Standard Supreme Matcha Green Cup

teas.co.uk · 6 min · Serves 1

You'll need

• 1 Pukka Organic Supreme Matcha Green tea bag
• 200ml filtered water at 80°C (boiled then cooled for 90 seconds in an open kettle, or boiled and poured into a cold jug before going into the cup)
• 1 thin strip of pared yuzu peel, about 4cm long (or unwaxed lemon peel if yuzu is unavailable)
• 1 small Japanese wagashi sweet: a mochi piece, half a dorayaki, or a single matcha shortbread (any Japanese supermarket carries these; a butter biscuit is a passable substitute)
• 1 small saucer or wooden tea board, to hold the cup + sweet
• A small thin walled ceramic cup or a glass tea cup, 250ml capacity, pre warmed

Method

1. Pre warm the cup by filling it with hot tap water and emptying it just before brewing. Thin walls lose heat fast and the brewing temperature matters here.
2. Bring the kettle to a rolling boil then take the lid off and let it stand for 90 seconds. This drops the water from 100 to roughly 80 degrees, which is the right temperature for matcha and sencha; pouring boiling water on a matcha green bag turns the cup bitter within thirty seconds.
3. Drop the Pukka Supreme Matcha Green bag into the warmed cup. Pour 200ml of the 80-degree water straight over and start a three minute timer; do not cover (unlike herbal teas, matcha green wants slight air contact to keep the colour bright).
4. At the two minute mark, lay the strip of pared yuzu peel across the rim of the cup with the oily side down, so the last minute of steeping picks up the citrus aroma without the peel actually steeping in the water.
5. At three minutes lift the bag out without squeezing it, then discard it. Lift the yuzu peel off the rim and float it on the surface of the cup; it perfumes the first few sips.
6. Place the saucer or tea board on the table with the cup on it, and the small wagashi sweet beside the cup, not in it. Sit down before the first sip.
7. Take a small bite of the wagashi first, let it dissolve on the tongue. Then take a sip of the tea. Pause. Repeat. This is the Japanese rhythm: sweet, sip, pause. The cup should be drunk in about ten minutes.

Recipe: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/matcha/standard supreme matcha green cup/