Brew assistant
Pick a tea and a brewing style. Everything below is transcribed from that tea's own authored parameters — nothing is scaled from another style, because a ratio and a steep time do not transfer between styles.
Water temperature
50–60 °C
Typically 55 °C
Leaf for 250 ml
15–25 g
Typically 20 g
Ratio
6–10 g /100 ml
No rinse
Infusion schedule
A session of 3–4 infusions is typical. The schedule below is authored to 3; beyond that, extend each steep noticeably rather than repeating the last time.
- Infusion 1120sUnhurried by Japanese standards, and correct. At this temperature the leaf gives up its sweetness slowly and its harshness barely at all.
- Infusion 240sat 65 °CHotter and far shorter. The leaf is already open, and the second steep is where most of the remaining volume comes from.
- Infusion 330sat 75 °C
Equipment
- Houhin
- Shiboridashi
- Kyusu
- Thermometer
- Water cooling bowl (sukwoo)
- Yuzamashi (water cooler) — Broad surface, shallow layer, fast heat loss — the standard way to reach gyokuro temperatures without guessing.
- Kyusu filter — Shaded leaf sheds a great deal of fine material, so filtration area decides whether the cup arrives clear.
Vessel: A houhin or shiboridashi: handleless, because at this temperature there is nothing to burn a hand on, and broad and shallow, so pouring cools the water further. Drain it to the last drop — leaf sitting in warm water starts the next steep already spent.
Note: The temperature range is for the first steep; the schedule carries the rest. Kabusecha is shaded for a shorter period than gyokuro, so it is brewed a little warmer and with less leaf — the technique is the same and the material has less of what the low temperature is selecting for. The liquor is a mouthful rather than a cup, and that is the method working rather than a mistake.
What this does not tell you
These parameters are a synthesis of common practice rather than recorded practice for this specific tea.
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea, so the assistant cannot tell you how strong the cup will be in that sense.
Leaf weight is a weight. A teaspoon is not — a fluffy white tea and a tightly rolled oolong differ several-fold by volume, so scales beat spoons here.
Other authored styles for this tea: Western brewing (teapot or mug) · Kyusu brewing (Japanese style) · Cold brew tea · Gongfu brewing (gaiwan) · Ice steeping (kōridashi)
Methods TeaHQ describes but cannot give numbers for
1 of 28 brewing methods have no authored parameters on any tea. They are listed rather than hidden: the method exists and is described, the numbers are simply not written yet. Nothing here is estimated from a neighbouring style.
- Herbal infusion (tisane)
Herbal infusion is on that list for a second reason as well: the herbal catalogue is two records held in review, so there is nothing to brew even once parameters exist.