The basic way to make a cup of Sencha

In the Tea Video Letter #7-1~7-4, I introduce the basic example of how to make a cup of Sencha, Hojicha, Gyokuro and Matcha at home. In this article, I make the video #7-1 Sencha into the writing form with the pictures(screenshots). I added a few tips as well, so I wish it would be helpful. 

Sencha for 1 person : I tried with the amount of tea leaves and quantity of water below. But this is only an example. The best way for each tea should be different by the tea you make or your taste. When I use the new tea leaves for the tea gathering, I always try with several ways and adjust for the best taste. If the Sencha has a great quality, you can try with more leaves(for example 4-5 g), same quantity of water (100 ml), lower temperature of hot water (60 - 65℃) and longer extraction time (90 sec.) (like the Gyokuro way).

Utensils : 急須 Kyusu (tea pot), 茶碗 Chawan (teacup), 湯冷まし Yuzamashi (to cool down the boiled water), やかん Yakan / 湯沸かし Yuwakashi (kettle), 計量カップ Keiryou cup (measure), 温度計 Ondokei (thermometer), 蓋置 Futaoki (lid rest), 茶巾 Chakin / 盆巾 Bonkin (tea cloths), 建水 Kensui (waste water container), 茶葉 Chaba (tea leaves) ※The bamboo tea measure used is called 茶合 Sagou.

First Cup !

1.Boil water.  2.Warm Kyusu up  3.Measure the quantity of hot water and use Yuzamashi for cooling down the boiled water  

4.Warm Chawan up.  5.Put Chaba into the empty Kyusu.  6.Pour hot water into Kyusu.  9. Wait for the extraction time.

10. When the extraction time is almost coming, pour out hot water in Chawan into Kensui.  11. Serve the first cup of tea.

＊

Second Cup!

About water, Kyusu (tea pot), Chawan (teacup) ...

☆Water ...

・Make sure you boil water first then cool it off to the right temperature. The taste of water will be better in the way because the bad components like chlorine evaporates. But boiling the (same) water again and again is not good either because the good components would evaporate.

・Why Iron kettles are not used in Sencha-do? : First of all, you should understand that Matcha and Sencha are two different beverages. Matcha (powdered tea) is made by grinding the tea leaves, dissolving the powdered tea with boiled water and whisking it. It means you consume all the leaves by drinking Matcha. And Sencha is made by pouring hot water onto tea leaves and extracting 旨味 Umami, 香り Kaori (fragrance), 甘味 Amami (sweetness) or 渋み Shibumi (astringency). You drink only the tea extracting. I say the taste of Sencha is more delicate, therefore, you better pay attention of water more. It is inevitable that the utensils or water which would marry are different by the tea. 

・In Sencha-do there are two main combinations of kettle and stove : one is ボーフラ Bofura and 涼炉 Ryoro, the other is 銀瓶 Ginbin and 瓶掛 Binkake.　 

・Soft water vs Hard water : I have written that I like the soft water, 軟水 Nansui better in the video, but I found the article which says for Sencha, the hard water 硬水 Kousui is better. I need to search and test more to find out ☺

☆Kyusu ... 

・Select the right size of Kyusu for the amount of tea you'd like to make.

・Pay attention to its straining net. It's better to be the same material as Kyusu itself, for example ceramic or porcelain. And it is better the Kyusu has the fine meshes in my opinion. But for 深蒸し茶/深蒸し煎茶 Fukamushi-cha / Fukamushi-Sencha, you might need to use the tea pot with the stainless straining net because the leaves of Fukamushi-cha are smaller.

・There are various Kyusu, so I wish you find the one you feel comfortable using it.

☆Chawan ...

・Drinking or serving a cup of tea with your(the guest's) favorite cup is just perfect.

But if you look for the Kyusu and Chawan which are used in Sencha-do, I recommend a simple 常滑 Tokoname Kyusu for your first tea pot and the delicate small porcelain cup which inside is white (whitish).  

☆How to preserve tea leaves ...

・Before Opening : Drink by "Best Before" date. If a long-term storage is necessary, store unopened in freezer and open after returning to room temperature.

・After Opening : Store at room temperature, keeping tightly sealed. It's better to use up within 3 weeks. Avoid exposure to high temperature and humidity, direct sunlight and strong odors.

Please ask me if there is anything you would know farther. I will try to answer your questions the best. < E-mail : yukofujimoto75@gmail.com >