This summer is going to go down as the summer of cold brew. Ever since I got the technique down, I’ve been cold brewing non-stop and my daily tea consumption has quadrupled as a result. I think I’ve only hot steeped a handful of times this week.
What follows is my shortcut cold brew method which I learned on IG and tweaked slightly. It was designed for Japanese green tea but works well with other teas too. I drop 2g of tea in an 8oz cup, fill with room temperature water, cover and walk away. 2 hours later, the tea is strained and poured over ice. With certain teas like this one, I’ll give the leaves a vigorous stir 5 minutes before straining. Lather, rinse, repeat with other teas. Way more efficient than waiting 8-10 hours for tea to steep in the fridge, IMO.
This has been my favorite tea for this cold brew method. The broken up fukamushi leaves infuse quickly and have so much more umami and sweetness as compared to hot steeping. When cold steeped, I definitely prefer the intense flavor of this deep steamed sencha over my lighter asamushi sencha. Upping my rating slightly because of how well this performs cold brewed.
Flavors: Green, Sweet, warm grass, Umami
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
I’ve enjoyed this tea for 2017 and 2018 but just wanted to change things up this year. I’ve never tried doing a cold brew on sencha (or for any other tea). I tend to be partial to a hot tea but you’ve intrigued me so maybe I’ll give it try on some of my senchas.
Definitely give it a try. I think sencha is the ideal green tea for cold brewing. I wasn’t into cold steeping either, but once I nailed down the ratio and technique, it was life changing.
You’ve puzzled me a bit the “lather, rince , & repeat”. What does lather mean? I am about to try it today with my Yakushima Shincha from Yuuki-Cha.
I just meant repeat the same process for other teas that you want to cold brew. Sorry for the confusion.
No problem! I tried it today. I didn’t have ice cubes so I set my refrigerator to make ice cubes. It was quite awhile before it spit out the first few. For the first infusion I didn’t have any ice cubes and it seemed too strong. For the 2nd infusion (I thought that’s what you meant when you said repeat) it was much better. It was really light. I had ice cubes for that one and really enjoyed the light sweetness and buttery flavour. It’s still a bit weird drinking cold tea but thanks for the instructions. I’ll give this a little more tries with other teas too.
Ah, I neglected to mention you can dilute it to strength. And as you discovered, the tea can be reinfused although I usually just discard the leaves after the first steep. Glad you were able to try it out.
I’ve enjoyed this tea for 2017 and 2018 but just wanted to change things up this year. I’ve never tried doing a cold brew on sencha (or for any other tea). I tend to be partial to a hot tea but you’ve intrigued me so maybe I’ll give it try on some of my senchas.
Definitely give it a try. I think sencha is the ideal green tea for cold brewing. I wasn’t into cold steeping either, but once I nailed down the ratio and technique, it was life changing.
You’ve puzzled me a bit the “lather, rince , & repeat”. What does lather mean? I am about to try it today with my Yakushima Shincha from Yuuki-Cha.
I just meant repeat the same process for other teas that you want to cold brew. Sorry for the confusion.
No problem! I tried it today. I didn’t have ice cubes so I set my refrigerator to make ice cubes. It was quite awhile before it spit out the first few. For the first infusion I didn’t have any ice cubes and it seemed too strong. For the 2nd infusion (I thought that’s what you meant when you said repeat) it was much better. It was really light. I had ice cubes for that one and really enjoyed the light sweetness and buttery flavour. It’s still a bit weird drinking cold tea but thanks for the instructions. I’ll give this a little more tries with other teas too.
Ah, I neglected to mention you can dilute it to strength. And as you discovered, the tea can be reinfused although I usually just discard the leaves after the first steep. Glad you were able to try it out.