Monday, February 27, 2012

Tea brewed in boiling water


How do you imagine tea brewed in boiling water taste like?  I found such method in a book.  This method is putting leaves into boiling water to brew, instead of pouring hot water into a teapot with leaves.  It is as descriptive as it says …

“The tea has a rich aroma and color with strong bitterness.  You will find a basic flavor of sencha.  It might be a little too bitter for people who are used to contemporary tea.  You taste sweetness after 2-3 minutes.” 

The description is a little ambiguous to me and I wonder a little.  Why is it referred to as basic tea?  What does contemporary tea means?  You could understand the last statement as “You will have a sweet aftertaste in time” or “The tea in the cup gradually gets sweeter in time”.  Anyhow, I know the tea gets very bitter from my experience, but I was also curious about its actual taste. 

The book doesn’t have a detailed instruction so I assumed the amount of ingredients and brewing time from its context and photos.  This time, I tried conditions as follows;

Tea leaf:  Kabusecha (6g)
Water: 70ml
Brewing time: 45sec

I don’t have a teapot that I can use on fire.  Instead, I used a small pan.  I boiled water in it, and I threw the leaves into the gently boiling water.  The leaves absorbed the water quickly and they kept boiling.  I was planning to brew them for a minute but as I was watching the pan, I realized that it would be too long.  So, I took out the pan from the fire at 45sec.  I poured tea into a cup with the use of a strainer.  It looks very strong, doesn’t it?   I’ll write about it on the next entry.  


2 comments:

  1. Oh man, that sounds weird. Tell me how it goes. It looks like it's going to be really REALLY bitter.

    Speaking of Japanese tea, I just tried a really disappointing flavoured sencha. :c

    http://sagacitea.blogspot.com/2012/02/pear-n-plum-herbal-republic.html

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    1. I have visited your blog. I admire how you describe the tea with uniqe expression. I wish I could write like you. I’ll keep studying Englishヽ(^。^)ノ
      I'll write my tea review on the next post!

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