How Many Green Tea Bags for a Gallon?

A gallon is 128 fluid ounces, and Luzianne sizes its cup-size iced tea bags for 8 oz of water. The calculator above uses three strengths. These are our own starting points, so pick the one that sounds like your tea and adjust from there. For more on getting the water and timing right, see our guide to how to brew green tea.

How many tea bags do you need for a gallon of green tea?

Strength	Water per bag	Bags per gallon
Light	12 oz	11
Regular	8 oz	16
Strong	6 oz	22

Counts are rounded up (128 ÷ 12 is about 10.7, and 128 ÷ 6 is about 21.3). These ratios are our starting points, not a standard. We didn’t find an agency or tea group that sets one for green tea, so we compared them with brand directions. Regular and strong line up with the brands below. Light is our own setting for people who like a mild pitcher. None of the brand directions we checked uses a light ratio.

What do brand directions say?

Brands write directions for their own bags, and bag sizes vary. Here is what three of them publish, scaled to a gallon.

Brand and source	Directions	Bags per gallon, scaled
Twinings, iced green tea with ginger recipe	6 green tea bags in 6 cups of just-boiled water, steeped about 15 minutes	16
Luzianne, brew guide for its iced tea bags	1 cup-size bag per 8 oz	16 cup-size bags
Lipton Canada, green tea iced tea recipe	6 bags in 4 cups (1 L) of boiling water for 3 minutes, cooled, then poured into ice-filled glasses	About 23 (a gallon is about 3.8 L)

Two caveats. Luzianne’s guide covers all of its iced tea bags, not only green. The Twinings recipe also adds ginger and honey.

Where they differ. Twinings and Luzianne match our regular setting. Lipton asks for a stronger brew that you pour over ice, which lands just above our strong setting. If you like a bolder glass, try the strong setting.

Bag size matters too. Luzianne says a gallon takes one gallon-size bag, four family-size bags or 16 cup-size bags. Its iced green tea is sold in family-size bags, so a gallon takes four. Read the box before you count.

How do you make a gallon of green tea?

1. Put the bags in a heat-safe pitcher or pot.
2. Boil about 1 quart (4 cups) of water, then let it sit for a few minutes. Salada, a tea seller, says boiling water can make green tea bitter and suggests 170°F to 180°F.
3. Pour the water over the bags and steep for 2 to 3 minutes. That is our starting point. The brand steep times above run from 3 to 15 minutes (Luzianne says 3 to 5), so taste as you go.
4. Lift out the bags. Add 3 quarts of cold water, stir and chill.

Luzianne uses the same idea of a small hot batch topped up with cold water. If the tea tastes harsh, try cooler water and a shorter steep before you change the bag count. If a pitcher turns darker than you expected, see why green tea changes color.

How long does a gallon keep?

Iowa State Extension advises not holding brewed tea at room temperature for more than 8 hours and drinking refrigerated tea within three days. That’s extension advice, not a federal rule. We explain the limits in how long green tea lasts. If you’d rather skip the bags, here’s how to make green tea without tea bags.