Cold Brewed Sencha -- It Works!

[beforewisdom]

A few months back I bought some organic sencha from ocha.com.. It didn't come in a reclosable bag so I put it inside of a ziplock bag before storing it in my refrigerator.

This past weekend I was cleaning my refrigerator out and I noticed that some of the sencha leaves had spilled out of the inner bag into the ziplock.

I put the sencha leaves into an empty glass Honest T bottle I had, filled it with cold water and put it in the refrigerator overnight, aka cold brewing.

It came out great the next day!

It had good sencha flavor, it even had a SLIGHTLY sweet aftertaste. It also held its color overnight and sitting on my desk the next day.

I didn't have to futz with the temperature. All I did was put two teaspoons and two cups of water into the bottle, and filter the leaves out the next day. Boom! Done! Tasty iced sencha.

[debunix]

Sencha is terrific cold brewed. I buy some inexpensive sencha for just this use--it doesn't have to be fancy. And try it sometime with sparkling water--sparkling sencha, ice cold, is da bomb on a hot summer afternoon.

[BioHorn]

Sencha is terrific cold brewed. I buy some inexpensive sencha for just this use--it doesn't have to be fancy. And try it sometime with sparkling water--sparkling sencha, ice cold, is da bomb on a hot summer afternoon.

I second that!

Carbonated mineral water sencha is tremendous! The colder, the better.
Long and slow brew time will give you more effect.

I had good luck just putting the sencha in the glass bottle, closing the lid and putting it back in the 'fridge.

[debunix]

I had good luck just putting the sencha in the glass bottle, closing the lid and putting it back in the 'fridge.

Exactly. Return in 6-12 hours, and enjoy!

[beforewisdom]

Anyone every slightly heat up cold brewed sencha?

Were the results good?

I might try it soon, the weather is going colder here.

[debunix]

Never tried that. If I manage to feel even a little chilled after a warm day when I'm cold-brewing, I am so happy to have an excuse to brew & drink tea hot that I've never considered warming the cold stuff.

[Drax]

Curious -- what ratio of leaf to water do you usually go for...?

[debunix]

Very light for the regular cold sencha, about a teaspoon of leaf to my 10 or 12 oz glass mugs; a little more for the sparkling, 2 tsp for 12 oz calistoga

[NateHevens]

Curious -- what ratio of leaf to water do you usually go for...?

Heh... when I cold-brew, I cold-brew a lot. I have a 66oz pitcher that came with a very long infuser (almost as long as the pitcher).

I played around with Max Falkowitz's suggestions over at Serious Eats, and now I use about 8g-10g of leaf (depending on the tea I'm using) per 32oz of water. Translate that to a 66oz pitcher and... well...

[Drax]

Thanks, those are good starting points for me to try!

I have a bad habit of not brewing my sencha in a timely fashion, and part of that is just due to timing (my full setup is at home, but by the time I'm home on an average work day, it's too late to drink sencha). So having a cold brew method would be a great way to enjoy the tea on a more regular basis!

[beforewisdom]

Curious -- what ratio of leaf to water do you usually go for...?

The ice tea bottle I use holds 2.5 cups. I usually put tea spoons of sencha leaves in.

[Drax]

I had to come back to this post, because I finally had a chance to try it.

In fact, I had sencha every morning this week. It turned out extremely well, and I will be continuing to do it! Since I don't always get a chance to brew a pot at work, this cold overnight brewing is the perfect way to enjoy some every day.

[BioHorn]

I had to come back to this post, because I finally had a chance to try it.

In fact, I had sencha every morning this week. It turned out extremely well, and I will be continuing to do it! Since I don't always get a chance to brew a pot at work, this cold overnight brewing is the perfect way to enjoy some every day.

Yippie!
You have got to try the sparkling mineral water cold brew! Add a few grams of good sencha to refrigerated sparkling water. Leave for a few hours or overnight. It has been a while, but if I remember correctly, the leaf settled. Let me know what you think!

[Drax]

I had to come back to this post, because I finally had a chance to try it.

In fact, I had sencha every morning this week. It turned out extremely well, and I will be continuing to do it! Since I don't always get a chance to brew a pot at work, this cold overnight brewing is the perfect way to enjoy some every day.

Yippie!
You have got to try the sparkling mineral water cold brew! Add a few grams of good sencha to refrigerated sparkling water. Leave for a few hours or overnight. It has been a while, but if I remember correctly, the leaf settled. Let me know what you think!

I actually did this version this morning. I filtered the leaves out so that I could straight up enjoy it. It was also very good! I have to admit, though, I think that's the first time I've wanted to add sugar to tea. I guess my brain is too strongly wired to expect sweetness when having something carbonated. I'll resist the urge, though.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with other teas, too. I'm definitely sorry I didn't try it sooner...!

[BioHorn]

I had to come back to this post, because I finally had a chance to try it.

In fact, I had sencha every morning this week. It turned out extremely well, and I will be continuing to do it! Since I don't always get a chance to brew a pot at work, this cold overnight brewing is the perfect way to enjoy some every day.

Yippie!
You have got to try the sparkling mineral water cold brew! Add a few grams of good sencha to refrigerated sparkling water. Leave for a few hours or overnight. It has been a while, but if I remember correctly, the leaf settled. Let me know what you think!

I actually did this version this morning. I filtered the leaves out so that I could straight up enjoy it. It was also very good! I have to admit, though, I think that's the first time I've wanted to add sugar to tea. I guess my brain is too strongly wired to expect sweetness when having something carbonated. I'll resist the urge, though.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with other teas, too. I'm definitely sorry I didn't try it sooner...!

Cool! Thanks for trying and giving feedback.
Am going to go back to it this summer. Cold carbonated gyokuro?!

Now that you mention it, cold carbonated phoenix oolong could be quite nice.