How Many Cups Do You Get From an Ounce of Loose-Leaf Tea?

The basic math

Western-style brewing uses about 2–3 grams of leaf per 8 oz cup. One ounce of tea is 28.3 grams, so you get roughly 9 to 14 cups per ounce depending on the tea and how strong you like it.

Fluffy teas like white peony take more volume for the same weight; dense rolled oolongs take less. Weight is the only reliable measure, which is why a cheap scale pays for itself.

How long a pouch actually lasts

Assuming one cup per day, Western style, no re-steeping:

• 1 oz — about 10 days
• 2 oz — about 3 to 4 weeks
• 4 oz — about 7 weeks
• 8 oz — about 3.5 months, which is pushing the freshness window for green tea

Re-steeping changes everything

Whole-leaf oolong, green, white and pu-erh will give you a second and often third steep with more leaf and shorter times. That takes a 2 oz pouch from roughly 25 cups to 50 or more, halving your cost per cup.

Broken-leaf and flavored blends usually give one good steep and a weak second. That is a real cost difference the price tag does not show.

Buying sizes that make sense

Buy 1–2 oz of anything unfamiliar. Buy 4 oz of the one or two teas you drink every morning. Reserve 8 oz bags for black tea and herbal blends, which stay good longest. If you want to test several teas at once without waste, a sampler is the cheapest route.