How to make green tea

Green tea has a bad rep. You might have heard about it. Maybe you heard whispers that it’s bitter? Tastes disgusting? Poor green tea! We think it’s being done a massive disservice and all because a lot of people are still in the dark about the best way to make it. Green tea can seem super confusing, but it’s our job to de-mystify it!

So how do you make green tea? The secret is down to temperature and timing! Green tea is more delicate than black tea and so it needs a bit of gentle handling.

First of all, the water needs to be around 80°c. If you don’t have a fancy kettle with different temperature settings, this can be done in a couple of ways. The simplest is to put some cold water in your mug (about ⅕ of it) and top up with freshly boiled water. You might want to let this settle a little and mix the hot and cold water together with a spoon. Alternatively, you can switch the kettle off just before it starts boiling- as the noise of the kettle starts to increase. Be very careful about temperature: too hot and you’ll burn your leaves!

Once you have your hot(ish) water, add your tea of choice in whichever way you prefer (we love and recommend our Brewdini for fuss-free, mess-free brewing!) Bird & Blend’s range of green tea is a great starting point for trying the different varieties; our range of fun flavours mean that we have something for everyone! The base green tea should have a ‘green’ taste, as opposed to a bitter one: flavours can range from subtle to strong, grassy to vegetal and each variety of green tea has its own distinct flavour.

You got the temperature right- congratulations! But the next danger zone is timing. Brew too long and you’ll have a bitter, acrid flavour that no-one enjoys. Ideally, green tea should be brewed for no more than 3 minutes (as opposed to the 4 minutes for black tea). Once you’ve removed the tea leaves, you’re good to go! Remember: don’t add milk to green tea. It just doesn’t work.

Recommended green teas for newbies:

MojiTEA - A super refreshing blend of green tea, peppermint + lime

Ankara Apple- a delicious twist on Turkish tea, flavoured with apples, pomegranates and spices.

Hot Mama Jama- a tropical tea so good at clearing out the cobwebs that it’s enjoyed by the Brighton Gospel Choir!