Why does my tea taste bitter?
Bitterness and astringency have different causes and different fixes, and most brewing advice runs them together as one problem. This separates them.
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Why these get confused
Bitterness is a taste and astringency is a texture. Fixing one with the other’s remedy is why so much advice fails.
Point by point
| Aspect | Sencha | Assam |
|---|---|---|
| Most likely cause | Water too hot. Japanese green tea above about 80 °C extracts bitterness before sweetness. | Steeped too long. Assam gives up its astringency fast and does not stop. |
| The fix | Drop to 70 °C. Nothing else changes as much. | Cut the time to three minutes and remove the leaf. |
| If it is drying rather than bitter | That is astringency — reduce agitation and leaf quantity, not temperature. | Same, and milk is the traditional answer for a reason. |
| Leaf quantity | Under-leafing and over-steeping to compensate is the commonest cause of both. | Same mistake, same fix: more leaf, less time. |
| Water | Very hard water flattens tea; very soft water makes it sharp. | Less sensitive than green tea, but the same applies. |
The short answer
Almost every bitter cup comes from one of three things: water too hot, steeped too long, or not enough leaf with the time extended to compensate. Change one at a time.
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