Cold-Brewed Sencha (水出し煎茶, Mizudashi Sencha)

Sencha is often blamed for the bitterness that careless water gives it. Boil the water, pour it straight over the leaves, walk away too long, and yes, the cup will scold you. Mizudashi sencha is kinder. Cold water draws slowly, and what it draws first is sweetness, color, and the green scent of the leaf.

The first secret of tea is always water temperature. Here, the temperature is simply cold. That isn't a shortcut, it's the method. Tannin and sharpness come out reluctantly in cold water, while the sweet amino acids and soft leaf fragrance have time to gather. The second secret is dose and time: 10 grams of sencha to 1 liter of water, three to six hours in the refrigerator. More leaves make a fuller cup; more time after the leaf is spent only makes it tired.

This is shun for summer, the cup we make when hot tea feels too stern for the weather. Use good sencha, especially shincha if spring's first tea is still fresh in your tin, and don't ask old leaves to behave like new ones. Nothing hidden here. A glass pitcher, a fine strainer, and a quiet afternoon are enough for honmono.