Tea Filter

Brewing tea is more of an art than a science. You can spend a lifetime trying to brew the perfect up of tea. One of the more difficult teas to brew is green tea. Green tea is far more delecate to brew than is black tea. Brewing a pot of green tea in places like japan is actually a very complicated ritual and actually considered to be a genuine art form. Making a good cup of green tea will take more time than simply putting on a kettle of water and throwing in a couple tea bags. However, it doesn’t have to be too complicated to brew green tea.

The first thing you need to do is banish your previous knowledge of brewing tea. Green tea is a very different kind of tea than black tea or herbal tea infusions.

1.The Tea Pot

The first thing you need to brew a good green tea is the right tea pot. The best tea pots are made from clay. The actual size is not really important – the main thing is that the tea pot must be made from clay, specifically yixing clay (you can ask for this in a Chinese or Japanese food store). Green tea must have enough room to expand while it brews.

2. The Tea

Green tea only stays “fresh” or about six months. Once you open a package of green tea, you should use it within the first two or three months or it will go bad. The bet green tea comes right after spring harvest which is in either April or May. You can buy it sealed throughout the year. Make sure that any tea package you buy is well sealed or – even better – vacuum packed.

3. The Water

You should avoid using tap water to use for your tea. Tap water often has quite a few impurities which can reduce the flavour of the tea. Use filtered or mineral water for the best tasting tea. Good quality tea requires good water!

You should first of all boil your water. Make sure you pure your water into an empty pot then let it set for a minute. Then pour in some boiled water into the tea cups. Make sure to fill the cups you will be using with the amount of tea you want to brew.  You want to make sure that your pot and cups are warmed. It’s important to have the right temperature for your water – you don’t want to make green tea will boiling water. The water should be instead around 70C for green tea. If the water is too hot, the green tea will be bitter.