Monday, October 22, 2012

Tencha Technique

Tencha brewing was very common in the Song Dynasty. The popular brewing method was usually tencha. The Japanese monks who came to China to study during the Song Dynasty took back to Japan the tencha brewing method, still in use today. The Japanese art of matcha was born from the Song Dynasty's tencha. Tencha is directly brewed in heated water and not simmered or cooked over charcoal fire. One method is to whisk directly in the tea cup. The other method is to whisk the tea in the tea bowl before ladling the tea into the individual cups.
When brewing tencha, one must first bake the tea disk. If the disc has been produced in the current year, grind immediately after baking. If it is an aged tea disc, first soak in boiling water. Scrape off one or two layers of the oil on the surface before picking it with tea tongs and baking it over a low fire to remove the aged scent. Wrap in paper and beat it before grinding it into powder form. Then pass through a sieve to ensure that the tea is as fine as possible.
Next, boil water. The water must be light, clear, sweet and from a running source. Before brewing tencha, listen for the first boil, the second boil and the third boil... The water temperature after the third boil is most suitable because it is the temperature where the tea is most soluble. Warm the tea cup before adding the tea. Add the sieved tea powder, and add a small amount of water. Make a paste before adding heated water. Whisk the mixture repeatedly until froth appears. The tea liquid should be pure white.
Another method is whisking the tea in a tea bowl. When whisking, use a light the hand to whisk strongly. In the first round of water, add only a small amount. Swirl the water into the cup and do not pour directly.
Make a paste. In the second round, directly pour the water.
In the third round, pour the water while whisking, so that it froths at the surface. In the fourth round, add a little water.
In the fifth round, the amount of water depends on the amount of froth, in the sixth round, add the water while slowly stirring the tea with the whisk. In the seventh round, the tencha is completed. Distribute the tea into the tea cups evenly so that each cup has a balanced amount of froth. Do not add salt as the tea should maintain its original flavor.

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