Thank you for the tip on properly brewing shincha. I always assumed it should be steeped like regular sencha, which might explain why it rarely impressed me.
I learned a lot about coffee so I could brew well, I noticed how deep things get to make good coffee. Water composition plays a big part. When you turn your water bottle to the side, you can find a table of minerals. Calcium and Magnesium ions are the main extractors, while Sodium, Potassium, and Bicarbonate act as buffers. So if you try to brew coffee with pure H2O, you won’t extract anything. The TDS recommended ranges from 125-150 mg/l. Much higher will get you an over extracted yield, much lower won’t get you much of what the coffee can offer. Some people say pH plays a role too, and that a slightly higher pH makes the solution more rounded or sweet. I personally am not so sure about what hydroxide does when brewing coffee, so I choose a water with a pH of 7.0. A good brewing water many people agree is Volvic. I found these informations in a book called “How to Make the Best Coffee at Home” by James Hoffmann, and in his TH-cam channel. The idea is that when I shifted and started to learn about tea recently, I noticed how little information there is. Could you please explain which water is best for tea? What plays a role in extracting so we know what to look for when buying certain types of water? How do the minerals and/or pH play a role in extracting what from tea? I can see you becoming the James Hoffmann of teas.
Water science doesn't seem to be stressed as much in tea as it is with coffee, but it is definitely very important, especially for these more delicate Japanese greens. This will probably be the subject of a future video and blog post as there is a lot to get into. The centuries old tea adage of 'brew with the water where the tea was grown' generally holds true though. As with coffee, Calcium and Magnesium are the main extractors, with sodium, potassium, etc. playing supporting roles. For Japanese teas, the ideal water (which is roughly similar to some of Kyoto's waters) is softer than that for coffee, with a hardness of 10-80mg/L (that's CaCO3 mg/L, in raw TDS this is probably a little higher, around 100.) For a readily available water, Volvic is pretty decent. Also thanks for the Hoffman comparisons :)
@@tezumitea I’m coincidentally using Aqua Eva for tea, with a TDS of 49 mg/l and a pH of 7.0. I thought of using my coffee water, but thanks for letting me stay on track and use Aqua Eva. Thats why we need people like you.
I'm new to tea, but have made a lot of coffee. I don't know what exactly is best, but I have noticed that if the water has ad many minerals as I would like for coffee, I taste the minerals in the water too much in a more subtle green tea. I'm using filtered water now, but that may be too far in the other direction.
4:37 "That's probably hexenal". Love your look away here. It seems you have a very fond memories of that hexenal encounter.
Thank you for the tip on properly brewing shincha. I always assumed it should be steeped like regular sencha, which might explain why it rarely impressed me.
Glad it was helpful!
I didn't know that the aracha was stored to be processed later in the year, thanks!
I learned a lot about coffee so I could brew well, I noticed how deep things get to make good coffee. Water composition plays a big part. When you turn your water bottle to the side, you can find a table of minerals. Calcium and Magnesium ions are the main extractors, while Sodium, Potassium, and Bicarbonate act as buffers. So if you try to brew coffee with pure H2O, you won’t extract anything. The TDS recommended ranges from 125-150 mg/l. Much higher will get you an over extracted yield, much lower won’t get you much of what the coffee can offer. Some people say pH plays a role too, and that a slightly higher pH makes the solution more rounded or sweet. I personally am not so sure about what hydroxide does when brewing coffee, so I choose a water with a pH of 7.0. A good brewing water many people agree is Volvic. I found these informations in a book called “How to Make the Best Coffee at Home” by James Hoffmann, and in his TH-cam channel.
The idea is that when I shifted and started to learn about tea recently, I noticed how little information there is. Could you please explain which water is best for tea? What plays a role in extracting so we know what to look for when buying certain types of water? How do the minerals and/or pH play a role in extracting what from tea? I can see you becoming the James Hoffmann of teas.
Water science doesn't seem to be stressed as much in tea as it is with coffee, but it is definitely very important, especially for these more delicate Japanese greens. This will probably be the subject of a future video and blog post as there is a lot to get into. The centuries old tea adage of 'brew with the water where the tea was grown' generally holds true though. As with coffee, Calcium and Magnesium are the main extractors, with sodium, potassium, etc. playing supporting roles. For Japanese teas, the ideal water (which is roughly similar to some of Kyoto's waters) is softer than that for coffee, with a hardness of 10-80mg/L (that's CaCO3 mg/L, in raw TDS this is probably a little higher, around 100.) For a readily available water, Volvic is pretty decent.
Also thanks for the Hoffman comparisons :)
@@tezumitea I’m coincidentally using Aqua Eva for tea, with a TDS of 49 mg/l and a pH of 7.0. I thought of using my coffee water, but thanks for letting me stay on track and use Aqua Eva. Thats why we need people like you.
I'm new to tea, but have made a lot of coffee. I don't know what exactly is best, but I have noticed that if the water has ad many minerals as I would like for coffee, I taste the minerals in the water too much in a more subtle green tea. I'm using filtered water now, but that may be too far in the other direction.
Drinking it while watching! Thanks for the tips!
Loved the video! Inspires me to finish my sencha soon and order some Shincha! :D
Hi David. Can you make an episode all about cold brewing green tea? Thank you!
I'll do my best!
@@tezumitea Looking forward to it! It'd be especially helpful for us living in very hot climates.
Great video - thank you. You guys ship internationally. Any issues with customs you might have had? (in South Africa)
How many times can i pour the water again for one teapot? Just got a pack of Kagoshima shincha as a gift.
For most sencha you can get 3 good infusions. If it's really good, then maybe 5