Green Tea General Questions

[victoria3]

I've had some luck in the past testing the water temperature with a finger, instead of using a thermometer. With experience this can give fairly accurate results for sencha and gyokuro, but in order to get the experience you need to use a thermometer to begin with. Personally I would much rather get the temperature right than worry about the thermometer messing with the visuals of making tea... but I didn't always feel this way. I had too many missed tea sessions with slightly off temperatures and then finally came back around to the "beauty" of thermometers.

Folks, I think that this whole business of trying to 'look good', has to do more with self image than making a good cup of tea. What difference could there possibly be in using a thermometer or a finger except accuracy? Personally, I use a thermometer for Japanese green teas. No need to fret about such trivial things.

This conversation reminds me of a sailing trip I took years ago, with a seasoned old time sailor in Buenos Aires who didn't need to look at​ the tell-tale flapping in the wind (a piece of fabric attached to a stay) to know the direction of the wind, he could simply feel the wind direction on the hairs of his nose.

[Groucho]

It sounds as if that sailor could have improved his personal hygiene.

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[jayinhk]

I don't think long nose hair is unhygienic. Unattractive, but nothing to do with hygiene!

[mdenobel]

I can brew the same leaves several times? Wow, I must've been wasting a lot of tea. I use disposable tea bags that I fill with loose leaf.. Is this not ideal? I notice a lot of people putting the leaves directly in the pot.

Unless you like the taste of the teabag material Always directly into the pot. Any container will also restrict the freedom of movement of your leaves > the flavour development. Only better quality tea can be brewed several times, green tea not as many as Oolongs, Black and Puerh.

Regarding temperature.. I just use a basic stovetop glass kettle. Would you recommend I purchase an electric one to determine specific temperature or do they sell some sort of special thermometer? Is this even necessary? When I make green tea, I bring the water to a boil and then let it sit for at least a minute before steeping.

Then your water is basically dead. Once it has boiled all the good stuff is out. Which in turns ruins your tea.

You do not need a thermometer, you can do it by listening and or watching the water.
I do it visually. First small bubbles, then medium then larger ones until full boil.
Chinese call them pearl strings, crab eyes, fish eyes and dragon water. For green, crab eye is enough. Alteratively wait, or first pour the water in an intermediate container. Also pour not directly into the middle bit from the sides from a low height.

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[Groucho]

If it's long enough to dunk into the tea, it probably needs trimming.

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[victoria3]

kidding aside (normal hair length ... the anecdote meant to convey 'the practice of a singular long term focus results in heightened sensitivity and awareness ' in any practice.


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[jayinhk]

If it's long enough to dunk into the tea, it probably needs trimming.

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Sounds like it would be Guinness worthy!

[jayinhk]

kidding aside (normal hair length ... the anecdote meant to convey 'the practice of a singular long term focus results in heightened sensitivity and awareness ' in any practice.

Absolutely! We are capable of incredible things with focus.


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[VelociTea]

Well people.. my kabusecha arrived from o-cha today and as much as it pains me to say it.. I'm disappointed

It's smells and tastes really strange.. I don't know how to describe it. It just tasted really odd.. I hope I brewed it wrong or something..

To measure it out I used a davids tea purfect spoon (which looks like a tablespoon) and online it said to use 3/4 of a teaspoon if I remember correctly.. so maybe I used too much.

[victoria3]

Did you use Kevin's specified steeping parameters found on his web site, with thermometer, scale and timer?


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[jayinhk]

To brew Japanese greens correctly, you need to get your parameters just right or it can be a painful experience. Forgot the David's spoon for now and find out exactly how you should brew the tea. A teaspoon is half the size of a tablespoon...

[VelociTea]

I was impatient and most likely used too much tea.. as I couldn't find my scale and wasn't sure how much to use. Which I'm sure contributed to the strange taste. But even the loose leaves don't smell particularly pleasant to what I'm used to smelling anyway.. perhaps this is normal.

What is this website you speak of Victoria? I mostly just did what the vendor specified on the package as far as temperature and time (o-cha recommends 75 degrees, 1st/2nd/3rd..30/60/30 seconds, and 0.6g per 1oz [30ml] water) but since I couldn't find my scale, I looked briefly on the Internet for measurements and just ended up using the David's Tea 'purfect' scoop.

I found it now, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.. as it was very cheap. I will try experimenting with different parameters again in the morning and see if this makes a difference.

[victoria3]

https://www.o-cha.com/kabusecha.html
Kabusecha
Leaf (dry weight grams) to Water (1 fl oz / 30 ml) Ratio (recommended) .6 g to 1 oz/30 ml
Brew Temp (℃/℉ - recommended ) 77℃ (170℉)
Brew Time (Seconds) 90

Start with these recommended Proportions & then increase tea if too light- but Not temperature
.6grams tea/1oz water/170 Fahrenheit /90 seconds

If bitter Reduce temperature from 170f (77c) by 5 degree Fahrenheit increments & increase time by 20 second increments.
Use a good scale, thermometer, measuring cup and timer.
This vendor provides excellent teas year in year out.

[VelociTea]

I've been brewing this with surgical precision now and it tastes amazing though the 2nd and 3rd infusions never match up to the initial steep. The difference is really night and day from Davids Tea Sencha. Thanks Victoria.

[victoria3]

Yeah, great to hear this!


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