Green tea brewing temperature, time and amount
How to brew green tea the Japanese way: pick a tea and your cups, and get the leaf, the water, the temperature and the steeping time.
| Leaf | 4.8 to 7.2 g (about 3 teaspoons) |
|---|---|
| Water to heat | 264 ml (the leaves hold some back) |
| Water temperature | 70°C (158°F) |
| Steep | 1 min 30 s |
| Second infusion | a little hotter, about 45 seconds |
| Cooling boiled water | about 3 pours between warm cups or pots |
| Tip | Cooler water keeps it sweet; hotter water brings out bitterness. |
| Tea | Leaf per 100 ml | Water | Time | Second cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sencha, good quality | 2 to 3 g | 70°C (158°F) | 1 min 30 s | a little hotter, about 45 seconds |
| Sencha, everyday | 2 to 3 g | 90°C (194°F) | 1 min | a little hotter, about 30 seconds |
| Fukamushi (deep-steamed) sencha | 3 to 3.5 g | 70 to 80°C (158 to 176°F) | 30 seconds | about 20 seconds |
| Gyokuro | 15 to 17 g | 50 to 60°C (122 to 140°F) | 2 min 30 s | a little hotter, about 1 minute |
| Kamairicha (pan-fired, Kyushu) | 2 to 3 g | 70 to 90°C (158 to 194°F) | 1 min 30 s | a little hotter, about 45 seconds |
| Bancha | 2 to 3 g | 95 to 100°C (203 to 212°F) | 30 seconds | pour straight away |
| Hojicha (roasted) | 2 to 3 g | 95 to 100°C (203 to 212°F) | 30 seconds | pour straight away |
| Genmaicha (with roasted rice) | 2 to 3 g | 95 to 100°C (203 to 212°F) | 30 seconds | pour straight away |
| Matcha (usucha, thin tea) | 2.5 to 3.3 g | 75 to 80°C (167 to 176°F) | 15 seconds | not re-brewed |
How to use it
Most of what goes wrong with Japanese green tea comes down to three things: too much heat, too much time, or the wrong amount of leaf. This tool shows how to brew green tea for the cups you actually own. Choose the tea, the number of cups and the size of each cup in milliliters. You get:
- the leaf to use, as a range in grams and in teaspoons
- how much water to heat, including the water the wet leaves hold back
- the water temperature in °C and °F
- the steeping time, and what to do for a second infusion
- how many pours it takes to cool freshly boiled water to the right temperature
The print button prints your result together with the full chart. For more on Japanese food and drink through the year, see Food and Seasons.
How the numbers work
The figures come from the tea guide published by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). Matcha follows tea-maker guidance instead, because it is whisked rather than steeped.
Leaf is given per 100 ml of tea in the cup. The tool multiplies that by your total (cups × cup size) to get a low and a high figure. For teaspoons it takes the middle of that range and divides by 2, since a teaspoon holds about 2 g of sencha (the everyday steamed green tea of Japan).
Wet leaves soak up about 4 times their weight in water, and that water never reaches your cup. So the tool adds 4 ml for every gram of leaf to the water you heat. Matcha gets no extra, since the powder is whisked straight into the bowl.
For cooling, each pour of freshly boiled water into a warm cup or pot takes off roughly 5 to 10°C. The tool counts about 10°C a pour and rounds up; a kitchen thermometer helps the first few times.
| Tea | Leaf per 100 ml | Water | First steep | Second steep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sencha, good quality | 2-3 g | 70°C (158°F) | 90 seconds | a little hotter, about 45 seconds |
| Sencha, everyday | 2-3 g | 90°C (194°F) | 60 seconds | a little hotter, about 30 seconds |
| Fukamushi (deep-steamed sencha) | 3-3.5 g | 70-80°C (158-176°F) | 30 seconds | about 20 seconds |
| Gyokuro | 15-17 g | 50-60°C (122-140°F) | 150 seconds | a little hotter, about 1 minute |
| Kamairicha (pan-fired) | 2-3 g | 70-90°C (158-194°F) | 90 seconds | a little hotter, about 45 seconds |
| Bancha, hojicha, genmaicha | 2-3 g | 95-100°C (203-212°F) | 30 seconds | pour straight away |
| Matcha (usucha) | about 2 g in 60-80 ml | 75-80°C (167-176°F) | whisk until foamy | not re-brewed |
Gyokuro is shade-grown tea brewed with a lot of leaf in very little water. Fukamushi is steamed longer, so its leaves break into fine pieces and give up their flavor fast. Kamairicha is pan-fired rather than steamed, a style most closely tied to Kyushu (more on the region under Japan and Kyushu). Bancha uses larger, later leaves, hojicha is roasted, and genmaicha is green tea mixed with roasted rice. Usucha means "thin tea", the everyday way to whisk matcha.
A worked example
Say you want two cups of 120 ml of good sencha. That is 240 ml of tea in the cups.
- Leaf: 4.8 to 7.2 g, which is about 3 teaspoons.
- Water to heat: about 264 ml. The extra 24 ml is what roughly 6 g of leaf will hold back.
- Temperature: 70°C (158°F). From the boil, that is about 3 pours: kettle into the empty cups, cups into a jug, jug into the teapot.
- Steep for 90 seconds, then pour every last drop into the cups so the leaves are not left sitting in water.
- For the second pot, use slightly hotter water and about 45 seconds.
Gyokuro shows how different the teas are. For 3 tiny cups of 20 ml (60 ml in all) you need 9 to 10 g of leaf, water at 50 to 60°C (122 to 140°F) and 2½ minutes. The tool asks you to heat about 98 ml, because nearly 40 ml stays in the leaves.
What it can't tell you
The chart is a starting point, not a rule. Leaves vary with the harvest, the grade and how finely they are cut, and your taste matters more than any table. If a cup is bitter, lower the temperature or shorten the time next pot; if it is thin, add a little more leaf. Change one thing at a time.
The tool does not measure caffeine. More leaf, hotter water and longer steeps all pull more of it into the cup, and gyokuro and matcha are much stronger than sencha. The green tea caffeine calculator adds up a day's drinks. If you are pregnant, have trouble sleeping, have heart rhythm problems or take regular medicines, ask a doctor or pharmacist how much caffeine suits you.
Boiling water is the main hazard in a tea kitchen. A scald on a small child, or a burn on anyone that blisters over a large area, needs medical care rather than home treatment.
Questions
How do you brew green tea so it isn't bitter?
Use cooler water and a shorter steep. Good sencha at 70°C for 90 seconds tastes sweet and rounded; the same leaf at boiling point turns harsh. Too much leaf for the water also makes a bitter cup.
How long should you steep green tea?
From 30 seconds to 2½ minutes, depending on the tea: 30 seconds for fukamushi, bancha, hojicha and genmaicha, 60 seconds for everyday sencha, 90 seconds for good sencha and kamairicha, and 150 seconds for gyokuro.
What water temperature is right for green tea?
About 50 to 60°C (122 to 140°F) for gyokuro, 70°C (158°F) for good sencha, 90°C (194°F) for everyday sencha, and boiling water for roasted and late-harvest teas.
Can you use boiling water for green tea?
Yes for bancha, hojicha and genmaicha, where boiling water brings out the roasted aroma. For sencha and gyokuro, cool it first by pouring it between warm vessels.
How much leaf goes in one cup?
About 2 to 3 g per 100 ml for most teas. A 150 ml cup of sencha needs 3 to 4.5 g, just under 2 teaspoons.
Sources
- Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, guidance on brewing Japanese tea: maff.go.jp
- ITO EN, tea-maker guidance on preparing matcha (usucha)