How to make Cold Brew Sencha - Unlock a Different Side

Cold brew sencha is made by steeping 8 grams of loose-leaf sencha in one liter of room-temperature water for three hours in the fridge. Unlike hot brewing, cold extraction suppresses astringency almost entirely while preserving umami and sweetness, resulting in a smooth, clean, refreshing drink with deep flavor and minimal bitterness. The process requires no technique or skill, and the brew time is flexible enough that even a longer steep overnight works well.

The equipment for cold brew is minimal. All you need is a vessel that can hold the tea and water together while sitting in the fridge. A bottle with a built-in filter is ideal because it keeps the leaves separate from the liquid once the brew is done, making it easy to pour directly without straining.

Yuki uses a Hario cold brew filter bottle, which he recommends for its practicality: it has a built-in filter, fits neatly in a fridge door, and is made in Japan with durable materials. That said, any container works if you have another way to strain the leaves when pouring.

The full process is:

Put 8 grams of loose-leaf sencha into your bottle or vessel. Pour in one liter of room-temperature water, not boiled water. Seal it and place it in the fridge for three hours. Pour and drink.

The measurement is a starting point rather than a strict requirement. Cold brewing is forgiving on both leaf quantity and steep time, which means small variations in either direction will not ruin the batch. If you want a lighter result, reduce the time to one or two hours. For something stronger and more concentrated, extend it overnight. Yuki confirms that an overnight steep still produces a good result.

Once brewed, keep the bottle in the fridge and drink it within the same day. Leaving cold brew sencha for more than a day is not recommended.

After the three-hour steep, the leaves visibly open up inside the bottle and the water takes on a soft green color. The result has a noticeable viscosity despite being cold, reflecting the concentration of amino acids in the liquid.

Tasting it, Yuki describes it as extremely smooth and refreshing, with clear sweetness and umami. The astringency that would normally provide the structural edge of a hot-brewed sencha is almost entirely absent. This makes cold brew particularly approachable for people who find hot sencha too sharp or who want a drink that functions more like a clean, naturally sweet beverage than a traditional tea experience.

• Cold and hot brewing extract different profiles from the same leaves. Hot brewing extracts both umami and astringency. Cold brewing extracts umami and sweetness while leaving astringency largely behind. These are genuinely different drinks, not the same tea at different temperatures.


• Cold brew is more forgiving than hot brew. Because astringency is suppressed by the low temperature regardless of steep time, oversteeping does not produce the same harshness it would in a hot brew. Leaf quantity and steep time can both be adjusted without dramatic consequences.


• You lose aroma with cold brew. Aromatic compounds require heat to release. Cold brew sencha will have very little scent. This is a real trade-off, not a flaw, and knowing it in advance helps you decide which method suits your mood.


• The equipment does not need to be specialized. A Hario cold brew bottle makes the process easier, but any bottle or pitcher with a way to separate leaves from liquid will work. The method itself requires no particular skill or tools.


• Drink cold brew sencha within the day. Once brewed, the tea should stay refrigerated and be consumed the same day. Unlike a dry tea in proper storage, brewed cold brew deteriorates relatively quickly.

On cold brew being more forgiving with tea quality: One key observation Yuki makes is that cold brewing is gentler on imperfections in the tea itself. Because the cold extraction does not aggressively pull out bitterness, even a mid-range sencha will taste reasonably good prepared this way. This is a practical and honest observation: it lowers the barrier to entry for people who have not yet found a premium sencha they love, while still delivering a genuinely pleasant result.

On the viscosity of cold brew sencha: After tasting the finished brew, Yuki notes that the liquid has a notable viscosity despite the cold temperature. This reflects the concentration of amino acids in the infusion and is an indicator of quality. It is something most people would not expect from a cold-brewed tea and it changes how the drink feels in the mouth, adding to the sense of depth and body that distinguishes good cold brew from simply cold tea.

On aroma as the clear trade-off: Yuki is straightforward that cold brewing sacrifices aroma. He describes the scent as very weak compared to hot brewing. Rather than framing this as a drawback to be minimized, he presents it as an honest trade-off: if aroma is what you love most about sencha, hot brewing is where that experience lives. Cold brewing serves a different purpose and delivers different rewards. Knowing the difference lets you choose deliberately rather than being disappointed by the absence of something the method was never going to deliver.