| Bitter | Harsh, lingering bitterness at the back of the tongue | - Water too hot for the leaf (boiling water on green, yellow or high-grade sencha)
- Steep far too long
- Too much leaf for a western-length steep
| - Drop to the chart temperature: 80 °C for Chinese green, 70 °C for high-grade sencha
- Cut the steep: a green tea study scored 3–5 minutes best and 30–45 minutes worst
- Weigh the leaf per 100 ml instead of scooping
Source: Saklar et al., Journal of Food Science and Technology 52(10), 2015, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, Mei Leaf, London |
| Astringent, drying | Mouth puckers and feels dry, like over-steeped black tea | - Hot water extracting tannins (catechins), the astringent compounds MAFF brews cool to hold back
- Gongfu leaf weight with western steep times
| - Gyokuro-style fix: 50–60 °C water holds back bitter and astringent compounds
- Keep gongfu steeps in seconds (10–25 s first infusion), not minutes
- For iced tea, cold brew in the fridge instead of chilling a hot brew
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, Mei Leaf, London, Rishi Tea & Botanicals |
| Flat or weak | Thin, watery, little aroma | - Too little leaf
- Water too cool for oolong, black or pu-erh
- Leaf open too long and gone stale
| - Add leaf before adding time: gongfu oolong takes 4.5–6.5 g per 100 ml
- Use 95–99 °C for rolled and roasted oolong, black and pu-erh
- Drink opened tea within about a month (Ippodo’s guidance)
Source: Mei Leaf, London, Ippodo Tea, Kyoto |
| Sour, stale or musty | Papery, dull, or off-aromas the tea did not have when new | - Opened leaf exposed to air, light, heat or humidity
- Stored beside spices or other strong smells, which dry leaf picks up
- Unopened tea well past its best-before
| - Opaque, airtight container at room temperature, away from strong smells
- Buy smaller bags; Ippodo dates unopened tea about 6 months from packing
- Freeze sealed tea you will not open soon; let it sit about 5 hours at room temperature before opening
Source: Ippodo Tea, Kyoto |
| Cloudy iced tea | Hot-brewed black tea turns murky as it cools | - “Tea cream”: theaflavins and caffeine cluster and precipitate as tea cools
- A strong brew creams sooner and with bigger particles
- Calcium in hard water promotes creaming
| - Brew weaker, or dilute before chilling
- Use soft or filtered water
- Switch to cold brew (Rishi: 8–10 h in the fridge for black tea)
Source: Jöbstl et al., Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53(20), 2005, Rishi Tea & Botanicals |
| Film or scum on top | Oily-looking skin that cracks when you tilt the cup; scale on the mug | - Hard water: calcium, magnesium and bicarbonate ions form the film
- Stronger tea: doubling the strength made the film 35% thicker in lab tests
| - Filtered or soft water (MAFF recommends 30–80 mg/L hardness for Japanese tea)
- A squeeze of lemon: citric acid stopped the film from forming
- A splash of milk also weakens it
Source: Giacomin et al., Soft Matter, 2023, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan |
| Matcha clumps | Dry green beads that will not whisk out; gritty bottom of the bowl | - Static, moisture and the powder’s own weight pack it into lumps in the tin
- Too little whisking, or water poured onto unsifted powder
| - Sift through a fine mesh sieve before adding water
- Ippodo’s ratio: 2 g matcha, 60 ml at 80 °C, whisk hard for 15 s in an M shape
Source: Ippodo Tea, Kyoto, Ippodo Tea, Kyoto |