Is there any other way to prepare mellow tea?

How do you prepare tea when you want mellow tea with rich umami?  The usual method is using low temperature water and brewing it for a long time.  When I was looking back at a text book for Japanese tea adviser, I noticed there is another possibility for preparing mellow tea.

When brewed tea has high proportion of umami as against its bitterness, you will find its taste as mellow.  Please take a look at the following chart that I found in the text book.  Tannin is bitter and Amino acid has umami flavor.  Of course, “low temperature and long-time brewing” have high umami ratio.  But, don’t you notice any hint for a different way? 

Temperature	Time (sec)	Tannin content	Amino acid content	Ratio = Amino acid / Tannin
50C (122F)	30	43	28	0.65
	60	57	52	0.91
	90	72	65	0.90
	120	89	81	0.91
70C (158F)	30	53	50	0.94
	60	89	75	0.84
	90	106	85	0.80
	120	134	91	0.68
90C (194F)	30	112	70	0.63
	60	129	88	0.68
	90	149	97	0.65
	120	191	110	0.58

 Density of substance: mg/100ml

Please take a look at the ratio for 70C at 30sec.  If you notice, the ratio is 0.94 which is the highest in the chart.  So, I think this will be another possibility for mellow tea with rich umami.  I know this condition is more risky than “low temp and long time”, because a slight difference of the brewing time will have bigger impact on the taste.  You need to be more careful about controlling the conditions.  However, I think it is worth to try this preparation.  What do you think about 70C(158F) for 30sec brewing?  

“A” is a common condition that I like for mellow tea.  “B” is the condition for this issue, as you can see below:

A

50C (122F), 150sec

Leaf: 2.5g, Water: 40ml (1.4oz)

B

70C (158F), 30sec

Leaf: 4g, Water: 45ml (1.6oz)

 “A” has warmer color and “B” looks a little cooler.  Even though the ratio of umami and bitterness is similar, I understand the color distinction because of the difference in their condition.  The point is the taste.  My tentative assumption was correct!  Tea brewed with 70C (158F) for 30sec has very mellow flavor with no bitterness like sample “A”.  I can say that you can prepare mellow tea with rich umami by different ways not just limited “low temp and long time”.  “B” was slightly milder, so I can adjust the amount of leaf to get the best condition. 

The disadvantage of this method is that you consume more tea leaves and need to be more careful in measuring the time.  The advantage is that you have more flexibility for the second brewing because the leaves are less opened in the first brewing.

I don’t think this is the best way of brewing mellow tea.  But now, I have more options. It is always good to find a new way^^

Caffeine in the second and third infusions

We usually enjoy the change of taste through repeated brewing of the same tea leaves.   This procedure is hereinafter referred to as "repeating infusions".  Many of you might have experienced that umami flavor is getting milder as the number of infusion goes along.  What about the caffeine?  Does it get milder in the second brewing as well?

Incidentally, the level of Amino acid (umami) on the second infusion will get only about 60% of the first infusion. (The condition is the same as the following test) My previous entry didn’t mention anything about repeating infusions.  Practically speaking, I think we need to consider about them.  I have a good data from my Japanese Tea Adviser textbook, as follows:

Leaf (sencha): 6g,

First brewing: 70C/158F 170ml 90sec,

Second-Fifth brewing: 90C/194F 170ml 10sec

Japanese Tea Adviser Koza, Japanese Tea Instructor Association, 2009

How do you interpret this data?  I was kind of surprised with the high level of caffeine on the first few infusions.  Even though the level gradually decreases from the third infusion, the first and second are almost the same, and the third still has about 80% of the first.  This is higher than I originally imagined.  I’ll remember this information for my daily tea, and it will be useful.

I just want you to be aware that the caffeine level will very much differ by brewing conditions.  Why do I say that?  Do you remember the caffeine level on the previous entry?  44mg (first infusion on Today’s data) is much higher than 20mg of the previous one.  44mg is even higher than 30mg of black tea.  I think you need to refer to these data as a rough guide for your tea.

Which drink has the most caffeine: green tea, coffee or black tea?

I’ve realized that there are different opinions regarding caffeine in sencha (green tea), coffee or black tea (British tea)?   Which of the three do you think have the most caffeine? 

I browsed about this topic on the internet.  There seem to be two major opinions on this matter as follows: (in the order of high caffeine)

1.    Coffee > black tea > sencha

2.    Black tea > coffee > sencha

In either case, sencha seems to be the drink that has the least caffeine among these three.

I think that the most reliable source among all the webpages that I’ve checked out will be STANDARD TABLES OF FOOD COMPOSITION IN JAPAN Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition from Ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology Japan.

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu3/toushin/05031802.htm

http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu3/toushin/05031802/002/016.pdf

Caffeine in 100ml (3.5oz) prepared form

Prepared form	Caffeine level	Preparation
Coffee	0.06g	Grinded coffee:10g, Boiling water 150ml
Black tea	0.03g	Leaf:5g, boiling water 360ml, 1.5-4min
Sencha (green tea)	0.02g	Leaf:10g, 90degC 360ml water, 1min

Now, I understand that coffee has the most caffeine and sencha has the least.  I also found another interesting data about caffeine in some other Japanese tea. Do you think gyokuro and matcha has more caffeine? 

Caffeine in 100ml (3.5oz) prepared form

Prepared form	Caffeine level	Preparation
Gyokuro (green tea)	0.16g	Leaf:10g, 60degC 60ml water, 2.5min
Matcha (green tea)	0.10g	1.5g/50ml
Coffee	0.06g	Grinded coffee:10g, Boiling water 150ml
Black tea	0.03g	Leaf:5g, boiling water 360ml, 1.5-4min
Sencha (green tea)	0.02g	Leaf:10g, 90degC 360ml water, 1min
Oolong tea	0.02g	Leaf:15g, 90degC 650ml water, 0.5min
Hojicha (green tea)	0.02g	Leaf:15g, 90degC 650ml water, 0.5min
Bancha (green tea)	0.01g	Leaf:15g, 90degC 650ml water, 0.5min
Genmaicha (green tea)	0.01g	Leaf:15g, 90degC 650ml water, 0.5min

The data has been round off, and this number is not so precise.

I think the result will differ by preparing conditions.  But, what I can say from this data is if you want to be awake, gyokuro or matcha will be your option other than coffee.  If you want to have some tea before going to bed bancha or genmaicha will be good.

Soba-cha, soba tea

The aroma is richer than ordinary tea.  I love the nutty roasted taste.

Soba is known as noodle made of buckwheat.  Soba-cha, soba tea is not tea technically, because it is no made of tea plant.  It is buckwheat.  Without any proof, I assume myself that it doesn’t have caffeine so I drink it even before going to bed (^^;;.  The sweet nutty flavor soothes my mind.  

The difference between sencha, kabusecha and gyokuro

The appearance of sencha, kabusecha and gyokuro tea leaves looks very similar.  I can’t yet tell the difference just by the appearance.  I have to smell and taste them.  But, some experts can tell if it is sencha or kabusecha just by the hue of dry leaves.  Isn’t that impressive?  I need more training on that (^^;;

You might already know the difference of their taste and preparation among those three teas.  (If you don’t know them, please refer to the brief note at the bottom of this entry.)  Today, I want to talk a little technical stuff.   Basically, they are all made of the same tea plant and processed in the same way.  So, they all look similar.  Then, what makes them different? 

The difference is the cultivation of tea plant. 

Sencha: No covering

The tea plant is grown under the sun light for the entire time. 

Kabusecha: Light covering

Before picking the leaves, the tea plant is LIGHTLY covered with a screen to shut out the direct sunlight.

Light-blocking: 60-90% for 1-3weeks

You can make sencha-tic kabusecha or gyokuro-tic kabusecha by adjusting the degree of covering.

Gyokuro: Deep covering

Before picking the leaves, the tea plant is DEEPLY covered with a screen to shut out the direct sunlight.

55-60% for 7-10days + 95-98% for 10days = about 20days

Covering makes more umami in tea.  Main substance of umami is Theanine, which changes into Catechin (bitterness) by exposing sun light in leaf.  So, covered tea has more umami and milder bitterness.  (Japanese Tea Adviser Koza, Japanese Tea Instructor Association, 2009 May)

I think the extra effort of the farmers makes the tea premium and expensive.  Try to look at dry leaves carefully, if you can tell what they are just by their hue, you might already be an expert of Japanese tea, hahaha^^

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 NOTE:

Snecha: Most common green tea

Prepared with 70-90C (158-194F) water for 1 min

Good harmony of umami and bitterness

Kabusecha: Green tea in between gyokuro and sencha

Prepared as same as sencha

Similar flavor with sencha but has more umami

Gyokuro: Premium green tea

Prepared with very small amount of lukewarm water (40-60C/104-140F) for 2-3min

Condensed umami essence

What is a good place for long-term tea storage at home?

At room temperature, in the refrigerator or in the freezer.  I have three samples stored for six months at the mentioned places.  They were triple packed (plastic pouch, tea caddy, Ziplock) and they have not been opened for that duration. 

The samples

D: room temperature

E: refrigerator

F: freezer

What do you observe in the pictures?

I found some differences in dry leaves and brewed tea.  To tell the conclusion first, they are all bad.  Brewed tea D turned reddish in color, which is not a correct hue for shencha.  D also doesn’t have a depth in its taste and I found a dusty flavor.  E has a yucky bitterness that I tasted in the back of my mouth.  F is similar with E but much stronger.  F is the worst in taste.  I don’t want to drink any of these teas even for my casual consumption.  I am very disappointed with the result. 

Some of you who have been reading my blog might have noticed the reason of the failure.  The day when I prepared the samples six months ago was a rainy humid day.  The only cause that I can think of is humidity.  The leaves might have absorbed some moisture and I packed the leaves with humid air as well.  The moisture must have ruined the tea during the storing.  I’m sorry that I could not give you the answer for this subject.  But, from this experiment, I can say that it does not matter where you store tea if you pack it on a humid day.  Moisture is a very negative factor for tea storing.  So please avoid packing tea in a humid day.

I’ll try to do the same experiment again to check if I can get different results next spring.

Experimenting for the best recipe on high quality sencha

The manager of the temporal café I worked last Saturday said that somehow the tea was not in the best condition.  So, he re-dried the tea before we used at the café.    After closing the café, every staff was given a pack of the tea which is not re-dried.  It may not be as good as the tea served at the café but it’s still a high quality sencha.  I’m very happy with it.

I prepared it at home with the same way that I did at the café.  But, the taste was not good at all.  It was way different from what we served.  However, I found some possibility to acquire a better taste and it could be improved by brewing conditions.  I realized that brewing condition might not have been exactly the same.  I measured the amount of leaves and water, and the water temperature at a rough estimate.  It might be the reason.

So, today I wanted to look for the best recipe for this tea and tried brewing it in different conditions.  I used small cups.  My conditions 1.2.3 are all about the first brewing.  I used fresh leaves on each procedure.

Condition 1

This is the recipe we used at the café.  This time, I accurately measured the following conditions.

Tea leaves: 2g

Water: 40ml (1.4oz)

Temperature: 50C (122F)

Time: 2min30sec

Result

Wow, this is good.  No bitterness and very mild.  It is pretty close to what we served.  It could be a little weak.  So, I’ll try another procedure.

Condition 2

The previous one was mild so I tried a little higher temperature and shorter time.

Tea leaves: 2g

Water: 40ml (1.4oz)

Temperature: 60C (140F)

Time: 2min00sec

Result

It got better.  This has a more refined body of taste, with a slight bitterness.  This is a good recipe but I wanted to look for better taste with mellowness.  I tried another procedure.

Condition 3

I wanted mellower tea with full of sweetness.  Condition 1 had good flavor but it was a little weak.  So, this time, I used the same condition as the first one but with more leaves.

Tea leaves: 2.5g

Water: 40ml (1.4oz)

Temperature: 50C (122F)

Time: 2min30sec

Result

Excellent!  It was what I was looking for.  It doesn’t have any bitterness.  Umami and sweetness filled my mouth.  I’m sure I can impress people with this recipe.

When you prepare high quality sencha with small amount, a slight difference in the brewing condition affects the taste.  I realized it again that you should be sensitive about the conditions for high grade teas.  I encourage you to look for your best recipe with your premium teas.  It’s really fun!

This is how much 2.5g leaves look like on my spoon

How long do tea whisks last?

Sooner or later, the tines of tea whisks get broken.  When you get too many broken tines, it is the time to replace the whisk.  I wanted to show you a good example with many broken tines, but I could not find one.  The picture below illustrates a broken tine on my whisk.

My tea master has several whisks and they are frequently used in tea lessons.  She says that whisks last about one year or less.  I don’t prepare matcha at home that often, so I believe that I’m using the same tea whisk more than three years. 

It is difficult to determine its lifespan just by its term of use.  It pretty much depends on how often you use it and how you treat it.  In my opinion, it is okay to use a whisk with some broken tines at home for private use, but if you serve tea for some other people, you would not like to use a ragged one, with many broken tines.

I had some other questions about treating tea whisks from my blog readers.  There might be different opinions over treating tea whisks, but these are the answers that I heard from my master:

Question 1:  Should we "season" our whisks after opening a new one by soaking them for an amount of time?

Answer:  No need.  Just have it wet before each use

Question 2:  Some people advice to put it on a ceramic whisk stand after washing to dry up there.  Do you think this is better than hanging it or the same?

Answer:  Yes, it is better to use a whisk stand if you have one.  Over time, the opening angle of the tines gradually narrows and the figure of the whisk is getting thinner.  Keeping it on a whisk stand can prevent the narrowing. 

I, myself have a whisk stand, but I’m not using it.  So, I really don’t know how effective it is.  Some people are using the stands and some are not.

My debut as a Japanese tea adviser

Nishio in Aichi prefecture is one of the biggest matcha-producing regions in Japan.  Last Saturday, I joined a tea event held in Nishio.  Japanese Tea Instructor Association has a booth and we opened a café serving high quality sencha, which is a higher-ranking winner at a tea fair.   This was the first time for me to prepare tea as a Japanese tea adviser in public. 

At the café, we don’t only take the tea set to every table like what a waiter does; but we also prepare and serve the tea in front of guests.  Moreover, we also gave a little instruction with some tips for brewing delicious tea as we demonstrate the most difficult part of it.

Let me introduce the recipe that we used.  It was different from ordinary sencha preparation.  To bring out mellowness and richness of this high quality sencha, we used a small sencha cup and brewed it with lukewarm water. 

Tea leaves: 2g

Water 40ml (1.4oz)

Water temperature: 50C (122F)

Brewing time: 2min30sec

I attended a preliminary meeting to practice the procedures and instructions.   I also did imaginary rehearsals everyday at home.  I prepared well for the serving at the café.

It was raining on that day, but many people visited the event as well as our café.  At that time, my debut has finally come.  I walked with the tea set towards the table of my first guests who were two gentlemen.  I welcomed them with a greeting.  I started to prepare the tea and explained some tips as I practiced.  But, one of them said “I don’t need any instructions. Just serve it for me.”  He gave me his business card and it says he is a president of some kind of tea industry association.  Wow, I realized that it's no longer necessary to teach a fish how to swim!   I said “O.. Okay, as you wish, sir.”   It was such an awkward debut in public, hahaha(^^;;

Treating chasen

I’m sure that people reading this blog know what this item is for.  Yes, it’s a chasen, tea whisk.  It is use to mix matcha powder and hot water in a tea bowl.  But, do you know of any correct way of treating this utensil?  Which do you think is the right way of positioning the tea whisk among the three pictures above?

The tines are fragile.  Careless treating may shorten its lifespan.  If you think from the aspect of safekeeping tines, you will naturally see the answer.  Yes, the answer is “C”.  Tea whisk is usually kept standing upright, in a tea ceremony as well.  Resting it on tines may damage them.

Another tip is leaving the tea whisk in water for about 30 min before each use, if possible.  Soaking will make it more elastic, less likely to break, and of course just last longer.

After use, wash it with water and air dry well to prevent molding.  Keep it standing or hanging even in storing.  Take a look at a picture below.  What can you observe about the tea whisks?  It may not seem to be apparent on the picture, but in the tea preparation room, there is actually a straight-shaped hook where you can insert the tea whisk for storage.