Brewing japanese green tea

Light and medium steamed:

Teamaster method:

4g/100 mL

65-85

1min15s, 15s, 55s, 1min15s

I tend to do 65 for first 3, then 75, then 80 for 2 min then boiling for 2 min. Starting temperature must be adapted for the tea. Can be higher for zairai or unblended varietals offering unique polyphenols.

For real zairai

These are from pre hybridized bushes and so should be able to handle hot water without releasing bitterness

My preferred method:

2g/100 mL during first 1-2 weeks and then increase as leaves get stale.

30s 90 C water

Flash 90 C water (can do this 2-3 times when leaves are fresh)

15-30s 90 C water 

1min-2min boiling (length depending on freshness)

3 -5 min boiling

Grandpa brewing after that. This kind of tea can take it.

With this way, the tea is highly dynamic. Often first two brews are sweet, vegetal and herbal. And then from third brewing on, there is more brothiness, oiliness and mineral aftertaste depending on the tea.

Hot water method:

From https://japaneseteasommelier.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/basics-knowledge-and-experiments-about-sencha-brewing/

95 °C / 100 ml / 1 g / 3 min
This is the “very few leaves” pattern, compensated by very hot water and a very long time to brew.
The result is amazing, very light but not tasteless liquor, with a kind of deepness. It is a very refreshing tea, and easy to drink.


95 °C / 40 ml / 3 g / 5-10 s
Here, we are more adventurous, very few boiling water, for a short steeping time ! Result: First, an amazing sweet fragrance. Then the liquor is quite strong, but well-balanced and remains again very easy to drink.

For deep steamed:

Make sure whole and broken leaf bits are evenly distributed in the sample to be brewed. Otherwise, if too many whole leaves,  then the brew will be weak. The small leaf bits tend to settle down to the  bottom of the bag.

Note also use almost entire capacity of pot because leaves tend to get stuck at top rim. Using more water in the pot will help dislodge them.

Generally 2g/ 100 mL

Temp ~75 C

35-45 sec / 15-30 sec / 1 min 30 - 2 min / 3 min / 10 min

Other variations include 40 sec / flash/ flash /20 sec / 1 min etc. All at lower temp

Deep steam also works well western style with 1 gram / 200 mL for 2.5-3 min at higher temp

Gyokuro:

Typical intense method:

40 mL for 5.5-6.5g

90s at 40-55C

60s at +5-10C

90s-120s at +5-10C

120s at +5-10C

120s +10C

120s+10C

Continue as desired. Before stop, 60s at 90C

Then consume leaves 

Iced gyokuro method from mei leaf:

1. Measure out 6g per 100ml of water. This is a good amount for 1-2 people.
2. Preheat the teaware with very hot water and pour away the water before you are ready to brew. We recommend a Shiboridashi or wide and flat pot that is not too much larger capacity than the amount of tea you are making.
3. Add the tea leaves to the pot and enjoy the aroma briefly (we don't want the pot to go cold before brewing).
4. Here is where you have a choice. For an ultra thick, smooth and umami tea, pour over room temperature water and leave to brew for 14 minutes. This is essentially making a strong cold brew of the tea. For a slightly more refrained umami (with a bit more minerality), pour over 50 degree water (120F) and leave to brew for 120 seconds. Some people say that you should leave the pot uncovered but we have not noticed any difference in the resulting tea.
5. Strain the tea into a Gong Dao Bei or directly into cups.
6. Enjoy the first infusion of Gyokuro - this is the most flavourful brew that you will make so savour the small but concentrated sip of tea.
7. For the second infusion brew with 50 degree (120F) water for 150 seconds.
8. For the third infusion brew with 50 degree (120F) water for 180 seconds.
9. For the fourth infusion brew with 70 degree (160F) water for 150 seconds
10. For the fifth infusion brew with 80 degree (175F) water for 150 seconds.
11. You can keep infusing but after five infusions the tea is usually lacking flavour. We like to take the leaves and add a squeeze of lemon juice and some soy sauce and eat with a meal or by itself.