Quote:
Originally Posted by Skybird
Do not - never any tea! - brew it with hot boiling water that still produces bubbles - let it cool down a bit, 1-2 minutes. That boiling water tip is BS advice from teabag producers not knowing their stuff. Use loose tea, and ask for as good one - the differences in different green teas are very very huge. Brew it very short only. 2 Minutes, not more. It shall not taste strong, and it shall not get bitter, which it easily does.
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Very good advice also! This is another reason that green tea has a bad name - it's simply brewed the wrong way by a lot of people. You can't do it with water that's still boiling, and you can't brew en masse and hold it for a long time. Knowing those two things alone makes for better green tea. Naturally, at a lot of restaurants, they don't do that due to the demands of mass service, and you end up with mediocre tea. Or if it comes in bags - bad tea that's often full of filler (think wood chips or seed skins from rice).
My own conversion to tea happened 3-4 years ago when I was educated on how to buy, brew and serve it right. Green tea, red/brown tea, white tea, flower/fruit teas - they are all awesome in their own ways, but require the right approach. That doesn't mean you need to learn the tea ceremony to appreciate them, but brewing them right will make a lot of difference.