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I am definitely in the cooler camp. Too hot (or too long) and successive steeps lose balance becoming too bitter and/or astringent which just ruins further steeps. I am shooting for 5ish steeps, and too hot on any steep cuts the session short for me. I used to steadily increase temps for successive...

I am definitely in the cooler camp. Too hot (or too long) and successive steeps lose balance becoming too bitter and/or astringent which just ruins further steeps. I am shooting for 5ish steeps, and too hot on any steep cuts the session short for me. I used to steadily increase temps for successive ...

Yerterday I receive my order from o-cha of the Satsuma sae midori sencha. It has been quite timely. Thank Victoria for your coments and photos. In particular, I love the Taisuke Shiraiwa cup. Oh, it is so smooth, umami good. I’m wondering how it is processed differently than O-Cha’s other much gree...

... and sometimes the things i read on newer vendor sites makes me laugh. They seem desperate to sell at the expence of truly learning and understanding. Den's has been around quite a while and has this to say about their Hashiri. "Hashiri means the "first (harvest or catch) of the season" and our H...

I recently read an article from a new vendor that said that shincha is picked early and so the leaves have no time to develop a high caffeine content or astringency. ??? Shincha has always gotten me very caffeine buzzed and awake. Hashiri is often a very early first flush shincha. Hashiri is picked...

Yes, great post!

Is the height more or less the only difference between a shibo and houhin? Can both of them also be called an easy gaiwan? The width to height ratio is typically higher on a shib. So yes, the shib is relatively wider and the houhin is relatively higher ... Typically. The houhin typically has a roun...

Typically gyokuro is brewed with a wide opening vessel like a shiboridashi or houhin. And the lid is often left off while brewing. The wide opening prevents overheating and allows viewing of the precious leaves. I typically use a houhin because I have ... an abundance of them. I recently after all t...

First time ordering from O-cha, I got Sae Midori and Chiran (as my OH likes a fair bit of astringency in his greens). I might order Chiran. Have not decided yet. I like to amp up the brewing of Sae Midori, increasing the leaf and the steep time (a bit) while keeping the temp down a little. SM is ve...

Eyvind wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:58 am

Shincha season

Old sencha smelling flat
Earth warms, buds green, from the sea
Shincha aroma

Any word when oku midori from O-cha arrives?

Nope, have not heard ... I will be anxious to order it since it always seemed to be out when I was ordering 2017 harvest.

How long do you think 2018 Shincha will be available? I was going to wait to order only when I’m almost back from a trip back east, mid-May. Shincha is not replenished. It is finite. When it sells out, that is it. It is usually sells out around July, but can be sooner or later. If you see someone s...

How long do you think 2018 Shincha will be available? I was going to wait to order only when I’m almost back from a trip back east, mid-May. Shincha is not replenished. It is finite. When it sells out, that is it. It is usually sells out around July, but can be sooner or later. If you see someone s...

Yutaka Midori and Sofu shincha from O-cha just arrived. :mrgreen: Did you also order O-Cha’s Sofu sencha? A cross between Yabukita and Inzatsu 131 cultivar, with jasmine aroma. Sounds interesting to try. Yes, it arrived today. Seems I tried this cultivar previously but do not recall much about it. ...

Yutaka Midori and Sofu shincha from
O-cha just arrived.

The Sae Midori impress? Better than last year's? oops ... thought I replied to this. 2017 was according to Kevin a "difficult year" for Sae Midori. But I simply adjusted time to a little to over a minute for the first steep ... and it was quite good. Different, but good. Perhaps a bit of a challeng...