Today, I wanted to try something new in the kitchen, so I decided to make some green tea concentrate. I’ve always loved green tea, and I thought, why not have a stronger version that I can use in different ways? So, I got everything ready and started my little experiment.

First, I grabbed a pot and filled it with about four cups of water. I put it on the stove and turned the heat to high. While waiting for the water to boil, I measured out my green tea leaves. I used loose leaf tea because I find it has a better flavor than tea bags. I went with about eight tablespoons of tea leaves – that’s way more than I’d use for a regular cup of tea, but I wanted this to be strong.

Once the water was boiling, I took the pot off the heat and dumped the tea leaves in. I gave it a good stir and then let it steep. Normally, I’d steep green tea for just a few minutes, but for this concentrate, I let it sit for about 15 minutes. I wanted to make sure all that good green tea flavor really got into the water.

After 15 minutes, I got a fine-mesh strainer and placed it over a large heatproof bowl. Then, I carefully poured the tea through the strainer, making sure to catch all the leaves. The liquid that came through was a deep, dark green – exactly what I was hoping for. It smelled super strong, too.

Next, I let the concentrate cool down for a bit. Once it wasn’t piping hot, I poured it into a glass jar with a lid. I made sure the jar was clean and could be sealed tightly. I ended up with a little over two cups of concentrate. To see how it could be used, I did the following attempts:

• Made a strong iced tea: I filled a glass with ice, poured in some of the concentrate, and added a bit of water and a squeeze of lemon. It was super refreshing and had a much stronger green tea flavor than usual.
• Added it to a smoothie: I blended some spinach, banana, a bit of the concentrate, and some almond milk. It gave the smoothie a nice little caffeine boost and a subtle green tea taste.
• Used it in a marinade: For dinner, I mixed some of the concentrate with soy sauce, honey, and garlic to marinate some chicken. It turned out pretty good, with a unique flavor that I really liked.

Overall, making the green tea concentrate was a success! I’m still thinking about how to store it to make it last longer. I want to try adding it to some baked goods, like cookies or maybe a cake. If any of you have other ideas on how to use it, let me know!