Dr Drews' Blog: How to make Green Tea

Green Tea is a great antioxidant, is full of tannins and is a great drink.

Green Tea has about half the caffeine of coffee but certainly can keep you up at night, the drink is much more alkaline and seems to release the caffeine more slowly into the circulation. The flavor of green tea can be too bitter if brewed incorrectly so I will give some guidelines to making the perfect pot of green tea.

The first washing of tea leaves with water produces a vary acrid and bitter flavor. Green tea should be "washed" with hot water once before the flavor is right. The tannins that removed from this first wash are still healthy and can be drunk as a shot or simply discarded. The best method is to use a small amount of very hot water to quickly dissolve and drain off the most bitter flavors. This also serves to soften and wet the tea leaves for a better brew.

The optimal temperature for each tea is different but generally, the darker the tea, the hotter the temperature. White teas can be soaked in lukewarm water with good taste (and many, many more servings of a mild and wonderful flavor), green teas should be soaked in hot water and black teas in very hot water.

The second through the third or fourth time the tea leaves are soaked are the best flavors for green teas. If you use the hot wash method the tea will have a nice flavor for that simply weakens over a few cups and eventually becomes a very dilute green flavor.

I generally use 1-2 tsp of gunpowder green tea leaves per cup (I have a 4 cup ceramic teapot) and get 3-4 cups of good tea from each batch. I like strong tea in the morning and find that this method gets me about 6-8 cups of green tea per day.

First I pour a couple ounces of simmering water over the dry leaves and drain it off almost immediately. This first cup is rather bitter but I like it as a "shot of green." Then I fill the pot with hot water and let it steep for about 5-10 minutes before drinking. As the pot is emptied, I simply re-fill it with hot water until the flavor is washed out (about 3-4 times).

There are several choices in sources of tea but I strongly suggest that an organic source is found. Experiment with the different types of tea as well as the timing and temperature of the washes and you will find a tea you love.

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