We believe there is no universal way to brew the perfect cup of tea, because each person has different taste preferences. The following chart presents basic guidelines for serving amount, water temperature and steeping time. Below the chart, we provide more detailed information that helps you to understand how various components affect green tea taste, flavor and color. Enjoy your journey to green tea enlightenment and sipping perfection.

UNDERSTANDING TEA

Each green tea offers a different enjoyment. So first you have to understand what kind of tea you have and how you like your green tea. Do you prefer bitterness or sweetness? Do you like a strong flavor? Traditionally, good green tea exhibits a refined balance between sweetness and bitterness, and gives off a fresh aroma. Sen cha is especially enjoyed for its strong taste, whereas Genmai cha and Hoji cha are enjoyed more for their unique flavor.

WATER HARDNESS

A cup of tea is 99% water. So it's very important to use the proper water. For any kind of tea, soft water is preferable to hard water. Hard water tends to produce a bland tea with less flavor.

BOLING WATER

We recommend boiling your water and letting the water boiling uncovered for five minutes. This process helps to eliminate unpleasant odors from the water. The chlorine odor in most tap water strongly influences the tea's flavor and taste. Follow this process even if you use filtered water.

WATER TEMPERATURE

Two primary components decide the balance between sweetness and bitterness in brewed green tea – Theanine and Tannin. Water temperature determines whether you taste more of one over the other.

Theanine is unique to green tea and is the main factor making the tea sweet. It's extracted into the water by time and is not influenced by the water temperature. This means that even if you use low-temperature water Theanine will be extracted into the water.

On the other hand, Tannin (catechin, etc) is the main factor making green tea bitter. Tannin is also extracted into water based on steeping time, but the rate at which the bitterness is extracted is also highly influenced by the water temperature. The higher the water temperature, the faster Tannin is extracted. Therefore, if you keep the water temperature low (below 140 F), the Theanine content in the cup will be relatively high, and you taste sweetness in the green tea. If you use high temperature water (above 175 F), the Tannin content will be relatively high, and you will taste more bitterness in your cup of green tea.

Key to enjoying many types of green tea is filling your senses with the aroma. This is especially true for green tea blends such as Genmai cha and Hoji cha. To fully enjoy the aroma, we highly recommend using boiling water because the steam stimulates the flavor in these teas.

As your first step, follow the recommended temperatures in the chart above, and adjust depending on your green tea taste preference.

TEA POT

When you choose a tea pot, make sure there is enough room inside so that leaves can soak and move about. If there is not enough room, the tea leaves cannot fully open and their full flavor will not be extracted. You also need to select a pot with an appropriate strainer. Our tea leaves are relatively small.

AMOUNT OF LEAVES

For a 12 oz. cup of tea, we recommend using 1 to 2 teaspoons for Sen cha, 2 to 3 teaspoons for Genmai cha, and 3 to 4 teaspoons for Hoji cha (This may seem like a lot, but Hoji cha is very light in weight). With some experience, you can adjust the amount of leaves to suit your preference.

STEEPING TIME

As mentioned above, both sweetness (Theanine) and bitterness (Tannin) are extracted gradually according to steeping time. Steeping time can dramatically change the flavor, taste, and body of your green tea. Once you know your taste preference, you can adjust the steeping time to achieve your perfect cup of green tea. Basically, two important factors influence the steeping time – amount of leaves and water temperature. First, if you use more leaves than usual, it would be better to shorten the steeping time, otherwise the flavor will be too strong. Secondly, if you use a higher temperature than usual, it is better to shorten the steeping time because the extracting rate of Tannin will be higher than usual.

POURING

Pouring is the final step to making a delicious cup of tea. If you are making multiple cups of tea, pour the tea bit by bit into each cup so that every cup will have the same taste, flavor, and color. Most importantly, you should pour all of the tea into the cups – do not leave any tea in the teapot. The last drop is the most delicious, and if you leave tea in the pot, the second infusion will be too strong and too bitter. Follow this advice even when you make a single cup of tea. This ensure that the tea will be strong, flavorful, and a nice color.

SECOND INFUSION

Using the same batch of tea leaves, you can enjoy a second infusion. Because a large portion of Theanine (sweetness) is extracted into the first cup or pot, you can enjoy tartness in the second infusion. For the second infusion use higher-temperature water and make the steeping time much shorter.

TEMOMI CHA BREWING INSTRUCTION

Temomi cha is a very special tea for very special occasions. By following the instructions below you can experience the same taste and flavor which the ancients enjoyed several hundred years ago.

1. Prepare a small tea pot and small cups. Ideal size of the pot is 5 oz.
2. Put 10g of Temomi cha in the pot (for 3 to 4 cups)
3. Prepare about 2 oz. of 100 F (40 C) water and pour it slowly into the pot. Please make sure that the entire leaves soak completely in the water. If leaves are floating on the water, pour a little extra water so the leaves get soaked entirely (but do not pour too much water).
4. Steep 2 minutes. Do not shake the pot.
5. After 2 minutes, look to see that the leaves have opened completely. If not, wait another minute.
6. Pour the tea bit by bit into the cups (remember that the last drop has the most delicious and strong flavor).
7. Sip the tea and enjoy the richness of the history.
8. For the second infusion, please use 130 F (55 C) water and steep only a minute.
9. After enjoying the second infusion, we recommend that you eat the leaves as a salad. Please refer to our “Temomi cha salad” recipe.