Steeping Time and Water Temperature for Herbal Tea: What Sources Say

The sources we could read agree on one thing for water temperature: herbal infusions are made with boiling or freshly boiled water, unless a product is labelled for cold brewing. For time, they give only ranges and one herb-specific figure. There is no table of times and temperatures for each herb that we could verify, so we do not publish one. This page reports what sources say; it is not a personal schedule.

What the sources say

The EU template also says to keep the preparation covered with a lid while it steeps, and to let a hot infusion cool to an appropriate temperature before drinking. [1]

Why boiling water is named

The EU template says boiling water is important for lowering the microbial load of the herb. [1] The UK industry body adds that products explicitly labelled "cold brew" are designed to be prepared with cold water (below 75 degrees C), and that if a product is not labelled that way, it should first be prepared with freshly boiled water even if the drink will then cool and be iced. [6] Our page on cold brew and iced herbal tea covers the food-safety questions.

Does steeping longer extract more?

It depends on the herb and the compound.

• In a laboratory study of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) and St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), longer infusion or decoction time changed the rutin content of St. John's wort, while it had very little effect on antioxidant activity in chamomile. [7] This measured chemistry, not benefit.
• In a Swiss study of ten naturally contaminated teas and herbal teas, steeping time, herb-to-water ratio and repeat extraction were all tested, and 38 to 100 percent (median 95 percent) of pyrrolizidine alkaloids moved into the brew when made by the vendor's instructions. [8] We did not read how each factor changed the result, so we make no claim about it. For why contamination matters, see herbal tea quality and labels.

Proper evidence not found for a time or temperature that makes any herbal tea work better in people. We searched PubMed for steeping, brewing and extraction studies of herbal teas and found no human trial.

Temperature of the drink

IARC (WHO) classified drinking very hot beverages, above 65 degrees C, as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A) for cancer of the esophagus, based on limited epidemiological evidence, and said the temperature, rather than the drinks themselves, appears to be responsible. [9] It is a different question from brewing temperature: a drink brewed at boiling point can cool before drinking, which the EU template also advises. [1] See very hot tea and esophageal cancer risk.