A brewing method I learned from a book

Do you remember the first time when you prepared Japanese tea yourself? Who or where did you learn it from? I don’t remember exactly but I think I learned it from my grandma when I was in my elementary. I prepared and served tea to help my parents when we had guests.

Now I sometimes learn about tea preparation from books. The book I read yesterday introduces a slightly different way from the standard brewing. The standard brewing is putting the tea leaves, followed by a hot water, and leaving it for a minute. However, the method the book introduces has one extra step on the standard brewing. The book tells that you pour the hot water into the tea pot in two steps. Other brewing conditions are the same between the both brewings.

The tea-preparation steps are as follows:

1. Soak the tea leaves
Put the tea leaves into a teapot. Pour a little hot water, just enough to cover the leaves. Put a lid on and leave it a little while.

2. Add more water, and wait
After the entire leaves got wet and changed its color, pour the rest of hot water into the teapot the second time. Put back the lid on and leave it for 30-60sec.

The method is introduced by a tea-tasting master and I thought it can be reliable information. But it didn’t explain the reason why you need to pour the water into the teapot twice and also didn’t mention the advantages of it. Also the instruction is not specific. I don’t know how long exactly the soaking step takes. 10sec? 60sec? I’m kind of doubtful of the great efficacy of the method. What do you think?

I think that the water temperature will be lower in this method than the standard one. So what I can assume is that you might be able to brew mellower tea. But if you want mellow tea, you can just use low-temperature water from the beginning. What is the reason for the extra step? Now I want to try the method myself. Tomorrow, I’ll write about it! See ya!