Brewing tea

Sencha green tea (for 3 servings)

1. 1 Boil 180 cc of water, pour it into three chawan-style teacups, then wait for the water to cool to about 70 to 80 °C. (The water temperature decreases by 5 to 10 °C each time it is transferred from one container to another. If you want it to cool down more, use a yuzamashi water cooling vessel, etc.)
2. 2 Put two heaping tablespoons (about 10 grams) of tea leaves into the teapot.
3. 3 Pour the water that you have cooled down in the teacups into the teapot, then put the lid on the teapot and wait 45 seconds to 1 minute.
4. 4 Pour the tea into the teacups in several times so that the strength of the tea is the same in all three cups. For three cups, pour first into cups 1, 2 and 3, then pour into cups 3, 2 and 1 the second time.

* It is also possible to achieve tea with the same strength in different cups by first pouring it into from the original teapot into another teapot.

Gyokuro green tea (for 3 servings)

1. 1 Pour 60 to 70 cc of boiled water into a yuzamashi water cooling vessel and cool it to between 40 (about body temperature) and 60 °C.
2. 2 Put two heaping tablespoons (about 10 grams) of tea leaves into the teapot.
3. 3 Pour the cooled down boiled water into the teapot and wait 1 to 2 minutes.
4. 4 Pour the tea into the teacups in several times so that the strength of the tea is the same in all three cups. For three cups, pour first into cups 1, 2 and 3, then pour into cups 3, 2 and 1 the second time.

* For subsequent brews of the same tea leaves, use a higher water temperature than the first time and let the tea leaves steep less time. * Be sure to pour all the tea out of the teapot, up to the last drop. If water is left in the teapot, the tea leaves will get soggy and the next brew will not taste as good. It is also a good idea to set the lid so that it is not close the teapot completely.

Matcha powdered green tea

1. 1 Put 2 standard tea scoops (“chashaku”) of matcha powder (about 1.7 grams) into a chawan-style teacup.
2. 2 Pour 70 to 80 cc of water (about 1/3 of the teacup) at about 80 °C into the teacup.
3. 3 Hold the teacup with the hand that is not holding the tea whisk, then mix, holding the whisk between you index finger, middle finger and thumb.
4. 4 First mix slowly so as to blend the matcha at the bottom of the teacup into the water, then move the whisk as if shaking your wrist forward and backward, and finally move the whisk slowly as if evening out the surface and draw the whisk out gently.

* There is less tendency for lumping if you pass the matcha through a sieve beforehand.

Kyo-bancha (for 3 to 5 servings)

1. 1 Boil water (about 2 liters) in a kettle.
2. 2 Once the water comes to a boil, put in the tea leaves (20 grams), continue boiling for 2 to 3 minutes, then pour into yunomi-style teacups.

Cold-brewed tea (sencha or gyokuro green tea)

1. 1 Put the tea leaves into teabags and place the teabags in a teapot designed for cold tea or another container. For 5-gram teabags, use 4 to 5 teabags per liter.
2. 2 Pour cold water into the container and put the container in the refrigerator. Remove the teabags the next morning.

* It is best to use soft water. The tea will have less flavor and scent if hard water is used. * When using tap water, always boil the water then let it cool down before using it. * Store tea leaves in an airtight container and in a cool place. * Once the tea has been opened, use it as quickly as possible while it is still fresh.