Want To Start Drinking Green Tea? Learn How To Brew It Properly

People start drinking green tea for a lot of different reasons. Maybe you want to lower your caffeine consumption, invest in your health and wellness, or are just looking for something new in your morning routine. Regardless of your motivation, if you're just starting on a journey with drinking green tea, you're in for a world of surprises. Because while all green tea does come from one single plant, the way you brew it differs with each kind of green tea. And brewing your tea correctly is the key to a perfectly comforting, delicious cup.

To unravel the mystery of brewing green tea, we turned to Jee Choe, coffee and tea sommelier and creator of "Oh, How Civilized Blog." She explained the reason why different green teas brew differently has to do with how the tea is processed. Matcha and bagged green tea are made differently, for instance.

"The more delicate the green tea (like sencha), the shorter the steep time should be and lower the water temperature. The more the tea has been processed, the longer the steep time and higher water temperature can be used, as in the case with hojicha and gunpowder," Choe said.

Green tea is one of the more tricky teas to brew, according to Jee Choe, and the two things you need to get right to avoid brewing a bitter cup of green tea are water temperature and brew time.

"It can easily get bitter quickly if it's steeped for too long or if boiling hot water is used," Choe said. "Always look at the tea packaging for ideal brew time and water temperature. As a general rule of thumb, I don't steep green tea for more than three minutes and never use boiling hot water."

Of course, that rule of thumb goes for bagged and loose-leaf green tea. You have to use a totally different process for making matcha, especially if you're doing it the traditional way — mixing the green tea powder with hot water in a chawan bowl with a bamboo whisk until it's frothy.

"The most essential part of this method is to whisk the matcha to get rid of any clumps," said Choe. "For the ultimate matcha drinking experience, get a chanwan bowl, which is a wide bowl with a flat bottom, a sifter to sift matcha to prevent clumps, a bamboo whisk, and an electric kettle with a water temperature setting to make sure the water isn't too hot."