The year green tea started becoming popular I tried it for the first time. My instant reaction was something like ‘yeooouuucchhhh’. I didn’t finish the cup. It was just horrid. How on earth could people be drinking this stuff? It’s got to be just for the health benefits right? Surely they don’t enjoy it…
I’m quite happy to break it to you; I was just making green tea wrong and chances are you have been too. If that’s you, you probably don’t like the taste. You find it astringent and dry in the mouth. You might even describe it as bitter. Granted some of this will come down to the tea that you choose, but before you push it to the back of the cupboard, let me show you how to make green tea that you’ll actually enjoy drinking.
A bit like making the perfect cup of coffee, there are three variables to master: tea, temperature, and time.
Tea
To start with, loose leaf is always the better option. Low grade tea is almost always destined for tea bags and most of the time, the contents are ‘dust and fannings’ – the sweepings from the factory floor once all the higher grade tea leaves have been sorted and processed. Not nice.
I finally mastered green tea using Jing’s organic Jade Sword (and a little help from one of their experts), it’s really light and not vegetal at all so is great for green tea ‘novices’ to try.
Temperature
The water should always be below 80 degrees Celcius. Always. Certain teas might even need something as low as 70 degrees Celcius to bring out their best flavours. The best way to gauge this the first time is to boil the kettle and set a timer going as soon as it ‘clicks’ off. Then use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature every so often. Once the water has reached the desired temperature stop the timer. Now you know how long you need to wait each time.
Time
3 minutes brew time at the most. Don’t even be tempted to leave it any longer, you’ll spoil a perfect cup.
That’s it. Sip the green tea and be sure to balance out all the health benefits with an oaty biscuit.
Hannah says
Wow – I’ve always thought I’ve hated the taste of green tea but I must have just been making it wrong all of these years!
ninegrandstudent says
Will definitely try out these tips! x
NINEGRANDSTUDENT: A Student Lifestyle Blog
Lizzy says
I tried to drink a cup of green tea once and absolutely hated it, so much so that I couldn’t even stand the smell of it! These tips are great- maybe I will have to give it a go again.
Lizzy from Nomad Notebook
Sandra A says
Yep, i’ve been doing this green tea thingmall wrong -need to give this method a go! Xx
http://www.sandrasayswhynot.blogspot.com