Enjoy using a teapot! A beginner's guide to brewing tea
Introduction
There are many different types of tea, such as sencha, gyokuro, and hojicha, and each type of tea has its own appropriate brewing method.
Below we will introduce the basic way to brew tea using sencha, the most popular type of Japanese tea, as an example.
Basic tea brewing method
◆ Preparation ◆
1. Prepare tea utensils appropriate for the number of people: Prepare a teapot large enough to hold hot water for the number of people, and tea bowls for the number of people.
2. Prepare tea leaves appropriate for the number of people: One serving of tea leaves is 2-3g. Prepare the amount of tea leaves for the number of people. If you are serving one person, use a little more, and if you are serving 5 or more people, use less, about 2g per person.
◆How to brew◆
1. Adjust the temperature of the water
First, boil water for about 5 minutes, pour it into a teacup, and let it cool slightly. For sencha, the appropriate temperature is around 70 to 80 degrees Celsius.
Pour about 80% of the water into the teacups you prepared earlier. This will warm the bowls and lower the temperature of the water, and also allow you to check that the amount of water is correct.
The temperature of hot water drops by about 7°C each time it is poured into another container.
If the water in the pot is about 90°C, when you pour it into the teapot it will be 82°C, and when you transfer it from the teapot to a teacup it will be about 75°C. If you then pour the water back into the teapot, the teapot will be warm and will be about 70°C.
2. Put the tea leaves into the teapot
While the water in the teacups is cooling, put the tea leaves you prepared earlier into the teapot. As mentioned above, the amount of tea leaves is about 2-3g for each person.
3. Pour in hot water and let the tea steep
Slowly pour the water from the cooled tea bowl into the teapot with the tea leaves in it. First, pour in a small amount of water to moisten the entire tea leaves, then pour in all the water from the tea bowl.
4. Steaming
After pouring in the hot water, cover the jar and wait for about 1-2 minutes. This will bring out the flavor of the tea leaves. The first brew is when the leaves are about 80-90% open.
5. Pouring
Tilt the teapot and pour a little at a time into the teacups for each person. This is called "round-the-clock pouring." Don't pour it all in one go, but keep an eye on the color of the water and pour in a round-the-clock motion until the tea is the same color.
For example, if you are serving three people, pour small amounts in the order 1, 2, 3, then go back to 3, 2, 1 and repeat.
This makes it easier to adjust the strength and amount, ensuring that every bowl has the same taste and amount.
Be sure to pour until the last drop!
Pour out every last drop of tea remaining in the teapot.
If even a small amount of hot water remains in the teapot, the ingredients will continue to seep out, causing the tea to taste bitter or astringent from the second brew onwards.
This way you can enjoy your tea to the very last bite.
summary
What did you think? This time we introduced the basic way to brew Sencha, the most common type of Japanese tea.
The taste of Japanese tea changes greatly depending on how it is brewed. Also, if you pay attention not only to the brewing method but also to the temperature of the water you use, you will be able to make your everyday cup of tea even more enjoyable.
Enjoy each moment of brewing your tea and find the perfect cup for you.
