Food - News
The Reason You Should Never Boil Water Before Brewing Green Tea
By MADISEN SWENSON
If you've ever taken a sip of green tea and noticed a bitter aftertaste and a burnt aroma, you likely used boiling water to prepare it. While the common rule for making extracted tea is to use cold water that's brought up to a rolling boil, that just isn't the case when it comes to green tea, and is actually a big tea mistake.
Green tea should not be brought to a true boil, as it will cook the dried leaves and prevent them from opening up and releasing their flavor, resulting in a bitter and stale taste. Brewing green tea requires a lower temperature (140º-185º Fahrenheit) than other teas that take a full boil (212º Fahrenheit).
It can be difficult to gauge the water temperature when using a stovetop kettle, so you can wait for the water to cool down, use a thermometer, or invest in an electric kettle with temperature control. Water temperature may not seem like a big deal, but it can make or break a cup of green tea.