I tried to make some green tea at home the other day, and let me tell you, it was a struggle. I thought, how hard could it be? Boil some water, throw in a tea bag, and you’re good to go. Boy, was I wrong.

I boiled the water and dumped it over a green tea bag in my mug. I let it steep for what I thought was a reasonable amount of time, maybe around 5 minutes. When I took a sip, it was so bitter I almost spit it out. It was like drinking straight-up grass clippings. I tried to force it down, I mean it is not cheap and it is good for my health, but that bitter taste was just too much to handle.

Determined to figure this out, I did some digging online, but no real human tips and found a few things. Apparently, green tea is super finicky. It is easy to mess up! It turns out the water temperature and how long you steep it make a big difference.

My next attempts

• First, I tried using cooler water. I boiled the water and then let it sit for a few minutes to cool down a bit before pouring it over the tea.
• I also shortened the steeping time. Instead of 5 minutes, I only let it sit for 2-3 minutes.

The result? Much better! It still had a bit of that grassy taste, but it was way less bitter. I even tried adding a squeeze of lemon, which surprisingly helped a lot. It cut through any lingering bitterness and added a nice, fresh flavor.

I keep experimenting, next time I plan to use some honey that I just brought from my hometown to see if that makes it even better. Honestly, it’s been a bit of trial and error, but I’m finally getting to a point where I actually enjoy my cup of green tea. It is not perfect, but it is getting there!

So, yeah, making green tea taste good isn’t as simple as I initially thought, but with a little bit of patience, it’s definitely doable.