A French press brews loose leaf tea better than a tea ball does. Use one rounded teaspoon of loose leaf per 8 ounces of water, match the temperature to the tea, steep two to seven minutes depending on the tea (two to three for green), plunge gently and pour it all off. Our tea-only press is the Walnut Glass Press, double-wall glass in 12 or 20 ounce sizes, so coffee oils never come near the leaves.
Why Use a French Press for Loose Leaf Tea?
Loose leaf tastes fuller than most tea bags for a plain reason: bags are usually filled with broken leaf and dust, while loose tea is whole leaf, or close to it. Whole leaves arrive rolled tight and need room to open in hot water. Tea people call that unrolling the agony of the leaves.
What is wrong with most tea infusers?
A mesh tea ball is the usual answer and the usual problem. The dry leaves swell to several times their size, wedge against the mesh, and water stops moving through them. The cup comes out thin however long you wait.
A French press removes the cage. The leaves float free in the whole carafe, and the stainless mesh filter that holds back coffee grounds holds back tea leaves just as well. It also gives tea a clean stop: press, pour, and the brew is over.
How Do You Brew Tea in a French Press?
If you can make coffee in a press, you are most of the way there. Two things change: the water is often cooler, and the plunge is gentler.
The essential gear
Fresh water, loose leaf tea, a kettle and a press. Any clean model from our French Press Coffee Makers will brew tea. For tea alone we reach for the 12 ounce Walnut Glass Press, because a small carafe suits a single mug. A plain teaspoon is accurate enough for daily brewing, and our complete guide to French press brewing covers the brewer itself.
The step-by-step brewing process
- Warm the carafe. Swirl a little hot water in the empty press and pour it out, so the brew water does not cool the second it lands.
- Add the tea. One rounded teaspoon per 8 ounces of water (one standard mug), straight into the bottom of the carafe.
- Pour the water. At the temperature your tea calls for, in the table below. Make sure every leaf is wet.
- Lid on, plunger up. Do not press yet. The lid keeps the heat in while the tea steeps.
- Steep. Two to seven minutes depending on the tea. Set a timer, because tea forgives less than coffee.
- Plunge gently. Press slowly and stop well short of the bottom. The filter only has to hold the leaves back, and crushing them squeezes out bitter tannins.
- Pour it all off at once. Into mugs, or into a serving pitcher. Tea left sitting on its leaves keeps brewing and turns bitter.
What Temperature and Steep Time Work Best for Tea?
Coffee forgives water just off the boil. Tea does not. Boiling water scorches green and white leaves and the cup turns bitter and grassy, while water that is too cool leaves black tea and herbal blends flat.
What Water Temperature and Steep Time Does Each Tea Need?
- Green tea: if the cup is bitter, lower the temperature first, then shorten the steep.
- Black tea: for milk and sugar, steep toward 5 minutes rather than adding leaf.
- Oolong: tightly rolled, it expands more than any other tea, and it is good for a second steep with an extra minute.
Hitting the temperature without a thermometer
Boil, then wait with the kettle lid open. Roughly 1 to 2 minutes brings the water into oolong range, and 3 to 4 minutes into green tea range. It is a rule of thumb, since kettle and volume both shift the timing.
A kettle with presets removes the wait. The Sentinel Smart Kettle has presets that include 158°F, 185°F, 194°F and a full boil, and its LED display shows the water temperature in real time, so you can lift it at 175°F on the way up.
How much tea for your press size
Bulky teas such as chamomile or white tea are easier to measure by the tablespoon. Filtered water helps too, since chlorine shows faster in a delicate tea than in a dark roast. New to the press itself? Start with our guide on how to use a French press.
Should You Use a Separate French Press for Tea?
One press can serve both drinks if you clean it properly. But coffee oils cling to the mesh, and a delicate green tea shows them at once as a roasted aftertaste. If you drink both every day, a second, smaller press kept only for tea is the simplest fix. Leave the beans to the brewers in our Coffee Makers range.
For tea we lean toward glass, because the color tells you when the cup is ready. Its usual weakness is heat escaping through a single wall, which is why the press on our own counter is the double-wall Walnut Glass Press.
The French Press We Recommend for Brewing Tea
A tea press has a different job from a coffee press: smaller batches, cooler water, something worth looking at, and nothing left over from the last brew.
Walnut Glass Press, our pick for a press that only ever sees tea
The Walnut Glass Press is the one we keep for tea, and nothing else has ever gone in it.
- You watch the steep: the carafe is heat-resistant glass, so you judge strength by color as well as by the timer.
- Double walls for the long steeps: double-wall glass with a sealed air gap. The walls hold the heat without scorching the hand, which matters on a five to seven minute herbal steep.
- Sized for tea: two sizes, 12 oz and 20 oz. One generous mug on 1.5 teaspoons of leaf, or two mugs on 2.5.
- Glass keeps no memory: it is non-porous, and the glass and steel parts are dishwasher-safe. Only the rosewood lid asks for a hand wash.
- A filter that comes apart: the stainless steel mesh screen disassembles for a rinse under hot water. A soft brush or a baking soda soak clears whatever clings.
Sentinel Smart Kettle, for water at the right temperature
Most bitter green tea starts in the kettle. The Sentinel Smart Kettle is a 57 oz digital electric kettle with touch controls, temperature presets, a keep-warm function, auto shut-off and boil-dry protection.
Bodum Chambord, the classic glass press (about $40)
The press half the world learned on: a borosilicate glass beaker in a steel frame, and it brews tea perfectly well. For tea the trade-offs are a single wall, which sheds heat during a long herbal steep, and the 34 oz size most kitchens own, a lot of carafe for one mug.
How to Keep Your Coffee from Tasting Like Peppermint
The one real drawback of sharing a press is flavor carrying over, and it runs both ways. Coffee oils cling to the mesh and the carafe, so an afternoon green tea can taste like dark roast. Peppermint and spiced chai leave oils of their own, and nobody wants a morning coffee with a peppermint finish. Keep the brewer clean, and the water side too: the scale that builds in tea kettles dulls a delicate tea fast.
The daily rinse
Tip the wet leaves into the compost or the trash as soon as you have poured. Never send them down the sink: tea leaves swell and clog pipes. For the last few, add a little water, swirl, and pour through a fine kitchen strainer. Then pump the plunger in soapy water to clear the mesh, and rinse.
The deep clean for coffee drinkers
If the same press switches between coffee and tea, take the filter apart once a week. The plunger assembly unscrews at the bottom into three parts: the mesh screen, the spiral plate and the cross plate. Soak them for about fifteen minutes in warm water with a splash of white vinegar and a drop of dish soap, brush the mesh gently, rinse and dry. The Barista Care Kit, a seven-piece set for French presses and carafes, has soft nylon brushes and foam sponges that will not scratch the glass.
Why Is Your French Press Tea Bitter, Weak, or Off-Tasting?
The Tea Shortcuts We Would Skip
Every one of them saves a minute, and the cup pays for it.
- Tea balls and novelty infusers: the leaves have nowhere to go, so the cup is thin. The cute silicone shapes hold even less.
- The unwashed morning press: a rinse does not lift coffee oil out of a mesh screen. Deep clean it weekly, or keep a second press for tea.
- Boiling water for everything: right for herbal blends and most black teas, wrong for green and white.
- A liter press for a single mug: one cup of water in a 34 oz single-wall carafe has a lot of glass to heat, and it cools before a five minute steep is done.
The jasmine pearls begin to open
Wednesday, ten past three, rain on the window of the room you work in, and an inbox that can wait. The kettle clicks off down the hall, and you drop a spoonful of jasmine pearls into the small glass press, pour, and rest the rosewood lid on top.
For a moment nothing happens. Then the pearls loosen one by one, long leaves uncurling and sinking while the water turns from clear to pale gold. The smell arrives before the timer does, green and floral, and the glass sits warm in your hand without being hot.
You press slowly, pour it all into the mug, and carry back to the desk the only three minutes of the afternoon you spent watching something instead of answering it.
If you take one thing from this article: give the leaves room, match the water to the tea, pour everything off the moment you plunge, and keep one small glass press that never meets coffee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it okay to use my coffee French press for tea?
Yes. The only real issue is flavor carrying over, because coffee leaves oils on the mesh that can overpower a white or green tea. Wash the dismantled filter in warm, soapy water before you switch, or keep a small dedicated press for tea alone: see the Walnut Glass Press.
How much loose leaf tea should I put in a French press?
One rounded teaspoon of dry leaf for every 8 ounces of hot water: about 1.5 teaspoons in a 12 oz press, 4 in a 34 oz press. Bulky teas such as chamomile or white tea are better measured by the tablespoon. Then adjust to taste, half a teaspoon at a time.
Do I push the plunger all the way down for tea?
No. Press gently and stop well short of the bottom, just far enough to hold the leaves under the mesh and out of your mug. Pressing hard on the leaves squeezes out bitter tannins. Once the filter holds them back, pour straight away.
Why did my tea turn out bitter in the French press?
Almost always for one of two reasons: the water was too hot, or the tea stayed on the leaves too long. Boiling water scorches green and white tea, and tea left in the press goes on brewing even with the plunger down. Cool the water for delicate teas, and pour everything off when the timer sounds.
Can I use tea bags in a French press?
You can, and it is handy for several cups at once: one bag per 8 ounces, same temperatures, same times. Use the plunger only to hold the bags down while you pour. You lose the main benefit of the press, because the leaf is still confined to the bag.
Can you cold brew tea in a French press?
Yes. Use about 1.5 teaspoons of loose leaf per 8 ounces of cold water, lid on and plunger up, and leave the press in the fridge for 6 to 8 hours for green tea, 8 to 12 for black. Plunge gently and pour it all off. Cold water extracts very little bitterness, so the brew is forgiving.
