Unlike white and green teas which tend to have more delicate leaves and require lower temperatures so as not to burn them, oolong tea can withstand boiling water since they are more processed which gives the leaves a tougher texture.
Got Loose Leaf?
The first thing you may strongly want to consider is having loose leaf tea in your infuser. Tea bags just don't cut it and the below tips are for loose leaf types only. I'm sorry, but you just won't get the deserved flavor from a bag...you won't even come close, trust me! Add one teaspoon of leaves per cup.
Pure Spring Water
Got your whole leaves in the infuser? Great! Once your kettle reaches a boil, your ready to go, BUT, I recommend using natural spring water for the teapot (or at least filtered water) so you extract only the flavor from the tea leaves without having the impurities found in tap water altering the taste.
Steeping Time
Steep your tea for around three to five minutes, no longer. This is the recommended time for most oolong types. Before you brew oolong tea, just check to see on the package what the actual steeping time is. Three to five minutes is the general rule of thumb if you're not sure.
Avoid Milk And Artificial Sweeteners!
Oolong tea is best enjoyed straight up. Adding milk or sweeteners will kill the experience for you. While it is ok for black tea, oolong teas have many unique flavors that just don't go to well with milk in my opinion. I mean you wouldn't add milk in fine wine would you?
Well those are some quick helpful tips on how to brew oolong tea. The same goes for black tea as well, but for green and white tea types you will want to let the water cool down a bit before adding.
