Well boiled water makes delicious green tea

The other day I did a test for the relation between boiling times and the chlorine smell in tap water. I found that as you boil the water longer, the chlorine smell gets weaker. But I didn’t actually brew green tea with those waters in the test. Now, I’m curious how those waters affect the taste of green tea. Today I actually brewed sencha.

*Conditions*
Sencha: 2g
Water: 95ml, 75 degrees C
Brewing time: 90 seconds

I prepared two different waters. I brought the waters to a full boil, and boiled away for 5 seconds for one, and for 2 minutes for the other one. Then I cooled down the both waters to 75 degrees C for correct brewing temperature.


The sencha with 2 minutes boiled water was very natural, smooth, and refreshing. The sencha with 5 second boiled water had almost the same kind of bitterness and umami, but it also had an additional flavor. I can not describe the extra flavor well, but it is different from the bitterness and umami. It was something loud and unwelcome. I believe the extra flavor is the chlorine flavor that I found in the tap water. I would not notice the chlorine flavor in the tea if I tested only the sencha with 5 second boiled water itself. But when I compare with the other tea, the extra flavor was definitely there.
If you would like to enjoy a pure, natural green tea flavor with tap water, boil the water well before brew the tea!