Preparing Japanese tea
In Japan, tea preparation is a meticulous art that brings out even the most subtle flavors of the tea leaves. Traditional brewing methods, which involve using a yuzamashi to cool the water to the right temperature and a kyusu teapot or shiboridashi to brew the leaves in the ideal amount of water, illustrate the attention paid to every detail.
Gyokuro set
Cooling pot
Cooling Pot
Cooling Pot
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Shiboridashi teapot
Shiboridashi teapot
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Shiboridashi Teapot + Cooling Pot
Shiboridashi Teapot + Cooling Pot
Kyusu teapot
Kobashi teapot
The Japanese infusion method with traditional accessories:
Using specialized accessories to brew Japanese green teas produces excellent results, emphasizing precision, balanced flavors, and good control of bitterness with the right water temperature.
Preparing the water:
- Boil water, then let it cool to the right temperature in a cooling pot: the yuzamashi;
- Pour the rest of the water into the cups to warm them, then into the kyusu teapot or shiboridashi containing the tea leaves.
Infusion:
- Allow the leaves to steep for 30 seconds to one minute, depending on their quality.
- Pour the infusion from one cup to another, going back and forth to balance the infusion in each cup.
- Empty the teapot completely to stop the infusion.
For subsequent infusions, as the leaves are already hydrated, reduce the infusion time to about 15 seconds.
Shiboridashi: a refined alternative to the kyusu
The Shiboridashi is a small, handleless teapot, mostly made of stoneware and used to brew high-quality Japanese teas, particularly gyokuro and premium sencha. It concentrates the aroma and is very simple to use.
- Place tea leaves in the Shiboridashi.
- Pour cooled water with a yuzamashi (approx. 60-70°C) over the leaves;
- Leave to infuse briefly, usually between 30 seconds and one minute.
- Pour the infusion from one cup to the next, going back and forth to obtain the same degree of infusion in each cup;
- Pour the tea completely out of the pot to stop the leaves infusing.
Like the Kyûsu, the Shiboridashi allows several successive infusions.