Brewing method 1: The relationship of temperature and taste component infusion
Roughly divided, green tea’s flavor consists of four taste elements: umami, sweet, astringent, and bitter. The hot water’s temperature can markedly change the amounts of the taste elements extracted from the tea. The astringent element, catechins, and the bitter element, caffeine, are extracted in greater amounts by water at higher temperature. In contrast, their extraction at lower temperatures is more difficult, and one portion of the catechins is barely extracted at all.
The extraction targets, umami components consisting of amino acids, are readily extracted not only at high temperatures but at low temperatures as well. Similarly, the longer the extraction time, the more is extracted.
Speaking generally, when brewing green tea, lower temperatures tend to bring out more umami, while higher temperatures make for stronger astringency and bitterness. In addition, the temperature of the hot water can change not just taste components but aroma as well. Hotter water tends to bring out a stronger aroma.。
The relationship of temperature and taste component infusion
| Taste components | Low temp.(60〜80℃) | High temp.(90〜100℃) |
|---|---|---|
| Umami, Sweet (Amino acids) | Easy to extract | Easy to extract |
| Astringent (Catechins) | Difficult to extract | Easy to extract |
| Bitter (Caffeine) | Slow to extract | Fast to extract |
| Aroma components | Few | Many |
The higher the quality of the tea leaves, the larger amounts of amino acids and catechins they tend to contain. For this reason, extraction at higher temperatures will cause the amino acids and catechins to cancel each other out, and will harm the high-quality tea’s especially concentrated umami. Therefore, it should be brewed at lower temperatures.
Brewing method 2: Brewing to taste
One of tea’s special characteristics that is absent from other drinks is the ability of a single tea product to transform to different flavors depending on differences in the brewing method. Even with Sencha, the most widely consumed of Japanese teas, the better the quality, the more effective is the infusion. This means that enough taste components can be extracted at a minimum two or three times from the same tea leaves. And according to each step as the tea leaves gradually open during the first infusion, then the second infusion, one can enjoy varied tastes from a single batch of infused tea leaves by changing the water temperature and the brewing time.
The following figure gives an example of tasting three different types of flavors when brewing high-quality Sencha.
The first brew brings out the umami with a low temperature
The second brew is at a slightly higher temperature and has a light umami and bitterness.
Third brew is at a high temperature, for aroma and to taste refreshing astringency and bitterness.
With one batch of tea leaves, three types of tastes can be savored. This is the biggest difference from fermented black tea.
Brewing method 3: Brewing suitable to each tea product
Taste components within the tea leaves vary depending upon the tea type and quality. For this reason, the brewing details must be adjusted to suit the various tea products. When doing so, the key is to balance three elements: temperature, infusion time, and amount of water.
Generally, if the tea leaves are of high quality, they tend to do best with little water, low temperature, and a long infusion time. When tea pottery such as small tea pots and tea bowls are used with high-quality tea, their small size is well matched to the small amount of water needed to infuse these teas.
※The taste of green tea is different depending on the product and grade.
After finding your favorite tea, find its best taste by learning the brewing method.
