How to brew Green Tea

Here are a few basic principles for preparing different types of Japanese tea.
Four factors enter into play:

These factors differ depending on the type of loose tea, but there is no absolute rule on how to make green tea: there are only basic principles that should be adapted according to taste and the loose tea itself.

The temperature of the water is crucial, especially with respect to fine gourmet loose teas, such as sencha, gyokuro and tamaryoku-cha. It has a direct impact on the tea’s taste. This is because, no matter what the temperature of the water, even if it is cold, the amino acids responsible for a tea’s sweetness infuse rapidly.
In contrast, tannins (especially catechins), which are responsible for a tea’s astringency, infuse very little in water that is cooler than 70°C / 158°F, but begin to infuse very quickly when it is 80°C / 176°F or higher. The warmer the water, the more astringent the tea, and the cooler the water, the sweeter it will be. With this principle in mind, you know almost everything about how to make green tea, and it is very easy to change the taste of a tea to suit one’s tastes.
“Soft” water should be used, in other words, water with a low mineral content. If the water’s mineral content is too high, the loose tea leaves will not be able to infuse correctly.
The water should be boiled 3 to 5 minutes, first to reduce the chlorine if the water comes from the tap, but also in order to reduce the temporary hardness of the water, in that way, the loose tea leaves infuse more deeply.
One last thing: you do not need to watch your thermometer, waiting for the water to drop down to the desired temperature. When you pour water from one recipient to another, it generally drops 8°C / 15°F. By waiting a few seconds each time, you can count on a drop of around 10°C / 20°F.

The infusion time can be very different depending on the loose tea leaves. In particular, in the case of sencha, lovely, whole, normal-steamed loose tea leaves (futsumushi sencha or asamushi sencha) require 1 to 2 minutes, whereas 30 seconds can suffice for a deep-steamed (fukamushi sencha) with very broken leaves.

Finally, if you are making tea for several people, be careful to pour it out, little by little, taking turns between the cups so that each one contains liquor with the same flavour. You can also choose to pour the tea into a pitcher first, so as to avoid stirring up the leaves too much and to obtain an even purer liquor.
Make sure you pour out every last drop.

Once again, this is simply a rule of thumb that should be adapted to taste and also depending on the nature of the loose tea.
By playing with the temperature, steeping time, and water / tea leaves quantity ratio, you can produce a very wide range of flavours using the same tea!
For example, if you want to enhance a green tea’s fragrance by using higher temperature water, you should reduce the steeping time. Or if you want to brew a very mellow Japanese green tea at a low temperature, increase the quantity of loose tea and the steeping time. By understanding the basic principles and experimenting with the loose tea leaves you want to prepare, you will discover your own “proper way” to make Japanese green tea!

Sencha

• Quantity of loose tea leaves: 3 g / 1 tsp per person
  (If you are making tea for just one person, 4-5 g / 1 1/2 tsp are needed.)
• Quantity of water: 70-80 ml / 1/4-1/3 cup per person
  Water temperature: 70°C / 158°F for the first steeping (+80°C / 176°F for the second steeping)
• Steeping time: For the first steeping, 30 seconds-1 1/2 minutes (the finer and more broken the leaves, the shorter the steeping time);
  for the second steeping, serve immediately.
• Small cups containing around 100 ml (slightly less than 1/2 cup) are handy for lowering the temperature of the water (simply pour hot water into them in order to reduce its temperature 10°C / 20°F) and for measuring the amount of water needed per person.

Gyokuro

• Quantity of loose tea leaves: 5 g per perso
• Quantity of water: 30 ml / 1-2 tbsp per person
• Water temperature: 50°C / 120°F for the first steeping (+10°C / 20°F each subsequent steeping)
• Steeping time: For the first steeping, 1-1 1/2 minutes; for the second steeping, 1 minute; for the third steeping, 2 minutes

Mushi-sei Tamoryoku-cha

• See sencha

Kama-iri cha

• Quantity of loose tea leaves: 3-4 g / 1-1 1/2 tsp per person
• Quantity of water: 70 ml / 1/4 cup per person
• Water temperature: 80-90°C / 176-194°F
  (This type of tea does not become very astringent, so very hot water simply brings out a stronger aroma. However, with high-quality kama-iri cha, it is preferable to use water that has cooled down a little.)
• Steeping time: For the first steeping, 1-1 1/2 minutes
  for the second steeping, 30 seconds
  for the third steeping, 2 minutes

Hôji-cha,Genmai-cha,Ban-cha

• Quantity of loose tea leaves: 3 g / 1 tsp per person
• Quantity of water: 130 ml / 1/2 cup per person
• Water temperature: 95-100°C / 203-212°F
• Steeping time: 30 seconds

Once again, this is simply a rule of thumb that should be adapted to taste and also depending on the nature of the tea.
By playing with the temperature and steeping time, you can produce a very wide range of flavours from the same tea!