Preheating

[Chesslover]

A drop of 10C would be a drop of 18F. Plus, you probably shouldn't just assume a drop of 10C, try to actually measure it a few times, it could be dropping by 12 C or 8 C.

I wouldn't say you were doing it wrong. How long do you let it set in the teapot? Are you using a high leaf ratio? Depends on the individual tea. There are so many factors.

You are right about the temperature ...why do we have to have two temperature measurment systems?

I did some measurment, but will do more...

For YM I go that way (I use 4 grams in 200 ml (6,8 oz)):
1. 77* C (170* F) - 50 seconds
2. 80* C (176* F) - 20 seconds
3. 82* C (180* F) - 40 seconds

The temperature means temperature in kyusu...

And the tea tends to get just a little bitter...

[Oni]

Temperature drop depends on your teaware, I usually learned using a thermometer, I use a tetsubin to heat water, I know the water is at 98 C when steam rises vigurously from the sprout of the tetsubin, some people say you should not heat to max boil, some say that it is ok, generally japanese people prefer a full boil with the tetsubin, especially when you use it on a charcoal stove (I do not have one, but I tried one in a teahouse); next I pour water to my kyusu, I know aproximately the water level, the kyusu holds max 240, I use around 200 - 220, after that I pour the water to the cups, either I use two cups, or three cups, the temperature of the water drops to 75 C to 78 C, afer that I put in the leaves and pour back the water, I brew between 40 seconds to 1 minute, if you feel that the tea was too weak, increase the amount of leaf used, or play with the temperature, I use a similar thermometer found at DT on ebay.

[chingwa]

I usually dislike using a thermometer for anything other than gyokuro where I really need to know the temperature is exact. over the years I've been able to "eyeball" the right temp pretty well, though I know for a fact I am not brewing at consistent temperatures exactly... green tea has a way of losing it's oomph over time (some more than others) so unless I'm drinking it all real quick I expect a bit of variance in the tea experience anyway.

I've developed a method of pouring water into the kyusu or fairing cup , holding my hand above the surface... If i can hold it there for ten seconds without too much pain I generally know the water is good to go...

(oh and I *always* preheat)

[Dresden]

When it comes to Japanese greens I kill tea fairies in mass...

Give me my thermometer!!!!

[Chip]

When it comes to Japanese greens I kill tea fairies in mass...

Give me my thermometer!!!!

Yeah, we are talkin' TeaFairy genocide!

[mbishop]

I wash my teapot/cups in the sink, and we have really hard water here. So after I fill my kettle with some nice filtered water and bring it to a boil, I pour a little bit into my kyusu, then swirl it around to try and get the tap water out, along with any tea particles that might loosen from the hot water. I pour this out into one cup, swirl it around, pour into a second cup, swirl again and then dump it out.

Then, I pour the approximate amount of water into the kyusu and let it sit for a little bit, then pour that into one of the cups, let it sit again while I fill the pot with leaves, pour from one cup to the other, then when it "feels right" I pour the water from the cup into the kyusu and wait the appropriate amount of time before pouring it into one of the cups and enjoying

I have a scale, but I usually eyeball the leaf amount, but I've found I'm pretty good at that. As for the water temp, I really need to get a thermometer...will probably go back to eyeballing it once I figure out what certain temps "feel" like, but I still need something to test with.

[JRS22]

These instructions made all the difference in the fate of my bag of Otu-Yutaka Shincha. I started with the Utilitea with a thermometer in the spout so I went straight to pouring the 154* into the kyusu. Now the tea is delicious, although it doesn't replace Yutaka Midori as my favorite sencha.

This is how I brew nearly all of my green tea here, it's how most my suppliers do it too.

1) I have a water dispenser which keeps the water at a solid 90C (194F) at all times.

2) I take two cups, each holds about 100ml. I pour the water from the dispenser into the cups. While the water is heating the cups and cooling down, I prepare my kyusu.

3) I add about 6 grams of loose leaf tea into the kyusu. I use a scale every time for this part. If it's gyokuro, double that. This is not hard and fast, it depends on the tea but most teas you can use about that much.

4) By the time I have finished doing step three above, the water in the cups has dropped to 68C (154F). Pour water from the cups into the kyusu.

5) Brew time - this matters. It varies a lot depending on the tea, even if both are fukamushi. For most deep steamed green tea, I usually go 30 seconds on first and second infusions. For asamushi, I'd go one minute to a minute and a half. Regular middle steamed sencha - a minute.

6) by the time the tea has finished brewing, the temp has dropped down to around 62C (143F). Pour into your pre-warmed cups and drink.

Like is stronger? Brew longer and or hotter. Want more intense flavor? Use more leaf. More sweet (and gyokuro)? Add the water to kyusu first, pour into cups, then from cups back into kyusu. There are all kinds of ways to do this. Break out a thermometer in the beginning and take notes, soon you'll figure it out and won't need it anymore.