How to Make Green Tea At Home

Besides water, tea is the second most consumed beverage worldwide. 

There are different types of tea, including true teas like green, white, and black teas, as well as countless combinations of herbal teas.

Green tea has gotten a lot of attention for its specific health benefits. 

If you’ve never made your own green tea at home, it’s quite simple, and you have many options! 

We’ll go through the most popular methods of making green tea at home, along with step-by-step instructions for you to follow.

What is green tea?

True teas (not herbal teas) are made from the leaves of a plant called camellia sinensis. These leaves are dried and processed to varying extents, which gives you different varieties like black tea, green tea, and white tea.

Green tea is made from leaves that haven’t been withered and oxidized (processed) like darker teas. 

In general, the lighter the tea, the less caffeine and the more antioxidants it contains. This makes green tea a lower-caffeine and higher-antioxidant tea than black tea.

In addition, green tea is usually steeped for a shorter period than black tea, which also reduces the caffeine content. 

The bitterness of teas can increase with their caffeine content, which is one of the reasons why green tea isn’t bitter.

The majority of green tea is produced in areas like Asia, Africa, South America, and areas around the Black and Caspian Seas. 

Green tea can also be grown in other areas of the world, but it represents a much smaller percentage of the world’s tea production.

Some specific types of green tea include:

• Sencha
• Fukamushi Sencha
• Gyokuro
• Kabusecha
• Matcha (fine ground green tea)
• Tencha
• Genmaicha
• Hojicha
• Shincha

You can buy loose green tea leaves or green tea bags to brew at home. If you use loose tea leaves, you’ll need a tea infuser to allow the leaves to be separate from the hot water while it’s steeping. 

How to make green tea

Below, we share 3 different ways to make green tea at home.

Tea bags

Making green tea from tea bags is the most convenient way to make green tea at home. Tea bags contain dried tea leaves in a fine mesh packet (sachet) which allows the leaves to steep and then be easily removed from your cup.

The directions for steeping your green tea bags might vary among brands. So for best results, you should follow the instructions on the package of the tea you’re using. 

In general, here are the steps to make green tea from tea bags.

1. Start with fresh, cold water – the better the water quality, the better your tea will taste.
2. Bring the water to a boil (stovetop, kettle, etc.). 
3. As soon as it starts to boil, pour around 6-8 ounces of water over your tea bag in a mug. Using less water will make the tea stronger, and more water will dilute the taste. (Some boxes of tea bags don’t specify how much water to use, so a standard-size mug’s worth of water will generally suffice.)
4. Allow the green tea to steep in the hot water for 1-4 minutes (again, follow the instructions for your specific tea) before removing the tea bag.
5. Add any additional ingredients as desired, or drink the green tea “clear.”

Loose tea leaves

1. Start with fresh, cold water – the better the water quality, the better your tea will taste.
2. Bring the water to a boil.
3. While you wait, measure out the loose tea leaves and place them in a tea infuser. The amount of loose tea leaves you’ll need will vary among tea types, but generally, it ranges from 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon or more. Fluffier types of tea leaves may require more than a tablespoon, while ground tea, like matcha, can be used in smaller amounts because it’s more concentrated.
4. Once the water is heated, pour it into your cup with the tea leaves in the infuser. In general, the ratio of tea leaves to water is one teaspoon of tea leaves for every six ounces of water.
5. Allow the tea to steep for 1-4 minutes or per the instructions given by the manufacturer/supplier of your tea leaves.
6. Remove the tea infuser and drink tea plain or with any desired additions (milk, honey, etc.

Tea powder

1. Start with fresh, cold water – the better the water quality, the better your tea will taste.
2. Bring the water to a boil, or use cold water as desired/per the tea powder instructions. Some types of tea powder dissolve easily in any type of water and may not require straining or using hot water, while some types suggest using hot water and/or straining for the best results.
3. Add the specified amount of tea powder (it will vary among types) to the water – be sure to follow the ratios on the instructions. For example, one brand of tea powder suggests ⅛ teaspoon of powder per eight ounces of water.
4. If applicable, strain the power from the liquid using a fine mesh sieve, mesh bag, or something similar after the powder has been steeped in the hot water for several minutes.
5. Add any additional ingredients as desired.

A note on iced green tea: If you want to make iced green tea, you can steep the tea in a smaller amount of hot water and then add cold water and ice cubes to drink it cold. This reduces the amount of hot water used and will allow your iced tea mixture to cool off much sooner!

What can you add to green tea?

When it comes to green tea additions, the sky’s the limit! Some people like adding additional herbs and spices, while others prefer to drink their tea plain. 

You should be aware that certain types of milk might curdle when added to green tea, so it can take some trial and error to see what works best for your particular kind of green tea.

Here are some ideas for things you can add to your green tea:

• Milk or milk substitutes like almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, etc.
• Cream
• Flavored creamers
• Honey, sugar, maple syrup, and other sweeteners
• Non-caloric sweeteners/natural sugar substitutes like Stevia
• Lemon
• Spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, etc.
• Mint

What are the health benefits of drinking green tea?

• Green tea is rich in catechins, a type of antioxidant. These catechins include epigallocatechin, epicatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin gallate, which studies show have cancer-fighting and anti-inflammatory properties.
• May help protect against diabetes, according to some animal studies.
• Green tea is low in caffeine compared to black tea, coffee, and caffeinated sodas, which makes it a good option if you’re sensitive to caffeine.
• Might improve heart health by promoting healthy cholesterol levels.
• When green tea is unsweetened or lightly sweetened, it can be a good alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages like bottled flavored teas, sodas, and others.
• Thanks to its ability to reduce stress (due to amino acids theanine and arginine), drinking green tea might help slow brain aging and related conditions like age-related memory loss, according to studies.

FAQs

Conclusion

The most popular methods of making green tea at home include using green tea bags, loose green tea leaves, and tea powder. To make green tea at home, add the tea leaves to boiling water and allow it to steep for several minutes.

You can add herbs, spices, milk/cream, and sweeteners to green tea or drink it plain.

Green tea has many potential health benefits thanks to its catechin content (catechins are polyphenols, a type of antioxidant), such as fighting inflammation, potentially helping to prevent diabetes, and promoting healthy cholesterol levels.

Explore More

How to Make Milk Tea.