doesn't hold up.
Find Teas by a Single Tasting Note: The Reverse Lookup
Instead of asking what a tea tastes like, ask which teas taste a certain way. A worked look at the tasting wheel's reverse search, note by note.