How to Brew Sayama Tea: Getting the Most from a Deep-Roasted Sencha

Sayama tea is mostly sencha, so if you can brew sencha you can brew Sayama. But two things about it — thick leaves from cold winters and the deep hi-ire finishing roast — mean it rewards slightly warmer, more patient brewing than a delicate spring sencha.

Baseline method

• Leaf: 4–5g (about a heaped tablespoon) per 200ml
• Water: 75–80°C (167–176°F) — a touch warmer than the 70°C often quoted for premium sencha, because the roasted character opens up with heat
• Time: 60 seconds for the first steep
• Pour: to the last drop — the final drops carry the most concentrated flavor

A kyusu (Japanese side-handle pot) is ideal, but any small teapot or infuser with room for the leaves to open works.

Re-steeping

Good Sayama tea gives three steeps or more:

1. First steep — 60 seconds: the fullest, sweetest cup
2. Second steep — 10–15 seconds only, slightly hotter water: the leaves are already open
3. Third steep — 30–45 seconds: lighter, but the toasty hi-ire note lingers

If it tastes bitter

Drop the temperature 5°C or shorten the first steep to 45 seconds. Thick Sayama leaves are forgiving, but boiling water will overwhelm any green tea.

Try it cold

The same leaves make excellent cold brew: 5g per 500ml of cold water, refrigerated 3–6 hours. Cold brewing suppresses bitterness entirely and turns the hi-ire roast into a smooth, almost chocolatey sweetness — a very good introduction for iced-tea drinkers.

Brewing well only matters if the leaves are worth it. When you’re ready to taste what “Sayama for taste” means, start with a tea from the region itself.