Does Tea Steep or Brew?

Factual Questions
1

I’ve engaged in a discussion with a south african women, who as some of you may know take tea-drinking very seriously, about whether one ‘steeps’ tea or ‘brews’ it.

http://www.theteaemporium.com/ - Where I buy (are random personal endorsements allowed?) all my great loose-leaf tea tea, uses the term steep.

http://coffeetea.about.com/cs/teabrewing/ht/ht_brewpot.htm - Describes a process for how to brew tea yet it uses the term steep in the description…“Let steep for 3-6 minutes, depending on the kind of tea and your taste preferences.”

As far as I’m concerned, the only active part of the process is the mixing of water and tea, and thus I fail to understand why one would differentiate between the ‘steeping’ part of the process and say pouring water or lifting the lid.

So are the terms interchangable, is one more proper than the other?

2

Usually, to brew tea, you’re making tea. “Steeping” is one part of the process of brewing where the leaves are kept in the hot water.

There may be some cases where the difference is important, but in casual speeh, not one’s going to object to either term.

3

I was about to post exactly what RealityChuck said. Steeping to me means “leaching chemicals from something using hot water”. Ergo, to brew tea, you need to steep the leaves in hot water.

4

So would it be something like the difference between “making toast” and “toasting bread,” in that the latter is a key step of the former?

5

as I pour the water into the pot, is that not the start of the process?
When I pour the water into the teapot, I am not ‘brewing’ the tea?
When I pour the water into the teapot, I am not ‘steeping’ the tea?
as soon as I pour the tea out of the pot, is the process not finsihed?

so what is the proper term for the process? steeping or brewing?

6

“Brewing” describes the entire process: Getting the teapot, bringing the water to the boil, putting tea in the teapot, pouring water over it, and steeping the tea until ready.

“Steeping” is one step.

“Brewing” is also more general. There are no hard-and-fast rules as to what in includes (especially since there are more than one ways to brew tea).

7

apparently one can also just let tea draw…

8

I’m a tea hick – I have a Mr. Tea (by Mr. Coffee!) whereby in order to brew my iced tea, part of the process involves steeping the tea. In way of analogy, part of my “posting” here in GQ involves my typing of the response.

9

As a side note, Tim Hortons now offers “steeped tea,” which annoys me immensely (“as opposed to what, unsteeped tea?”)

Yes, yes, I know, they mean they steep it beforehand rather than handing you a teabag and hot water (so, consequently, the tea is all old and nasty…) But still, it sounds dorky.

10

It makes no nevermind.
Brew is a bit more inclusive as it includes brew/brewing/steep/steeping.
Virtually synonomous.

11

In way of analogy, part of my “posting” here in GQ involves my typing of the response.

But the act of typing is different to the act of posting. However the act of steeping is the same as the act of brewing. Boiling the kettle and pouring the milk are not part part of brewing are they?

12

I cannot provide a cite, but I believe that in folk medicine, and apothecary practice the word steep is used to described allowing leaves, or other vegetable matter to sit in hot water. Brewing is reserved for putting water and the vegetable matter over a heat source and maintaining it at the boiling point. (You definitely do not do this with your tea, by the way.)

Beer, for instance is brewed. Some types of herb tea must be brewed as well, although this is mostly woody types of herbs, or very hard to extract principles. Coffee is seldom brewed in the modern market place, but I believe it was kept over the fire much longer in days when “quartered beans” was the general type available in bulk. It may be brewed even today in places where very strong coffee is the mode. Percolators come fairly close to brewing, in fact.

I cannot find my old “Formulas and Recipes” any more. I am sure it had a definition of the terms.

Tris

" DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic." ~ Ambrose Bierce ~

13

You do if you’re making traditional Indian tea, which is definitely brewed with water and milk together.

14

i.e. chai?

15

Ok, maybe they are thinking steep means time? I am thinking of sun tea, where you put the mixture in a glass jar and leave it out in the sun to “steep” for hours, compared to only minutes with boiling water. Maybe that is what they are getting at, that steeping is slower and takes more time? What process do they use when making tea, do you know? Also, what would the process be in the Japanese tea ceremony?

16

In the Japanese tea ceremony, I would say that they’re still brewing tea, but it’s simply missing the “steep” step. Instead, they would have a “blend” or a “mix” step, where they whisk the tea powder into the water.

17

Thank you** Speaker for the Dead**. I meant to add that you don’t have to put boiling water into the jar, the tea steeps over time in the heat of the sun. You can also make tea in the refridgerator using the same method. The tea has a different flavor when made this way, it is milder.

18

Hmm, thinking further, perhaps that is the difference in their minds. To them, steeping is done over time, and not necessarily with boiling heat. Brewing is done in short time with boiling water. Maybe that is it?

19

Yes.