Perfect Your GREEN TEA Brewing Techniques
When you think about green tea, you should realize that the way you brew the tea impacts the taste and quality of the tea. You can’t just carelessly boil your water, throw in some tea bags, and not give the brewing process another thought. You have to consider the temperature of the water. If the water is too hot, the green tea will taste bitter lose its proper aroma. If the water is too cool, the proper flavor from the leaves will not be extracted and you won’t reap the benefits of tasting the tea at its finest quality.
If you know anything about green tea, you know that it needs to be brewed between 140 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit. Brewing the tea between these intervals will ensure that the tea will come out sweet. If you brew it under 140 degrees or over 185 degrees, it will cause the tea to taste bitter. You will need a thermometer to be certain that the water is at the proper temperature.
Another interesting fact about green tea is that it does not need to steep for very long. Depending on the type of tea, it usually takes somewhere in between one and three minutes to steep. Japanese green tea only takes one to two minutes, whereas Chinese green tea will take three minutes. Make sure to balance the steeping time with the temperature of the water. If your water is in the lower part of the proper temperature range, you can steep your tea a bit longer. If you water is around 175 degrees or higher, you can get away with steeping it for about one minute.
Before you begin making the green tea, you need to determine how much tea you are going to make. The math is easy to remember. About one teaspoon of green tea leaves or pearls needs one cup of water, which will produce one cup of brewed tea.
For loose leave tea, you will need to have a tea strainer, and you can first place the tea leaves in the tea strainer. Then heat the water, measure it with a candy thermometer before it boils. Make sure that the water does not boil, because if it is boiling that means that you have heated it too much which will result in bitter tea. If the water does boil, you have to let it cool for a bit before steeping your tea.
Next, place the strainer with the tea leaves inside of the strainer in your cup or tea pot and then pour the water over the tea leaves. Then allow the tea to steep for one to three minutes, and then remove the strainer and leaves from the cup or tea pot. Let the green tea cool for a few minutes, and then you have achieved the perfect cup of green tea. The last step is to thoroughly enjoy your green tea. If you follow all of the steps, then you have succeeded in learning the secrets about green tea and how to brew it correctly.
