TeaChat

Hello,

I'm not new to green tea, but I had always put off buying from o-cha because I was short on cash. This season I decided to pick up the much praised Kagoshima Yutaka Midori. I had never tried the tea before, but sadly I don't seem to be getting the most out of it.

I've brewed 4-6 grams in 150 ml of water. 70C preheated kyusu 30 seconds, instant pour, 5 seconds roughly. While I've noticed that it has a nice flowery nose, the flavor I get is both weak bodied and dry. I seem to be missing sweetness, umami, and vegetal flavors.

What brewing parameters do you use? Is this season's tea a good representation or is it a bit weak this year? I hope to understand where the praise is coming from. This is no way a knock on the tea, just a request for assistance.

I think your steeping time is way too short even with the amount of tea you're using.

Everyone has their preference on how to steep tea, but I suggest you try out using less leaf first before you raise to more leaf.

Try the following parameters out:

3 grams per 5 ounces, 165 to 170F for 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Earlier this year, I went 1:1 or higher for Yutaka Midori. I used 160* in a preheated kyusu for 1:15.

Alternately, even a bit more leaf, a little cooler, 1:30.

2nd steep up to 30 seconds, 165*

3rd 60 ish seconds, hotter

Bottom line, if a sencha is tasting too light, and is not bitter, you need to up variables ... time, temp, leaf ratio.

OH, be sure to smell the dry warming leaf in the preheated kyusu. I place the leaf in the kyusu 10 seconds or so before I pour the water in. But the aroma coming out of the kyusu is a "sit down" experience.

Chip wrote:Earlier this year, I went 1:1 or higher for Yutaka Midori. I used 160* in a preheated kyusu for 1:15.

And just to be crystal clear, that's 1 minute and 15 seconds, not 1 hour and 15 minutes

But either way, those times are a lot longer on the first steep for YM than I've heard before.... I'll have to give that a go!

Interesting discussion thus far. I have a bag of YM LE ready to roll next week, so I'll be able to try some of these suggestions at that time.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

Yes, 75 seconds. This was longer than normal for fuka, but it was working for me.

I will definitely try out some longer steeps. Normally I push for longer steep duration before pushing for more leaf, but while I was getting a "dry" taste that I attributed to over steeping. Adding the extra leaf didn't seem to help that so I'll give your recs a try. Thanks!

I don't know this Yutakamidori sencha, but my brewing parameters for fukumushi sencha are :
5g / 100 ml
65°C - 60 sec
70°C - 20 sec
75°C - 90 sec

For people like me who don't have scales sensitive enough to measure in grams--can anyone give me a guesstimate as to how many grams of sencha your average tablespoon/teaspoon would hold? I know there will be some variation, depending on the size of the leaf, but even a ballpark idea would be great ...

hopeofdawn wrote:For people like me who don't have scales sensitive enough to measure in grams--can anyone give me a guesstimate as to how many grams of sencha your average tablespoon/teaspoon would hold? I know there will be some variation, depending on the size of the leaf, but even a ballpark idea would be great ...

I do not have YM at the moment, but will weigh another fuka in a bit and report back.

This thread has been a wealth of information! I've found my first steep to be a bit weak as well... not bad, just lacking I guess. I will also try a longer steep. I haven't had an issue with later steeps though. I'm looking forward to tea time tomorrow

Running for Tea wrote:This thread has been a wealth of information! I've found my first steep to be a bit weak as well... not bad, just lacking I guess. I will also try a longer steep. I haven't had an issue with later steeps though. I'm looking forward to tea time tomorrow

My very first steep of the LE version of last year (18 months old, mind you) was very strong. I had to adjust my brewing to tone it down a little. After some playing around, here is what seems to work best for me:

First infusion — 5g per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 35-40 sec.

Second infusion — 5g per 8oz. water, 70 deg., 40-45 sec.

Third infusion — 5g per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 5+ min.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

P.S. Can't see how Chip managed the 1st infusion for 75 sec., and at a 1:1 ratio to boot!

sherubtse wrote:P.S. Can't see how Chip managed the 1st infusion for 75 sec., and at a 1:1 ratio to boot!

*grunt grunt grunt ... bangs chest ... * I feel it is a bit softer this year. Thus the longer time. Orrrrrrr, maybe my graduated measuring cup is waaaaay off. I should check.

Still, there are those who drink it stronger yet.

I go 1,5:1 (5g/10cl) for nearly all my sencha... And I have often read that "standard brewing parameters" are a little more than that...

YM is a regular for me. I brew as follows:

6 grams to 4-5 oz or 10 grams to 8 oz.
(I think 6 grams is a pretty heaped-up Tablespoon; I recommend getting a scale that measures grams and get a feel for yourself how much volume a certain weight of tea is. You can get a digital scale that measures grams from Harbor Freight for about $10 and it is well worth it).

I brew about 150 degrees: 1st steep 1 min, 2nd steep 30 seconds, 3rd steep 90 seconds. Sometimes I go for a forth steep at about 2 mins, but it is not as flavorful. Second steep is usually the best.

IMHO, temp is the most important parameter and time can be off and it won't matter as much as too hot. Keeping the water temp on the cool side (about 140 degrees) will really bring out the sweetness, especially on the second steep.

Ed