Curious how to properly brew green tea? Wondering why your home-brewed green tea always tastes bitter?

Unfortunately, we’ve been reduced to thinking green tea tastes awful and is always bitter. There’s a better way to brew it — no bags, only whole leaves for the best tasting brew!

Here’s the rundown to get you to better-tasting green tea, and the health benefits associated with it.

When it comes to brewing any tea, it’s all about tea, time and temperature!

Get yourself some good, whole leaf green tea. We sell green teas from Japan, Korea, China and Vietnam. We’ve found that several of these are excellent chilled.

Chilled brew

Try our Che Xanh or Sencha chilled for a refreshing, light alternative. Per 1 quart container, add 4 heaping tablespoons of whole leaf green tea. Use filtered, cold water. Steep for 2 hours in the refrigerator. I’ve steeped longer (overnight!) by accident and it still comes out fine, just stronger in flavor. Strain brew into another container. Add fresh garden mint leaves or a lemon slices if you like.

Hot water brewing

Remember it’s all about the type of tea, temperature, and not over steeping – tea, time and temperature.

Tools: Pot to boil water, 2 mugs and/or a Pyrex pitcher, tablespoon, small strainer

• Boil water in pot on stove (no microwave!) And it needs to boil before it’s usable.
• Let it cool in Pyrex pitcher or mug for 5 mins. Green teas vary and are usually between 60 – 85ºC/140ºF-185ºF. We put specific brew temperature and time for each tea on the bags when you buy them.
• Take 1 tablespoon of tea and put in 6-8 oz. brewing vessel/mug
• Pour cooled water from Pyrex/mug over tea and steep for 1-2 minutes (shorter for Japanese)
• Using a strainer, pour tea out of mug into other mug, straining out the leaves. Don’t let the leaves sit in water after brewing/straining, otherwise you’ll have bitter tea.
• Drink tea
• Brew a second and third cup by steeping the same leaves, for up to 2 minutes.

Keep the sweeteners away – when you get accustomed to the taste of green tea in its natural, healthy, un-adulterated state, you’ll wonder why you did add sweetener previously! Save the cooled, damp green tea leaves to use on your eyelids to reduce wrinkles.

The following is research and compiled reports on the benefits of green tea. Drink up!

10 Reasons to drink Green Tea – Dr Weil