How do you brew green tea without it turning bitter?
Quick answer
The single biggest fix is cooler water: use about 80 °C (176 °F), not boiling. With 3 g per 100 ml, steep short — 15 seconds, then 25, then 40 — and pour it off the leaves completely. Boiling water and long steeps are what make green tea harsh and grassy.
Step by step
- Cool the water. Boil, then let it sit ~3 minutes (or top up with a splash of cold) to reach roughly 80 °C.
- Add the leaf. No rinse — a rinse throws away the delicate first infusion.
- Steep short. Use the schedule above, emptying the vessel each round.
- Taste and adjust. Too thin? Add leaf. Too sharp? Cooler water or a shorter steep.
Gongfu or a large mug?
The short-steep schedule above is gongfu-style. For a simple mug, use about 2–3 g per 250 ml at 80 °C for ~2 minutes, then pour it off the leaves. Either way, the rule is the same: cooler and shorter than you'd brew black tea.
Common questions
Why is my green tea always bitter? Almost always water that's too hot or a steep that's too long. Fix the temperature first.
Should green tea be rinsed? No — unlike puerh, a rinse discards a meaningful part of green tea's best, most delicate infusion.
Load the green tea timer preset, get the exact water temperature, or read the plain green tea profile.