I will be starting up a blog specifically for green tea in the near future when my wife and I open our green tea store. In the meantime, I get a number of questions about green tea quality as well as how to brew green tea. In particular, I get a lot of questions as to how hot the water should be for green tea and how long you should steep the leaves.
On tea websites, you will usually find directions on water temperature and steeping time for each green tea. For green tea, you tend to keep the water temperature lower than you do for other teas like oolong and black tea. Green tea leaves are a bit more sensitive and higher water temperatures will tend to damage the leaves.
Water Temperature: I tend to heat the water until I see steam. When I see steam rising from the water or bubbles forming at the bottom of the water, I stop heating it.
Steeping Time: For smaller, more delicate green tea leaves: no more than 2 min. For larger green tea leaves: closer to 2.5 - 3 min. If doing multiple infusion, I will usually add an additional 30 seconds to each extra infusion.
So, let's take some examples:
- Gyokuro, Sencha, Pi Lo Chun : These smaller and more delicate green tea leaves probably only require 1.5 - 2 minutes for the first infusion and then maybe 2 - 2.5 minutes for the second infusion and 2.5 - 3 minutes for the 3rd infusion.
- Dragon Well Lung Ching, Emerald Petals : Larger tea leaves that require addtional brewing time. I might start at 2.5 minutes for the first infusion and then add another 30 seconds for each additional infusion.
There is no rocket science here. It is totally based on taste. However, if you get the water too hot or steep it too long you will get a definite bitterness, which is essentially what you are trying to avoid.
Display teas, such as Dragon Pearls, Jasmine Pearls, Green Peony, etc. often need a longer steeping time because the leaves need to unfurl to impart their flavor. Therefore, at a minimum you will want to treat them like larger tea leaves.