Japanese Tea Insights

During my Tea Tour of Japan, I learned so much about Japanese tea and tea etiquette and want to share a few insights:

• When you serve Japanese tea to guests, fill each cup up halfway and then go around again to each cup to finish pouring the tea. This way everyone gets a mix of lightly steeped and longer steeped tea.

• Keep pouring the tea until the last drop – this is the most flavorful part and called the “golden drop.”

• Pay close attention to the temperature of the water and steeping time. The higher the temperature and the longer you steep it, the more bitterness comes out in Japanese green tea. I recommend never using boiling water on green tea. It’s best to experiment with the temperature (with a thermometer) and a timer (either a tea timer or timer on your cell phone) and make notes.

By the way, these observations only apply to "everyday tea," not the much more elaborate Japanese tea ceremony. To view more pictures from the trip visit (and scroll down to the May and June 2015 posts): www.facebook.com/lizzykateteas.