How to brew tea (A)

This page introduces how to brew the following types of tea.

Target tea

Pu-erh raw tea
White Tea

The above teas are available in the following ways:

For beginners/How to brew for large groups
Advanced method (Kung Fu method)
Brewing with a glass
How to make cold brew
Recommended brewing method for those who want to limit caffeine

We will introduce them in order.

1. Brewing method for beginners/for large groups

The brewing method for beginners is to use a teapot with a practical capacity of around 300ml.

At HOJO, we mainly offer teas that are rich in minerals and polyphenols. The higher the temperature, the more efficiently the polyphenols are extracted, so brewing with boiling water is the best way to do it.

If the tea has a strong bitter taste, lowering the temperature slightly will reduce the bitterness because the bitter component caffeine will be less likely to be extracted.

There are many different types of teapots, including those for Chinese tea, Japanese tea, and black tea, but as long as you are mindful of the material, they can be used in any tea room.

Materials used for teapots and teacups
Pottery: It is often thought that ceramic teapots improve the taste, but surprisingly, more than half of ceramic teapots have a bitter taste that cancels out the richness of the tea. If you feel that the taste lacks depth, it may be that the teapot is the cause, so you need to be careful. Porcelain and glass: It is often thought that porcelain and glass are neutral and do not affect the taste, but leaching tests have shown that minerals are leached out from them, and in fact, they have a significant effect on the taste of tea. The more you drink high-quality tea, the more carefully you need to choose your materials. Regardless of the type of ingredients, be sure to choose them with the understanding that the quality will affect the taste. For more information, please refer to "How to Choose a Teapot and Teacup." How to choose a teapot and teacup >
Water temperature
100℃ (boiling water) Use water that has been boiling for about 3 to 5 minutes. By continuing to boil for a while, the calcium bicarbonate in the water will change into calcium carbonate, making the tea taste sweeter.
Amount of water and tea leaves
Amount of water: 300ml (practical capacity) Amount of tea leaves: 3-5g Please adjust the amount of water and tea leaves to your liking using the above guidelines as a guide. Pu-erh tea is a tea that can be brewed multiple times. As a guideline, 5g can be used to brew 1 liter (or more) of tea. As another guideline, 2-3g of tea is appropriate for 1-2 people, and 5g for 3-4 people.
Step 1: Warm the teapot
Pour boiling water into the teapot and preheat it (let it stand for 10 seconds). Once the teapot is sufficiently warm, pour out the water and empty the teapot. *Putting in as much hot water as possible will allow the teapot to preheat properly.
Step 2: Preheat the tea leaves
By passing the tea leaves through boiling water once, the tea leaves are preheated and the temperature of the hot water is prevented from dropping. Pour in boiling water and preheat for 10 seconds. Discard the preheated water and brew the first infusion immediately (the temperature will drop if there is a gap). *You can skip this preheating step until you get used to it. Preheating the water and raising the temperature will make the tea more flavorful and clear.
Step 3: Brew the tea
The infusion (steaming) time after adding hot water is as follows. First brew: 1 minute (about 2 minutes for mature tea) Second and subsequent brews: within a few seconds to 10 seconds The first brew requires time to let the tea leaves open. Please adjust the time to your liking. If you preheat the tea leaves by running hot water over them, the flavor and aroma will come out in 1 minute, but if you do not preheat the tea leaves, you will need to let them steep for 2 minutes or more. To stabilize the aroma and flavor of the tea, use a teapot or similar and combine the first and second brews to achieve the perfect strength. From the second brew onwards, the tea leaves have opened up, so even a few seconds of steeping time will bring out the full flavour. Chahai (Taiwanese tea utensils)

2. Advanced (Kung Fu) Style

The Gongfu style is called Kung Fu style bubble tea in Chinese, and is a brewing method that was developed to make the high-quality Phoenix Single Cong Oolong tea in Chaozhou, Guangdong province more delicious.

By using a relatively small amount of water and brewing the tea at "high temperature for a short time," we can enhance the uniformity of the aroma and the clarity of the flavor.

Because each step needs to be done quickly, a gaiwan, hohin, shiboridashi, or a small kyusu (teapot) which has a fast flow rate (the speed at which the tea is poured) is suitable for this method of brewing.

Lid (Taiwan tea utensils)

Water used
Water that has been passed through a water purifier (tap water) Or mineral water *If you use tap water, use a water purifier with an activated carbon filter to remove chlorine from the water.
Boiling water
○ Recommended water heaters Stainless steel kettle Stainless steel electric kettle Electric kettle with heat retention function (e.g. Tiger, Zojirushi, etc.) △ Boiling water requires caution Care must be taken when choosing an iron kettle as it will not match the material of the teapot. ×Water boilers that you should avoid using Avoid using earthenware, copper, aluminum, brass, or silver kettles as they contain metal ions that will make the taste flat. Although clay pots are very stylish, many of them have a negative effect on the taste of the tea, so we do not recommend using them.
Materials of teapots and teacups
Ceramic teapots are often thought to improve the taste of tea, but surprisingly, the majority of ceramic teapots have a bitter taste that cancels out the richness of the tea. If you feel that the tea lacks depth in flavor, it may be due to the teapot, so you need to be careful. Porcelain and glass It is often thought that porcelain and glass are neutral and do not affect the taste, but it has been found that minerals are eluted when elution tests are conducted, and in fact, they have a significant effect on the taste of tea. The more you drink high-quality tea, the more carefully you need to choose the material. * Regardless of the type of ingredients, please choose your ingredients with the understanding that the quality will affect the taste. For more information, please refer to "How to Choose a Teapot and Teacups". How to choose a teapot and teacup >
Volume of tea utensils
When brewing using this method, a teapot with a volume of approximately 200ml or less is suitable.
Water temperature
100℃ (boiling water) Use water that has been boiling for about 3 to 5 minutes. By continuing to boil for a while, the calcium bicarbonate in the water will change into calcium carbonate, making the tea taste sweeter.
Amount of tea leaves
3-5g (regardless of the amount of water) Adjust the amount of tea leaves according to your preference (light or strong). Pu-erh tea is a tea that can be brewed multiple times. *As a guideline, 5g can be used to brew 1 liter (or more) of tea.
Step 1: Raise the temperature of the teapot
Pour boiling water into the teapot and warm it up (let it stand for 10 seconds). Once the teapot is sufficiently warm, pour out the water and empty the teapot.
Step 2: Raise the temperature of the tea leaves (washing tea)
Washing tea (preheating tea leaves) Pour boiling water into the teapot containing the tea leaves, preheat for 10 seconds the first time, then quickly pour out the water. For tea that has been compressed, such as Pu-erh tea, preheat for 10 seconds the second time, and for loose tea (mocha) such as Oolong tea or Pu-erh tea, preheat for 5 seconds and pour out the hot water quickly (for loose tea, preheat for 5 seconds the second time). To avoid a drop in temperature, pour the hot water quickly from a low position, without letting it come into direct contact with the tea leaves. Pu-erh tea is solidified and needs to be boiled twice to increase the temperature inside the tea leaves.
Step 3: Brew the tea
The infusion (steaming) time after adding hot water is as follows. First brew: 5-10 seconds From the second brew onwards: a few seconds To stabilize the aroma and flavor of the tea, use a teapot or similar and combine the first and second brews to achieve the perfect strength. Using this method, you can brew more than six cups of tea.
Notes
Please pour out all the tea so that there is no hot water left in the teapot. If you leave the teapot with hot water remaining, the tea leaves will continue to be extracted by the hot water, and from the second brewing onwards not only will the flavor become very strong, but the tea leaves will also oxidize. To adjust the strength of your tea, change the amount of tea leaves, not the steeping time. *After pouring out the hot water, remove the lid and allow the tea leaves to cool. Cooling prevents oxidation and keeps the tea leaves fresh.

3. Brewing using a glass

Brewing tea using a glass (free cup, mug) is very convenient for quickly brewing tea. In order to observe the tea leaves well, we recommend a straight, simple glass without a pattern. In addition, colored glass (including light green or blue) is not recommended as it adversely affects the taste.

When pouring hot water into the teapot, the tea leaves do not sink easily, so pour the hot water in two stages when brewing tea.

By pouring in a small amount of hot water at first, the tea leaves can absorb enough water and sink easily. Then, by pouring in the required amount of hot water, you can efficiently extract the aroma and flavor from the tea leaves.

Water used
Water that has been passed through a water purifier (tap water) Or mineral water *If you use tap water, use a water purifier with an activated carbon filter to remove chlorine from the water.
Boiling water
○ Recommended water heaters Stainless steel kettle Stainless steel electric kettle Electric kettle with heat retention function (e.g. Tiger, Zojirushi, etc.) △ Boiling water requires caution Care must be taken when choosing an iron kettle as it will not match the material of the teapot. ×Water boilers that you should avoid using Avoid using earthenware, copper, aluminum, brass, or silver kettles as they contain metal ions that will make the taste flat. Although clay pots are very stylish, many of them have a negative effect on the taste of the tea, so we do not recommend using them.
glass
The glass does not have to be heat-resistant to withstand boiling water. Colored glass or crystal will affect the taste, so use colorless, transparent glass. Furthermore, unleaded crystal often goes well with the flavor. * Regardless of the type of ingredients, please choose your ingredients with the understanding that the quality will affect the taste. *For more information, please refer to "How to Choose a Teapot and Teacup." How to choose a teapot and teacup >
Water temperature
100℃ (boiling water) Use water that has been boiling for about 3 to 5 minutes. By continuing to boil the water for a while, the calcium bicarbonate in the water will change to calcium carbonate, making the tea taste sweeter.
Amount of water and tea leaves
Amount of water: 150-200ml (practical capacity) Amount of tea leaves: 2-3g Please prepare 3g of tea leaves for one long glass containing approximately 150ml of hot water. Please adjust the amount of water and tea leaves to your liking using the above guidelines as a guide.
Step 1: Place the tea leaves in the glass
Place tea leaves in a glass that has been preheated in boiling water for 10 seconds. By increasing the temperature of the glass, you can maintain a constant temperature when brewing tea. Place 2-3g of tea leaves into a preheated long glass.
Step 2: Pour in hot water
Pour in the boiling water slowly and gently. There is no need to lower the temperature as it drops quickly. The amount of water should be 1/3 of the glass, or enough to cover the tea leaves. Gently swirl the glass to allow the hot water to soak into the tea leaves. First, pour in about one-third of the water.
Step 3: Pour in the remaining water
Continue pouring in the remaining water. Let steep for 2-3 minutes and then enjoy your tea. When the tea leaves have mixed with the water, pour hot water into the long glass until it is 80% full. Wait for 2-3 minutes.
Supplementary Information
If the flavor is too strong, add more boiling water. If you add more hot water when the glass is about one-third full, the flavor will not become diluted and you can enjoy the relatively strong aroma for a long time. This tea can be brewed up to three times. Enjoy the refreshing green aroma and flavor in the first brew, and the sweet, rich flavor in the second brew. Tea brewed from the third brew onwards will have a milder aroma, but you can still enjoy the refreshing feeling that lingers in your mouth.

4. How to make cold brew

Please refer to this article for information on how to make water brewing.

How to make cold brewed jasmine tea that even children can easily do >

Water used
Water that has been boiled once and cooled By boiling the water once, the calcium bicarbonate in it changes to calcium carbonate, bringing out the sweetness and aroma. Please be sure to use water that has had chlorine removed. *If you use tap water, the taste will be slightly watery.
Amount of tea leaves
5g per liter
Infusion time
After 4-6 hours in the refrigerator, remove the tea leaves. *If it becomes too thick, dilute it with water.
Storage method
Please store in the refrigerator (around 5°C). *Using the above method, it is possible to maintain freshness for up to 3 days.

5. Recommended brewing method for those who want to reduce caffeine

Caffeine is easily extracted when the water temperature is 80°C or higher, but is difficult to extract when the water temperature is below 80°C.

By utilizing this property, it is possible to brew tea with as little caffeine as possible.

Specifically, you make cold-brewed tea using cooled boiled water. However, the key is to make a strong tea concentrate (5 times concentrated) by steeping it for a long time using a small amount of water.

The method is to dilute the concentrate with boiling water in the same way as Calpis and make tea. By applying this method, you can make delicious tea that tastes like it was freshly brewed not only at home but also at work.

Please also refer to the following article.

How to enjoy tea brewed at home at work >

Water used
Water that has been boiled once and cooled By boiling the water once, the calcium bicarbonate in it changes to calcium carbonate, bringing out the sweetness and aroma. Please be sure to use water that has had chlorine removed. *If you use tap water, the taste will be slightly watery.
Amount of tea leaves
5g per 100-200ml
Infusion time
Refrigerate or store at room temperature for 4-6 hours
How to drink
Brew the tea by diluting the extracted tea by five times in the same way as Calpis. Please use boiled hot water.

Enriching your life with tea

Our goal is to convey the charm of authentic Japanese tea to people all over the world and to spread the culture of enjoying tea in everyday life.
By working with artisans who have inherited traditional craft techniques and providing carefully crafted tea utensils, we aim to make tea time richer and more special.

Carefully selected tea leaves and tea utensils

Our tea experts partner with tea plantations all over the world and provide tea that makes the most of the unique characteristics of each region.

We also stock special items such as Nanbu ironware teapots, which are renowned worldwide.

A lifestyle with tea

We don't just sell tea and tea utensils, we propose a lifestyle that includes tea.
The physical store offers tea tastings and experiential workshops, providing a place where you can experience the profound depth of Japanese tea.