How to Brew Sencha: Temperature, Time & The 3 Mistakes Everyone Makes

Sencha accounts for roughly 80% of all tea produced in Japan. It is also the most misbrewed green tea in the West. The reason is simple: the brewing window is narrow. Three degrees too hot, and the catechins turn bitter. Thirty seconds too long, and the umami collapses.

Here is the method we use at our shop.

What you need

• 5g sencha (about 1.5 teaspoons)

• 200ml water at 70–75°C

• A kyusu (side-handled teapot) or a Monami 600ml cast iron teapot

• A 120ml cup (a cast iron cup works beautifully)

The method

1. Warm the pot. Pour a little hot water in, swirl, discard.

2. Add the leaf. 5g of sencha into the warmed pot.

3. Pour the water. Bring fresh water to a boil, then pour into a separate vessel to drop the temperature to 70–75°C. (Boiling water is 100°C; pouring from height drops it ~10°C; using a yuzamashi drops it the rest.)

4. Steep 60 seconds. Set a timer. The first steep should be short.

5. Pour evenly into two cups, alternating — this equalises the strength.

The three mistakes

1. Water too hot

Anything over 80°C will scorch the leaf and turn the brew bitter. Never pour boiling water directly onto sencha. If you do not have a thermometer, boil the water then let it sit for 90 seconds — that brings most kettles down to ~80°C.

2. Leaf quantity off

If your sencha tastes weak, use more leaf — not more time. The opposite of black tea.

3. Skipping the second steep

Sencha gives you three steeps. The second steep (10 seconds, slightly cooler water) is the sweet spot — softer, rounder, more umami.

What teapot to use

A cast iron teapot is fine for sencha, with one caveat: cast iron retains heat, so you may want to slightly drop your starting temperature to 68°C to compensate. A ceramic kyusu is more forgiving for beginners.

Try with our organic green tea 100g and the Japanese Classic 600ml teapot .