Three greens we would pour first. One temperature that keeps them sweet. Everything else is patience.
The short answer
The xxxtea green collection is three picks: Teavivre Dragon Well for a first pour, Harney Japanese Sencha for every day, and Rishi Gyokuro for a slow afternoon. Brew Japanese greens at 175°F and Chinese greens at 180°F for two to three minutes. Never boiling.
The first pour
Pan-fired flat. Toasted, sweet, no grass. The Chinese standard.
From Zhejiang, the most famous green in China. It is the green that wins over people who think they dislike green tea, and it forgives a slightly hotter pour than the Japanese side.
The daily
Steamed, not fired. Grassy-sweet, faintly oceanic. Two minutes and no more.
Bright jade leaf from Uji-region farms, slightly umami. Brew it short at 170°F; past two minutes the bitterness arrives uninvited.
The slow one
Three weeks under shade. Amino acids build. Ocean-mineral, sweet, five-plus steeps.
Shading forces extra amino acids into every bud: thick and sweet, with an umami depth no unshaded green has. Brew it with water well off the boil and it gives five or six steeps.
175°F
Above 185°F the water cooks out the amino acids that make green tea sweet. Japanese greens want 175°F, Chinese greens 180°F, and two to three minutes. Then pull the leaf. Most good greens give two or three infusions; add thirty seconds each round.
Paddled flat. Then patient. Then poured.
Left in the open page. String off the edge.
Spilled the tea. The bag asked for it.
Every other green we have reviewed. 11 in all.
Two teas, one verdict, and who each one is for.
FAQ
Water too hot or a steep too long. Above 185°F the water strips out the amino acids that carry the sweetness, and past three minutes the leaf pulls drying tannins. Brew Japanese greens at 175°F, Chinese greens at 180°F, for two to three minutes.
Japanese greens like sencha and gyokuro are steamed: grassy, marine, high in umami, and sensitive to heat. Chinese greens like Dragon Well are pan-fired: nuttier, sweeter, and more forgiving of a hotter pour and a longer steep.
Yes. Most quality loose-leaf greens give two to three good infusions. Add about thirty seconds to each steep after the first. Shaded gyokuro goes further, five or six rounds.
