How to Brew Green Tea: A Guide to a Fresh, Balanced Cup
Green tea is beloved for its refreshing taste, vibrant colour, and health benefits. Brewing green tea requires a gentle approach to bring out its delicate, grassy notes without bitterness. Here’s how to brew a perfect cup of green tea that’s fresh, balanced, and naturally uplifting.
1. Start with Quality Green Tea Leaves
Loose leaf green tea, such as our ancient Shan green tea, Sencha, Dragon Well, or Gyokuro, provides the best flavour experience. These varieties each offer unique tasting notes, from sweet and vegetal to slightly nutty. Using loose leaves lets you experience green tea’s full range of flavours and aromas.
2. Prepare Water at a Lower Temperature
Unlike black tea, green tea needs cooler water to avoid bitterness. Fresh, filtered water enhances green tea’s natural taste and helps maintain its colour and clarity.
Green tea benefits from lower water temperatures to prevent bitterness and preserve its natural, fresh flavours. The ideal temperature varies slightly depending on whether you’re brewing steam-processed green tea or pan-fired green tea, as each method brings out different qualities in the leaves.
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Steam-Processed Green Tea: Varieties like Japanese Sencha or Gyokuro are typically steamed, which enhances their grassy, vegetal flavours. Use water around 75–80°C (167–176°F) for these teas. The lower temperature highlights their delicate, fresh taste and helps maintain the vibrant green colour. Steaming also produces a tea with a lighter mouthfeel, which is best preserved with gentler heat.
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Pan-Fired Green Tea: Varieties like Vietnamese green tea, Chinese Dragon Well (Longjing) or Gunpowder tea are pan-fired, a technique that imparts nutty, toasted notes to the tea. These teas benefit from a slightly higher water temperature of around 80–85°C (176–185°F). This temperature accentuates the warming, subtle roasted flavours without creating bitterness. Pan-fired green tea has a slightly richer, fuller mouthfeel, which comes out best with a bit more heat.
Using the right water temperature for the specific type of green tea helps bring out its unique qualities and ensures a balanced, enjoyable cup.
- Tip: Overly hot water can make green tea bitter, so a gentle approach is key. You can use water cooler cool the water down to the right temperature.
3. Measure the Tea Leaves
Use 3-5g of loose green tea per cup (250ml) of water. For a more intense flavour, increase the leaves slightly, or decrease them for a milder taste.
4. Steep Lightly for a Delicate Brew
Green tea requires a shorter steeping time to capture its fresh, subtle flavours.
- Steeping Time: 1–3 minutes is ideal. Shorter times give a milder taste, while a longer steep brings out more depth in the flavour.
- Pro Tip: Taste the tea as it steeps to find your perfect flavour balance.
5. Re-Steep for New Flavours
Quality green tea leaves can be re-steeped multiple times, with each steep revealing new layers of taste.
- Second Steep: Add an additional 30 seconds to the steeping time, keeping the water temperature the same.
- Explore New Notes: Each re-steep will bring out different nuances, from soft vegetal notes to gentle sweetness, making each infusion unique.
6. Pour and Savour
Green tea is best enjoyed on its own, allowing you to fully appreciate its fresh, grassy flavours. Serve in a small, delicate cup to enjoy the vibrant green colour and aroma.
Tips for Brewing Green Tea Mindfully
- Focus on the Process: Take a moment to breathe, watch the leaves unfold, and enjoy the tea’s aroma. Brewing green tea can be a calming ritual that brings you back to the present.
- Experiment with Flavour: Green tea is versatile, so feel free to adjust the temperature, amount, and steeping time until you find your ideal cup.
Brewing green tea is all about a gentle, mindful approach. Each step brings you closer to a refreshing cup that’s full of delicate flavour, inviting you to slow down and savour the moment. Happy brewing!