Green Tea: Going from Cold to Hot

The season is here. By now, you probably have your summer clothes packed away and got your scarfs out. Bottles of sunscreens are likely replaced by hand creams. And if you are like me, you are probably enjoying your tea hot instead of cold now.

After picking up the habit of preparing bottles of cold rich Shizuoka green tea at work over the summer, it is now time for me to venture into the other side and see if the hot green tea will become my new habit, and it is not as simple as a switch-over. I am a big fan of cold drinks, so there are a few major differences I have noticed as I am in the early stages of trying out daily green tea.

1.    Warming rather than refreshing

The first and foremost difference is that I am no longer drinking it for refreshment, as a warm (or hot) cup of green tea is more about comforting my body. It is a very different feeling. While I might seek for a cold boost to wake me up at work, the warm green tea is more fitting in helping me relax at home. This is already a big reason why I have to reevaluate the possibility of forming the new habit at work. Perhaps I will be having my daily green tea upon getting home instead.

2.    Less flavor?

I don’t know about you, but I find that my tongue tastes less of the flavour of a drink when it is warm rather than hot. I really enjoyed the richness, sweetness and bitterness of the cold green tea, but for the warm green tea, all those flavours of the tea would attack my taste buds at once and leave very soon. The lasting aftertaste that I get from cold green tea is not there. I find that this makes warm green tea to go well with meals, but less as a drink alone. A new lunch time habit then?

3.    No more big gulps

I used to fill up my 500mL bottle with the cold green tea and take big satisfying gulps from it. With the warm or occasionally hot tea though, that is no longer an option without burning my tongue. The cold green tea habit used to be a way to make sure I was drinking enough water throughout the day as well, so now I have to find a different way to make sure I am hydrated.

4.    No need to wait

A very positive change, however, is the little wait time I need for hot green tea. To make the cold brew green tea, I had to wait overnight before I could enjoy the tea from the fridge. Now if I want to drink the hot tea, it would take me mere minutes! (plus a few minutes to let it cool down, I guess). This is a big plus, allowing me to enjoy it anytime I want.


Initially I had thought that the change in my green tea habit was going to be just changing the temperature of the drink, but after trying it for a bit, I realized I enjoy the two drinks in completely different ways. Time will be needed for readjustment, but I think this will eventually be something I enjoy daily, especially as the temperature continues to drop.

This post is supported by Shizuoka Green Tea Guide, one of City-Cost's Supporters helping City-Cost bloggers to enjoy life in Japan and engage in new experiences.