Brewing Notes:
- Start with your favorite spring or filtered water. Heat the water to about 180 F, which is when the steam curls out of the kettle. (Or let the water cool from a boil.)
- Use a teaspoon (3g) for a 6oz serving. Please note, for denser teas this is about 1 teaspoon; for larger-leaf teas this could be up to 2 tablespoons.
- Steep for 1-2 minutes. Remove the leaves when ready -- rely on taste, not color. Use a large enough strainer basket to allow the leaves to open and release their flavor. Get to know the tea by playing with the amount of leaf, the water temperature, and steeping time. Re-steep to make another cup!
- For more about brewing tea, visit our Brewing Notes page.
More About This Tea:
All Japanese green tea is the same kind of tea. The
differences are a matter of grade and additives. Japan's tea-making
style is similar to that during China's Tang dynasty, when the Buddhist
monk Eisai brought tea from China to Japan. The fresh-picked leaves are
steamed thoroughly before drying, rather than withered before drying.
The steaming makes the tea leaves immune to oxidation. Then the leaves
are dried and rolled into shape. Heat is further applied during that
drying process.
Japanese teas include: bancha, Genmaicha (tea with popped and roasted rice), hojicha (roasted tea), kukicha (twig tea), sencha, gyokuro, and matcha. The
difference is what grade of leaf that you use to create the tea. Bancha
uses the largest leaves and so has a less-refined flavor. Sencha is
crafted from the smaller leaves, which have a more refined taste.
Gyokuro is sencha grown in the shade and thus the most subtle in flavor
(reflected in the prices it commands). Matcha is powdered gyokuro
whisked into water. It is what is used in the Japanese tea ceremony.
Uji, Japan, just south of Kyoto, is the most famous
tea-growing region in Japan. Most of the finest teas come from this
region even though it produces on 4 percent of Japan's tea.
In its bright green, unoxidized state, Japanese tea
retains the natural bitterness of raw leaf. For this reason sencha
needs to be steeped at a lower temperature than other green teas. Use
water at 165 F to prevent the resulting brew from being overly
astringent.
Sencha has a natural sweetness; it's lively on the
tongue, assertive, and clean. The infusion is green, unlike how Chinese
green teas appear yellow in a cup. Sencha goes very well with seafood,
and its assertive taste even stands up to chocolate. Carefully store
high-quality sencha in the refrigerator. Make sure there is no air in
the package because moisture can build in the cooler environment.
Because of its unoxidized state, you may also want to use an airtight
canister for longer-term storage.
One-Minute Tea Tip, 2000
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