# Why tea tastes bitter and how to make it gentler

If your tea is unpleasantly bitter, start with the recipe: shorten the steep or use less leaf for the same amount of water. Change one thing at a time so you can tell what helps. Bitterness alone does not prove a tea is poor, stale or falsely labelled.

![Longjing tea steeping in a gaiwan.](https://www.dao-cha.info/articles/gaiwan-longjing.jpg)

Longjing tea steeping in a gaiwan. Photo: [Difference engine](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Longjing_tea_steeping_in_gaiwan.jpg) · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

## Bitterness and astringency feel different

Bitterness is a taste, like unsweetened cocoa. Astringency is the dry, puckering feeling you get from an unripe persimmon. Tea can have both. Caffeine and some polyphenols contribute bitterness; polyphenols also contribute astringency. They are extracted during short infusions too: there is no separate “aroma first, bitterness later” stage.

## Shorten the steep and drain fully

If you left the tea too long, shorten the next infusion. Remove the basket or bag from a mug on time; empty a gaiwan or teapot fully so the leaves are not sitting in water between rounds. Small or broken leaves generally infuse faster, so taste the infusion sooner.

## Try less leaf or cooler water

If even short infusions are too strong, use roughly a quarter less leaf next time, keeping the water volume and timing unchanged. This is useful for more than just dancong.

For many Chinese green teas, 75–85 °C is a starting point. Oolong and pu-erh are often brewed hotter, but temperature affects their flavour too. If they taste too harsh, try water 5–10 °C cooler. Treat this as an experiment, not a rule for every tea in a category.

## If the cup is already bitter

Add a little drinking water and taste again. Dilution lowers the concentration of dissolved compounds, so it can soften bitterness, though it also weakens the rest of the flavour. Pour the tea away if you still dislike it. Taste the next infusion afresh; it will not necessarily become gentler on its own.

## If adjusting the recipe does not help

Some bitterness can be part of a tea’s character, especially in young sheng. It need not disappear within seconds, and returning sweetness is not proof of quality. Shu can taste bitter too.

Try a different water or a different tea. Bitterness alone cannot identify harvest season, leaf age or authenticity. You do not have to learn to enjoy a flavour you find unpleasant.


## Questions and answers

**Can I reduce the amount of leaf?**

Yes. If short infusions are still too intense, less leaf is a sensible next step. Keep timing and temperature unchanged for the comparison.

**Does dilution reduce bitterness?**

It reduces its intensity along with the rest of the flavour. Sometimes that is enough to make the cup enjoyable.

**Was a bitter first infusion meant to be a rinse?**

Not necessarily. Rinsing is an optional step before brewing to drink. A bitter first cup does not mean it should automatically have been discarded.

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Source: https://www.dao-cha.info/en/guide/why-tea-bitter