Guest Post- The View From The Other Side: Brewing Japanese Green Tea

In our second guest post, we feature Ricardo Caicedo, a lover of Japanese green teas to give us a view from the other side.

In his own words:

Previously, we published an article comparing Japanese and Chinese green teas.  This time, let’s take a closer look at Japanese brewing methods.

Why talk about Japanese teas when this site only offers Chinese ones? Because knowing the basics about other styles will let you appreciate a particular style even more.

We’ll have 3 types of Japanese green teas, brewed with different equipment.

Kyusu brewing with sencha

Kyusu (急須) is the Japanese word for teapot. There are different types of kyusu but the most popular one is the side-handled kyusu (yokode kyusu). While it could look somewhat intimidating at first, it’s actually very easy to use.

Begin by adding boiling water to the yunomi (湯呑み, Japanese cup) that you you will be serving, this helps to cool the water before brewing. Each yunomi should have 60 ml (2 oz) of water.

While the water temperature keeps dropping, add sencha (3 to 4 grams per cup) to the kyusu, and then pour the water from each yunomi into the kyusu. The water should have now cooled to 70 C (158 F) which is the appropriate brewing temperature. Close the lid of the kyusu and let brew for a minute to a minute and a half before serving.

The above directions apply to high-grade sencha. For lower grades, use a higher temperature (80C, 176 F) and more water, about 80 ml (2.6 0z).

Houhin brewing with gyokuro

Gyokuro is brewed using very little water and a low temperature. Although you can certainly use a small kyusu, let’s use a teapot specialized for gyokuro called houhin (宝瓶).

Add boiling water to the houhin, and then pour 20 ml (0.66 oz) into each cup (notice that cups for gyokuro are very small). Discard any remaining water in the houhin.

Now pour water from each cup into a separate container called a yuzamashi (湯冷まし), which is meant to cool the water down to about 50C.

Finally, add 3 to 4 grams of gyokuro per cup to the houhin, and now pour the water from the yuzamashi into the houhin as well. Brew for 2 to 3 minutes and serve.

Dobin brewing with bancha

The dobin (土瓶) is a teapot that can hold a good amount of water and can even be heated directly to boil. It has a handle on top that makes it look quite similar to some Western teapots.

Since bancha is brewed with a high volume of boiling water per cup, the dobin is a good fit when serving many cups at once.

It’s very easy to brew, just add 3 to 4 grams of bancha per cup to the dobin and then pour the boiling water directly. Each cup should hold 120 ml (4 oz). Steep for 30 seconds and you’re done!

The yunomi should be larger to accomodate the higher water volume. It also helps it they are thick, because they will become very hot.

As a bonus, this method is the same when brewing genmaicha and houjicha : )

About the author:

Ricardo Caicedo is a blogger that loves Japanese culture, especially tea. You can read more of his articles in his tea blog: www.myjapanesegreentea.com

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