How to Make Tea Drastically Better in Taste and Aroma

Applying a moderate amount of heat to tea raises its freshness. This firing effect can be put to work in the way you brew almost any tea.

The same principle as toasting nori

Toasting nori or dried squid for a moment brings back a very fresh aroma, as most people know. Tea behaves the same way. Brewed well, it gives a fresher aroma and a clearer taste.

The taste and aroma change with the person brewing

The method is to heat the leaves with water at 95°C, which is to say boiling water. That sounds simple, and it takes some practice. Done carelessly, the water temperature drops without fail. Tea is often said to taste different depending on who brews it, and that is exactly right: managing the water temperature is where the skill lies. Tea brewed by a beginner usually tastes watery, carries off-notes, and lacks clarity in the aroma. The temperature was not handled well. The water in the kettle may have been 100°C, but the water actually sitting on the leaves was far cooler.

Pouring boiling water is not enough on its own

Even when you pour water at 100°C, the temperature keeps falling because the leaves and the teaware are cold. Pour into an unwarmed vessel in winter and the water drops to 70–80°C. The leaves are cold as well, so the moment the water touches them it falls another 20°C or so. You think you are brewing with boiling water, and the reality is 60–70°C. That makes the following points worth attention.

How to pour

Pour from as low a position as you can, and pour quickly. Pouring from a height exposes the water to the air and cools it. Pouring slowly increases the surface area in contact with the air, which cools it the same way.

Warm the vessel first

Pour boiling water into the teapot or gaiwan and leave it for 10 seconds to warm the vessel.

Warm the leaves

The leaves themselves are very cold, so their temperature needs raising by passing boiling water over them. For oolong, pu-erh and white tea, pour and drain twice, a few seconds each time (5–6 seconds). For smaller leaves such as green tea and black tea, once is enough. Passing water over the leaves washes away a little aroma and colour, and it can feel wasteful. Weighed against the taste and aroma you gain, it is worth doing even at that small cost. Warm both the teaware and the leaves this way, then pour boiling water onto the leaves, and you get the firing effect described above. The leaves have already begun to open from the earlier pour, so this method needs no long steeping. About 10 seconds usually gives a tea of sufficient strength.