How to brew green tea
Green tea is heated soon after picking to stop oxidation, which keeps its grassy, sweet, sometimes marine character. It is also the tea most easily ruined by boiling water: too hot and the bitter catechins arrive before the sweetness does.
- Water
- 75 °C167 °F
- Leaf
- 1 gper 60 ml
- Steep
- 1:30–2:00
- Re-steeps
- 2–3
Good examples: Sencha, Longjing (Dragon Well), Bi Luo Chun.
Step by step
- Heat fresh water to 75 °C (167 °F).
- Weigh 1 g of leaf for every 60 ml of water (e.g. 5.0 g for a 300 ml mug).
- Pour the water over the leaves and steep for 1:30–2:00.
- Strain completely so the leaves don’t keep steeping. Keep the leaves for the next infusion.
Getting it exact
- Japanese steamed teas like sencha often prefer the cooler end, 70–75 °C, and shorter steeps around 60–90 seconds.
- Chinese pan-fired greens such as Longjing handle 80 °C well.
- Each re-steep: add about 15–30 seconds. The second infusion of a good sencha can be faster than the first, because the leaves are already open.
Quick fix: Bitter or astringent? Lower the temperature by 5 °C before shortening the time.