For 'hot tea' style, rinse and warm teapot with hot water then add enough tea to cover the bottom (usually a large teaspoon full for a 6 to 8 ounce teapot). Add a small amount of hot water (around 160 F), just enough to cover the leaf, replace the lid and allow the leaf to absorb the water forming a small 'pad' (20 to 30 seconds). Then fill teapot with more hot water and steep for just 5 to 10 seconds and poor. This style works well with stronger, full bodied Japanese teas such as deep-steam sencha and late harvest sencha. It provides a hot, full-flavored cup, drawing out the herbaceous, oceanic qualities of the tea.
For 'sweet tea' style the first two steps are the same but instead of hot water, use room temperature or cool water to cover and moisten the leaf. After the leaf has absorbed the cool water (30 to 45 seconds), add mildly hot water (120 to 140 F) and steep for a little less than a minute. This style emphasizes the subtler, sweeter, floral qualities of the tea and provides many infusions. Because the tea steeps so slowly, different subtleties and aromas come out in each successive infusion. This style works best with fine sencha and gyokuro.
stePH tried "sweet" last night with ToT's gyokuro
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