(7 Steps) To Make the Perfect Cup of Kamairi-cha

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This article was last modified November 24th, 2021. by Yuki

Firstly, here's a quick guide to brewing Kamairi-cha.

Notice that the brewing time is on the relatively long side for Japanaese tea.

Chart: Instructions for brewing Kamairi-cha

Due to the delicate nature of the taste of Japanese tea, it actually is important to have teaware of the perfect size for your tea.

This depends on the size of the servings and the number of cups you will be serving.

If you are looking to serve, say three people, then you'll need to serve 300 ml of tea. If you can find a Kyusu (teapot) size that is around 350ml, that would be ideal.

However, if you don't have the perfect teapot size, don't fret. You can start by trying with other sizes as well.

The Yuzamashi is a specific tool used to cool the boiling water to optimal temperatures. However, any bowl can do the job.

Find a heat-resistant bowl in your kitchen. It'll be easier to pour water if it's lipped. It'll also be more effective in lowering the temperature quickly if the bowl has a large mass.

Kamairi-cha will typically use 2-3g of tea leaves, or 1 teaspoon, per person.

If you are planning to serve a large group of people, you can use less amount of leaves. For instance, if you are serving 5 people, 10g of tea leaves will be good enough to serve delicious Kamairi-cha.

If you do use a larger quantity of tea leaves, say 4-5g of leaves for 1 serving, you can enjoy the 2^nd infusion deliciously as well.

The next step is to boil the water.

Once it’s boiled, don’t put the boiling water directly into the Kyusu! It will be too hot and will extract too much astringency from the tea.

Then take the boiling water and pour the amount of tea you would want to serve into the Chawan (cups).

This step allows you to measure the exact amount of water required as you let the temperature of the water drop.

Use a medium size Chawan, one that you would use for Sencha.

Keep in mind that when you infuse the Kamairi-cha, the tea leaves will absorb the water so the amount at the end will become less. They would absorb about 4 times the mass of the leaves. Make sure you add enough water to account for this.

Now that you have the exact amount of water you want to infuse, the next step is to lower the temperature of the water.

Use the proper temperature of hot water depending on the grade of the tea.

For High-grade Kamairi-cha, use hot water around 70 degrees Celsius. This is to extract and maximize the umami taste while not allowing the astringency tastes to come out. For normal-grade Kamairi-cha, the hot water can be around 90 degrees Celsius.

As you've already poured the water into the Chawan to measure the water, you've already slightly lowered the temperature of the water.

To lower the temperature even further, you can use a “Yuzamashi”, which is a bowl to lower the temperature of the water. If you don’t have one, again, you can use anything!

Each time the boiling water is transferred to a bowl or a Chawan, the water temperature will drop between 5 to 10 degrees.

This will depend on many factors such as the size of the bowls and room temperature, but generally in Singapore, you can expect the drop to be closer to 5 degrees. You can use this mechanism to reduce the temperature of the boiling water to optimal levels.

Once the temperature is optimal, pour the water into the Kyusu, and start the infusion.

Let the tea seep for 90 seconds for Kamairi-cha.

The key when you serve Kamairi-cha to several people is to keep the richness and thickness of the tea to be the same. The tea will become richer as you pour. In order to keep this even, the tea is poured in the following order.

This method of pouring is called “Mawashisogi”. If there are 3 Chawans, firstly, pour halfway in the order of 1 – 2 – 3. Subsequently, pour again in the reverse order of 3 – 2 – 1.

Make sure that the tea is poured to the very last drop. This helps to keep the second infusion delicious as well. If tea is remaining in the Kyusu, the second infusion may not be as enjoyable.

For the second Infusion, use boiling water directly from the pot.

The infusion time should be shorter as well. We recommend immediate infusion - to serve right after the hot water is poured into the kyusu.

For the infusions after the 1^st, the tea leaves have already absorbed the water. You will not need to calculate the additional water being sucked by the leaves.

There are some key important tips on maintaining the taste for the second infusion of Japanese tea. Take a look at our guide to second infusions of Japanese Green Tea.

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