What Green Are You Drinking

[Smiler7]

What is wrong with tea bags??

[Léon]

Tea should have complete freedom to unfold.

Above that tea bags are a clear example of useless waste of materials.

Above that you pay for that waste of materials.

[Smiler7]

Thank you!

[Masterjeff]

For my first sencha of 2024 I'm enjoying a Yabukita from Tosa, a really nice full bodied Yabukita that delights the senses. The tea has a really fresh herbaceous taste with a butteriness to it that is quite enjoyable. Accompanying it is a long aftertaste that is enhanced by reduction clay (pictured is banko but my Taisuke Shiraiwa reduction also handled it well). The only real complaint would be a faint bitterness in early infusions, and moderate astringency in later infusions. While not my favorite Yabukita sencha (that would be the excellent Umegashima, Nyujima that TDJ carries) it is still a great enjoyable tea that is a nice introduction to this years harvest before I get into the deep end of more unusual cultivars.

[Smiler7]

Tried loose leaf Fukamushi Sencha - Excellent
No more tea bags for me.

[Léon]

Loose leaf Fukamushi Sencha is also present here in our house!

[LeoFox]

an interruption in the daily Kabuse Sencha start for more of the Orchid Dew green tea from Mauna Kea Tea.



it is also a lovely tea grandpa style as I'm doing today, in the Flower of Forgetfulness.

Looks so nice. I should get some of of this hawaii stuff one of these days

[Janice]

While I wait impatiently for the 2024 harvest version of my favorite Japanese greens from O-Cha to become available I'm trying something new (to me). Kettl has a Roast Club Subscription: a different Fresh Roasted Houjicha every month. It's a premium tea roasted in Brooklyn, NY and mailed out immediately. The July tea is lightly roasted and a big change from houjica I've had in the past.

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[Vinski]

A Tsuen Tea Uji Sencha Aoi from o-cha. Light and mellow sencha.

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[Sunyata]

Drinking HOJO's Bi Luo Chun 2024. First cup was really really fruity and sweet. 2nd cup onward it became more brothy and flavor dropped noticeably. 3rd steep had to be pushed in order to be enjoyable. Tea is basically done.

Not the best Bi Luo Chun I've had. The variance between a good and not so good Bi Luo Chun is remarkable. It's always important to keep trying in search of a good supplier/source, and even then quality is different every year. The really stellar Bi Luo Chun is way better than any green tea, period. In fact it probably is better than any Japanese Asamushi sencha or tencha, with fruity sweetness maintaining in 3 or 4 steeps... a rarity in the world of greens. I don't know what you look out for in a green, but for me it's the sweetness... not so much the "umami". You know... like between a cup of crisp washed geisha pourover vs an espresso, I want something I can drink again and again rather than a shot of seaweed umami bomb like a gyokuro.

[GaoShan]

Drinking HOJO's Bi Luo Chun 2024. First cup was really really fruity and sweet. 2nd cup onward it became more brothy and flavor dropped noticeably. 3rd steep had to be pushed in order to be enjoyable. Tea is basically done.

Not the best Bi Luo Chun I've had. The variance between a good and not so good Bi Luo Chun is remarkable. It's always important to keep trying in search of a good supplier/source, and even then quality is different every year. The really stellar Bi Luo Chun is way better than any green tea, period. In fact it probably is better than any Japanese Asamushi sencha or tencha, with fruity sweetness maintaining in 3 or 4 steeps... a rarity in the world of greens. I don't know what you look out for in a green, but for me it's the sweetness... not so much the "umami". You know... like between a cup of crisp washed geisha pourover vs an espresso, I want something I can drink again and again rather than a shot of seaweed umami bomb like a gyokuro.

Yes, a stellar Bi Luo Chun is something special. I didn't realize Hojo sold BLC along with Longjing. Have you had the BLC First Pluck from Seven Cups? I'd be interested to hear how they compare.

I also value sweeteness more than umami in my green tea. I like the floral, fruity notes I can find in teas like Bi Luo Chun, Anji Bai Cha, and even some gyokuro and sencha, though they're harder to guarantee in Japanese greens. Anji has some umami, but the good ones are fruity and have no bitterness.

[Sunyata]

Drinking HOJO's Bi Luo Chun 2024. First cup was really really fruity and sweet. 2nd cup onward it became more brothy and flavor dropped noticeably. 3rd steep had to be pushed in order to be enjoyable. Tea is basically done.

Not the best Bi Luo Chun I've had. The variance between a good and not so good Bi Luo Chun is remarkable. It's always important to keep trying in search of a good supplier/source, and even then quality is different every year. The really stellar Bi Luo Chun is way better than any green tea, period. In fact it probably is better than any Japanese Asamushi sencha or tencha, with fruity sweetness maintaining in 3 or 4 steeps... a rarity in the world of greens. I don't know what you look out for in a green, but for me it's the sweetness... not so much the "umami". You know... like between a cup of crisp washed geisha pourover vs an espresso, I want something I can drink again and again rather than a shot of seaweed umami bomb like a gyokuro.

Yes, a stellar Bi Luo Chun is something special. I didn't realize Hojo sold BLC along with Longjing. Have you had the BLC First Pluck from Seven Cups? I'd be interested to hear how they compare.

I also value sweetness more than umami in my green tea. I like the floral, fruity notes I can find in teas like Bi Luo Chun, Anji Bai Cha, and even some gyokuro and sencha, though they're harder to guarantee in Japanese greens. Anji has some umami, but the good ones are fruity and have no bitterness.

I've not tried that but I've heard good things so probably will keep that in mind next season! Yes, HOJO does have early or even exclusive releases to their malaysian store which is more up-to-date than the main japanese website. Like right now I'm having some 2024 Da Xue Shan wild white tea which hasn't been released on the main site yet.

Between gyokuro and sencha I prefer the latter.. but japanese greens usually tend to have umami which covers over the sweetness. Occasionally Im on the lookout for light steamed sencha - that's as far as I can go since this is my least consumed style of tea (greens in general). And white tea also has soft, gentle sweetness that I find more pleasurable than a punchy green to have in the morning.

[Sunyata]

I finished up my sample of HOJO BLC, and I must say that its much much better when I use slightly more leaf and brewing it in glass gaiwan instead of tall glass. I got 6 great steeps out of it. It is a very dense, brothy tea with slight bitterness but low astringency (bitterness can be good but astringency is never good).

Also, the best way to brew BLC is to pour hot water into glass gaiwan first before adding in the leaf. Goes to show that we should never judge a tea too quickly, Sometimes it takes at least 3 sessions before we understand the best way to brew a tea.

[LeoFox]

Blc from friend who visited suzhou a few months ago.
Decent stuff

[Masterjeff]

Two senchas from Thes Du Japon, Koshun from Mariko in Shizuoka, and Asanoka from Kirishima in Kagoshima.
Both teas were very good, with the Koshun being my favorite.
The Koshun had very interesting aromas, which translated to an interesting fruity/floral flavor (the latter of which became more prominent in later steeps) that was accompanied by a herbaceous savoriness. I did not get the almond notes some associate with the cultivar.
The Asanoka had interesting aromas for a sencha as well, but was closer to a conventional umami/sweet sencha flavor profile, but in the aftertaste the more unique profile similar to the aroma shines through.
(Koshun top, Asanoka Bottom)