Breaking the Rules

Preparing your tea with the right amount of leaf, temperature and time is paramount to making a good pot of tea.  Using appropriate teaware can also help shape the tea's flavour to perfection.  But this post isn't about following established traditions and etiquette, it's about breaking them.  Below are four methods of making your tea that your sensei or shifu won't teach you. 

2011 Gyokuro Hoshino

Of all the Japanese whole leaf teas, Gyokuro is the most prized.  In early spring, when the first new shoots start growing on the tea trees, the plants are shaded from the sun for the last 20 days before being harvested.  By reducing the sunlight, the tea leaves compensate by producing more chlorophyll and less catechins.  This results in a tea with more sweetness and less astringency.  Because of the intense conditions this puts the plant through, Gyokuro is only harvested once per year to allow the tree to recover.