Why Does My Tea Taste Bitter?

Before you blame the tea, let's talk about what's happening in your cup.

Have you ever bought a beautiful tea, opened the bag and thought it smelled absolutely wonderful, only to take that first sip and wonder:

Why is my tea bitter?

Maybe you added honey.

Still bitter.

A little more honey.

Still not right.

Then perhaps some lemon or milk joined the rescue operation, and before long we're conducting a full emergency intervention on a cup of tea that was supposed to be relaxing.

Here's what I want you to know before you decide that you don't like tea:

It may not be the tea.

Sometimes we simply haven't been taught how to make it.

Tea is wonderfully simple—leaves, water and time—but those three things have a relationship. Change the temperature of the water, the amount of tea or how long you allow it to steep, and the exact same loose-leaf tea can give you a completely different cup.

So if your tea has been tasting bitter, harsh, overly strong or strangely dry, let's fix your next cup.

First, Bitter and Astringent Aren't Quite the Same Thing

Before we head to the kettle, there's something worth knowing.

When people say their tea is bitter, sometimes what they're actually experiencing is astringency.

Bitterness is a taste. Astringency is more of a physical sensation—that dry, puckering feeling you might notice along your tongue, gums or the inside of your cheeks.

Tea naturally contains polyphenols, including tannins, that contribute structure and astringency to the cup. That's not automatically a bad thing. A little astringency is part of the character of many teas.

The problem comes when it overwhelms everything else.

Instead of noticing floral, grassy, fruity, malty, creamy or naturally sweet notes, all you can think is:

Whew. What happened here?

Often, the answer is sitting right beside the cup.

The water was too hot, the tea steeped too long, or there was too much leaf for the amount of water. Tea companies consistently identify those variables as major causes of a harsh or bitter brew.

1. Your Water May Be Too Hot

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes new tea drinkers make.

We grow up thinking:

Tea = boiling water.

But that isn't true for every tea.

A delicate green tea does not necessarily want the same treatment as a robust black tea.

Green and white teas generally do better with cooler water, while black tea can tolerate much hotter water. Art of Tea, for example, recommends approximately 160–175°F for white tea, 170–185°F for green, 185–205°F for oolong, and 200–212°F for black tea, with herbal infusions generally brewed at a full boil.

That matters tremendously.

Pour boiling water over a delicate green tea and then leave it sitting there while you answer an email, unload the dishwasher and remember you were supposed to call somebody back...

Girl.

That tea has been through enough. 

If you've ever wondered why your green tea tastes bitter, start with your water temperature. Both Art of Tea and Adagio recommend brewing many green teas below boiling and for relatively short periods.

2. You May Be Steeping Your Tea Too Long

This one gets almost everybody at some point.

You put your loose-leaf tea into the infuser.

Pour in the water.

Then walk away.

Seven minutes later you remember:

THE TEA.

By then, that poor black tea that needed a few minutes has been sitting in there contemplating its entire existence.

Tea extraction continues while the leaves remain in the water. As steeping continues, more of the compounds responsible for stronger, drying and astringent flavors enter the cup. That's why over-steeped tea can taste bitter.

As a practical starting point—not an unbreakable law—try:

These ranges vary by the specific leaf and producer, so always check the brewing directions for the tea you're using first. The table is a starting point, not a commandment carved into the side of your kettle.

And use a timer.

Seriously.

Your phone has one.

Let it earn its keep.

3. Stronger Tea Doesn't Have to Mean Longer Tea.

This is where a lot of cups go wrong.

You taste your tea and think:

This isn't strong enough.

So next time, you steep it for eight minutes.

Now it's stronger, all right.

It's also trying to remove the enamel from your teeth.

Instead, try using a little more loose-leaf tea while keeping the appropriate steep time. Art of Tea specifically recommends increasing the amount of leaf rather than extending steep time when you want a fuller cup, because additional steeping can bring out more bitterness.

A common starting point is roughly one teaspoon of loose-leaf tea per eight ounces of water, although fluffy white teas and bulky herbal blends may require more volume. Leaf size and density matter too.

This is one of the joys of loose leaf.

You can adjust.

A little more leaf.

A little less.

A slightly shorter steep.

Maybe cooler water.

Eventually you find your cup.

4. Give Your Loose-Leaf Tea Room to Move

This is something I wish more people understood when they begin drinking loose-leaf tea.

Those dry leaves may look small when you scoop them into your infuser.

Then the water hits them.

They begin to unfurl.

Some expand dramatically.

That's part of the beauty of loose leaf.

But if the leaves are packed tightly into an infuser with almost no room to move, water cannot circulate around them as freely.

A roomy basket-style infuser or teapot gives whole leaves space to open and infuse. Art of Tea similarly recommends allowing leaves room to expand rather than confining them tightly.

This is also why quality matters. Whole loose leaves can produce a more nuanced cup and, depending on the tea, may be steeped more than once.

Don't imprison your tea.

She's trying to bloom in there.

5. Your Water Matters More Than You Think

We talk about the tea.

We talk about the kettle.

We buy the pretty cup.

And sometimes we forget that most of what is actually in the cup is water.

If your tap water has a strong chlorine taste, unusual mineral character or another noticeable flavor, your tea doesn't magically erase it.

It joins it.

Art of Tea recommends filtered or purified water when tap-water flavors interfere with the tea.

Before blaming your loose-leaf tea, taste the water by itself.

If you wouldn't particularly enjoy drinking that glass of water, it probably isn't going to suddenly become magnificent simply because you introduced it to Earl Grey.

6. Sometimes the Tea Isn't Bitter. It's Just New to You.

This is important.

Every flavor we don't immediately recognize isn't necessarily a flaw.

If you've spent years drinking heavily sweetened bottled tea and then make your first cup of unsweetened loose-leaf green tea, that cup may taste unfamiliar.

Some teas are naturally brisk.

Some are grassy, earthy, vegetal, floral, and some have noticeable astringency.

Pu-erh, for example, can have a distinctly earthy character that is very different from a fruity herbal blend.

Learning tea is a little like learning wine, coffee, herbs or spices. Your palate begins recognizing things it couldn't identify before.

So before deciding:

I don't like tea.

Try asking:

What don't I like about this tea?

Too drying? Too grassy? Too smoky? Too floral? Too earthy?

Or truly too bitter?

Now you're learning your palate.

And that makes choosing your next tea much easier.

How to Fix a Bitter Cup of Tea

If the cup in front of you is already bitter, you don't necessarily have to pour it down the drain.

A splash of milk may soften the astringency of certain black teas. A little honey can round out the cup. You can also dilute an overly strong brew with additional hot water.

But I would rather help you fix the next cup.

Start here:

1. Check the brewing directions for your specific tea.

2. Use the appropriate water temperature.

3. Measure your loose-leaf tea instead of guessing wildly.

4. Set a timer.

5. Remove the leaves when the steep is finished.

6. If you want stronger tea, experiment with more leaf before dramatically increasing steep time.

7. Give whole leaves enough room to expand.

8. Try filtered water if your water has a noticeable taste.

And change one thing at a time.

That's important.

If you change the tea amount, temperature, water and steeping time all at once, you won't know which change made the cup better.

Tea doesn't require perfection.

It requires attention.

What About Cold-Brew Tea?

Here's another trick worth keeping in your back pocket.

If you struggle with bitterness, particularly during warmer months, try cold brewing your tea.

Cold-water extraction generally produces a smoother, less astringent result because it extracts compounds differently than hot brewing. Harney & Sons specifically notes reduced astringency as one of cold-brew tea's advantages.

It's also wonderfully forgiving.

And there is something lovely about opening the refrigerator and remembering that yesterday's version of you already made today's tea.

That's friendship

Tea Notes: Fix Your Next Cup

If there's one thing I want you to remember from this Tea Talk, it's this:

A bitter cup does not necessarily mean you bought bad tea.

Before you give up on loose leaf, adjust the way you're brewing it.

Lower the temperature.

Shorten the steep.

Check your tea-to-water ratio.

Give the leaves some room.

Taste your water.

Try again.

There is a big difference between drinking tea and learning how to make your tea.

And once you find that sweet spot, the temperature, strength and steep time that makes you stop after the first sip and think, Ohhhh...there it is, tea becomes an entirely different experience.

Maybe that's part of the ritual too.

Slowing down long enough to notice that sometimes the thing itself isn't wrong.

It just needed to be handled differently.

Now go fix your next cup. 🌿

With love and a warm cup of tea,

Mayah
Founder, Rooted Vines

References & Further Reading

• Read the Art of Tea guide
• Art of Tea — “Tea Steeping Times: How Long to Steep Every Type of Tea.” This supports the temperature and steeping-time recommendations for green, white, black, oolong, pu-erh and herbal teas, as well as giving loose leaves room to expand.
  Read the Art of Tea steeping guide
• Harney & Sons — “How to Cold Brew Tea: Steps, Ratios, and Recipes.” This supports our section on cold brewing and why cold-brewed tea can produce a smoother, less astringent cup than improperly prepared hot-brewed tea.
  Read the Harney & Sons cold-brew guide
• Harney & Sons — “Hot Takes on (Mostly) Hot Teas.” This supports our explanation that brewing temperature affects flavor and that water that's too hot can produce a more bitter and astringent cup.
  Read the Harney & Sons article
• Adagio Teas — Sencha Premier Brewing Guide. This gives us another tea-company reference for delicate green tea specifically; Adagio recommends 165°F for two minutes for its Sencha Premier and notes that over-steeping may result in bitterness.
  See Adagio's Sencha brewing guidance