Tried a very successful experiment today with this. I’d say this way of brewing can make any good quality green a ‘100’. :-)
I used 1 TB leaf, 2 TB water, cooled to nearly 32F, and dumped it to the side of the leaves in the pot, so that they weren’t completely covered, and soaked up most of the water. After about 9 minutes, I poured out the, perhaps 2 tsp worth of ice cold, pale green “syrup” into my cup. By the way, the wet leaves smelled peppery, fresh, and strongly marine (like nori or seaweed), and even like salty ocean air.
The tea was like a soup. Like the most warming, comforting soup you’ve ever had. It had the most irresistable savoriness that you can imagine, coupled with a soft sweetness. I took the tiniest sips and the flavor filled my mouth. It was gone very quickly. Excellent.
The subsequent three steepings retained nearly full flavor (as it tastes with normal brewing), and produced a very dark (nearly as dark as matcha) liquor. The 2nd and 3rd were a nice balance of marine/savory and sweet, while the 4th was pure sweetness.
They were done as follows: 2oz water/100F/4 mins, 4oz water/140F/2 mins, 4 oz/140F/ 1min.
