Reviewed by the Jungle Standard team. Educational information only — not medical advice.
A lot of the kratom drinks people buy today come out of a bottle or a can. Kratom tea is the homemade version: leaf powder, hot water, a strainer and fifteen or twenty minutes of your time. It takes more effort than cracking open a seltzer, but it lets you shape the flavor exactly as you like, and it uses the simplest product on our shelf. Here is how to make kratom tea properly, where it fits next to the ready-to-drink formats, and how to fix the problems most first batches run into.
As with every guide we publish, the amount of kratom is not our call to make here. Use the serving size on your product’s label. This page is about technique.
Tea or a Ready-to-Drink? Know What You’re Starting With
Before you fill the kettle, make sure the product in your hand is actually meant for brewing.
- Leaf powder is what tea is made from. Our Kraken powders (OG Bali, White Borneo, Red Maeng Da and Remix Blend) are fine-milled leaf and all brew the same way.
- Capsules hold the same kind of powder, but they are packaged to be swallowed as labeled. If tea is the plan, buy powder.
- Liquid extracts, shots and seltzers are not tea ingredients. Products like Kraken’s 15 ml liquid extracts or Club 13’s canned seltzers are concentrated, finished products labeled in milligrams of MIT. Don’t heat them, dilute them into a pot or treat them as a shortcut to tea.
Put simply: tea is for leaf, and the bottles and cans are already drinks in their own right. If you’re weighing one against the other, our guide to kratom labels explains how grams of leaf and milligrams of MIT differ.
Your Kit
- Your labeled serving of kratom leaf powder
- A small saucepan with a lid
- Roughly a mug and a half of water per cup you want to end up with (some steams off)
- A paper coffee filter and funnel, a fine-mesh sieve, or a reusable cloth tea bag
- A spoon, a mug and, if you like, a lemon, honey, fresh ginger or a black tea bag
The Stovetop Method, Step by Step
- Heat the waterBring it up until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan, add a squeeze of lemon for brightness if you like, then turn the burner down to a quiet simmer rather than a rolling boil.
- Stir in the powderKratom doesn’t dissolve; it clouds the water and drifts, so stir well to break up any clumps.
- Cover and keep it lowPut the lid on to limit evaporation and hold a gentle simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
- Let it settleTake the pan off the heat for three or four minutes so most of the leaf sinks and straining gets easier.
- Strain slowlyPour through a paper filter for the clearest cup, or a fine sieve for speed, and let it drain without pressing the sludge.
- Season and serveTaste first, then sweeten or spice as you like; we add lemon purely for flavor and make no other claim for it.
Short on time? You can also put the powder in a cloth tea bag, pour just-off-the-boil water over it in a mug, cover with a saucer and steep for a similar length of time. It’s less even than the saucepan, but there is less to clean.
Making It Taste Better
Expect a grassy, bitter cup. Nothing removes that entirely, but a few additions make a real difference:
- A black or ginger tea bag dropped into the pan for the last five minutes gives the brew a familiar “tea” base.
- Honey or maple syrup softens the bitter finish better than white sugar.
- Fresh ginger slices or a cinnamon stick simmered with the leaf add warmth.
- Serving it cold over ice with lemon is how many of our customers prefer it.
- Mixing with juice such as orange or pineapple hides the flavor most completely.
If you’d rather mix your powder into coffee instead, our kratom and coffee guide walks through three ways to do it.
Troubleshooting Your Brew
- Gritty, muddy cup: fine particles are slipping through a mesh sieve. Switch to a paper filter and pour slowly without pressing.
- Very harsh taste: the water boiled hard or the pot sat too long. Keep the heat low and set a timer.
- Less tea than expected: steam escaped. Use a lid and start with a little extra water.
- Clumps floating on top: the powder went in all at once. Sprinkle it in gradually while stirring.
Making Tea in Advance
Some people brew more than one cup at a time and keep it chilled. If you do, cool it, transfer it to a clean glass bottle with a tight lid, and refrigerate it promptly, as you would homemade iced tea. Drink it within two or three days and shake it before pouring. Most importantly, label the bottle clearly as kratom and know how many servings went into it, so that each glass lines up with your label. Keep it where children and other members of the household won’t mistake it for a regular drink.
Start With Leaf You Can Check
Tea is only as good as the powder going into it. Keep your pouch sealed in a cool, dry cupboard (see our kratom storage guide), and look up its batch on our lab results page before brewing. Curious which strain to start with? The vein colors explainer covers how reds, greens and whites differ in name and processing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make tea with a liquid kratom extract?
No. Liquid extracts and shots are finished, concentrated products. Use them on their own exactly as the label directs, and make tea from leaf powder.
Can I open capsules to make tea?
Capsules are designed to be taken as packaged. If you want to brew, buy the same strain as loose powder; it’s cheaper per gram and made for the job.
Is kratom tea the same thing as a kratom seltzer?
No. Tea is leaf steeped in water at home. A seltzer is a manufactured, carbonated drink made with kratom extract and labeled in milligrams of MIT per can.
Which Kraken powder is best for tea?
There’s no single best. Choose by taste and by the strain you already know. All four Kraken powders are milled fine and steep the same way.
How long can I keep brewed kratom tea?
Treat it like any homemade iced tea: sealed, refrigerated and finished in two or three days. If it smells off or looks cloudy in a new way, pour it out.
Jungle Standard products are for adults 21 and over, in states where kratom is legal. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.