I’m going to admit up front that I steeped this incorrectly. The instructions for steeping senchas on Yunomi’s website are as follows:
- 1 tsp (5g) of leaf
- 3 oz of water
- 2 minutes for the first steep
I took a look at those, and thought that the length of time would make the tea irredeemably bitter, so I decided to do something closer to a typical gaiwan brewing.
I should have listened.
I used about 3 tsp of leaf, but considering that was clearly less than half of the 10g sample (so less than the recommended 5g), I probably underleafed it. Then, I only steeped the first steep for about 1.5 minutes.
The result was a lovely light green liquor that was somewhat weak in taste. The astringency and umami flavour was there, but I didn’t detect much of the sweetness that others did, and it had a very thin mouthfeel.
At least now I know those steeping instructions on the site are correct. I’ll see how it goes next time when I use the proper amount of leaf.
