Hi, welcome to Viva Matcha! On this page, we’d like to show you how to prepare Japanese Green Tea in 3 steps! We often receive questions, such as:

• My Japanese Green Tea is too bitter, what’s wrong?
• What is the right temperature for the hot water?
• How long should I wait after I pour hot water into the tea pot?

We will answer to those questions, and hope you will find it simple and easy to prepare a delicious cup of Japanese Green Tea! Enjoy!  

Warm tea pot and tea cup with hot water.

Discard the hot water.

-Tips!-

• Have you ever seen the tea pot in the picture? This is called Kyu-su 急須, Japanese traditional tea pot with a handy grip. Of course, you can use any types of tea pots that you have at home, such as western teapot. Just to make sure that you use filter or strainer so that the tea leaves would not come into the cup.

Place a teaspoon of tea leaves into the tea pot.

Green Tea leaves in the pot.

-Tips!-

• How much should you use the tea leaves at a time? Usually, 6~8g per serving. If you are making for two or more, add more tea leaves into the pot.

Pour hot water into the tea pot.

Place the lid and wait.

Serve the tea into the tea cup.

Wait until the last drop falls.

-Tips!-

• Please careful not to use boiling water! It is recommended to use 70~80°C / 158~176°F of hot water to prepare Matcha. If you’d use boiling water, nearly 100°C / 212°F, you would find it too bitter and not tasty.
• Why you should wait until the last drop falls? Normally, you can enjoy the same tea leaves a couple of times. However, if the hot water stays in the tea pot, the tea essence would continue to come out into the water, and the second serving would not taste good.
• How long should you wait before serving? Usually, 30~60 seconds after you pour hot water into the tea pot.
• There are several types of green teas, which use different temperatures of hot water and waiting time. You can find the information below.

After these 3 steps, now you are ready to enjoy your Japanese Green Tea! You can drink it hot or cold, with milk or sweetener, however you like. Find your favorite recipes and let us know how you will like it!