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I decided not to order any Chinese greens this year because I haven’t been enjoying them the past few years. I took some of the money I was saving due to this resolution and ordered a packet of Asahina Gyokuro from HOJO. While on the site I read up on some of the organic senchas that were discussed in an earlier thread by Pedant:

“i don't think fertilizer is bad. it pumps up the umami taste.
most organic tea is fertilized, too. but i'm never worried about drinking anything that comes out of japan, organic or not.

but if you want to try something different, check out hojo tea for example:
http://hojotea.com/en/posts-47/
http://hojotea.com/item_e/g25e.htm
http://hojotea.com/item_e/g24e.htm
http://hojotea.com/item_e/g32e.htm”

Since 50 gram bags were around $10 I decided I that for the price it wasn’t to late to try last year’s tea. One thing I like about ordering directly from Japan is the speed of shipping. The tea was delivered exactly a week after the package was dropped off at the post office in Japan.

First up, Tsukigase Zairai Sencha. I have difficulty matching Hojo’s lyrical descriptions but I can say that I clearly tasted the tea in different parts of my mouth than ordinarily. I usually avoid sencha because I’m overly sensitive to the bitter notes, but there was absolutely no bitterness in this tea.

Here’s a photo of the Tsukigase Zairai Sencha leaves from Hojo. The style is definitely less uniform than I’m accustomed to and the pale pieces might be stems. I don’t care about looks - I care about results. I’m happy to have found a tea that costs less than gyokuro, is easy to brew, has no bitterness, and has a different taste profile than my favorite O-Cha kariganes.

I just finished drinking Sumire sencha from kettl co.
It's so good, I liked it a lot. I think I liked it just as much if not more than Aoi from Tsuen.

I realized that I can't drink sencha hot anymore really, I believe that since the leaves are not whole but chopped up, they irritate my stomach too much. It's the same with cheap sheng puer, the chopped up leaves make the brew irritate my stomach while whole leaf sheng is fine. I am very interested in trying whole leaf sencha though, I believe Hojo sells some and will be trying it out. It's a shame because I really like the sencha flavor. Has anyone heard of whole leaf gyokuro?

I ended up cold brewing half of the package because I didn't want to irritate my stomach anymore, as I get more experienced as a tea drinker I am more aware of these more subtle types of effects on my body. I hope I was still able to get a lot of the beneficial properties of the tea while cold brewing, it still tasted pretty good though.

Shine Magical wrote: ↑

Fri May 04, 2018 9:02 am

I just finished drinking Sumire sencha from kettl co.
It's so good, I liked it a lot. I think I liked it just as much if not more than Aoi from Tsuen.

I realized that I can't drink sencha hot anymore really, I believe that since the leaves are not whole but chopped up, they irritate my stomach too much. It's the same with cheap sheng puer, the chopped up leaves make the brew irritate my stomach while whole leaf sheng is fine. I am very interested in trying whole leaf sencha though, I believe Hojo sells some and will be trying it out. It's a shame because I really like the sencha flavor. Has anyone heard of whole leaf gyokuro?

I ended up cold brewing half of the package because I didn't want to irritate my stomach anymore, as I get more experienced as a tea drinker I am more aware of these more subtle types of effects on my body. I hope I was still able to get a lot of the beneficial properties of the tea while cold brewing, it still tasted pretty good though.

I think the stomach reaction you are experiencing may be partially due to Japanese steaming vs pan frying of most Chinese teas. Generally people who have this reaction make sure to eat something beforehand to coat their stomach. Although you say you have this reaction with cheap sheng also -probably young sheng, I think that’s a different issue though. There are whole leaf Japanese teas just fewer than in China or Taiwan; Bancha and Iribancha are whole leaf. From Thes du Japón; Sugiyama Yaeho, shincha from Mariko, Shizuoka are whole leaves beautifully hand rolled. Keep in mind, the process of hand rolling tea leaves into fine needles in Japan, macerates the leaf, extracting more components, more quickly in the first and second steep. This might be another component that you are reacting too. Steaming, chopping, tightly rolling into needles, results in a more intense broth within the first two steeps.

Just finished from O-Cha, Tsuen Uji Gyokuro Yume no Ukihashi. Perfect steeped in Jozan III kyusu, a deliciously elegant and smooth sweet pea umami profile. Perfecto. Package says: 1.2 gr/1oz (30ml)/140f/2min. I used a higher ratio of leaf/water, 1.68 gr: 1oz/ 135f/ 2min.

Yuki of Kagoshima Co, visited and kindly shared their Gyokuro with me, along with a few other notable selections like, their two weeks shaded, Kagoshima Seicha, and super rich sencha/matcha teabags sold through their Birouen Tea House. Interesting, the shaded Seicha is better than their Gyokuro, although the Gyokuro is pretty good, just doesn’t rise to the level of wow, with fireworks going off. A super astringency comes through, which I liked, leaving the palate extra dry. It just didn’t have that deep rich umami profile that I yearn for in Gyokuro. Steeped in Jozan III shudei kyusu, and served in a wonderfully balanced undulating Taisuke Shiraiwa cup - well the aesthetic experience is nonetheless superior, elevating and carrying the moment to a higher level. Ferg thank you for sending these beauties my way.

The fragrance comes out from GaiWan with steam,
attracts me so much,
when LongJing tea leaves encountered hot water. Brightly yellowish tea leaves.
There is still some unique fragrance produced during killing green using relatively hot pan to completely stop the natural fermentation by enzyme included in tea leaf.
Some like roasted flavor.
85-90℃ is suitable temperature of water. I opened the cap of teapot to let it cool down soon after boiled.
Gongfucha style may seem ridiculous for brewing green tea,
but I like it because it keeps tea leaves from coming into mouth when use traditional "one-stop" like tea cup.
Compare to Puerh tea, the astringency of LongJing is minor.
No bitterness at all except infused too heavily.
HuiGan comes from aftertaste is fresh like spring water from mountain. Very different from the sweetness comes from Puerh tea which is thicker and more viscous.
Salvation is satisfying and lingers long. Fragrance from the dry leaf seems like disappeared during every infusion, even you sniff the tea liquid or cold tea cup deeply. But it comes back from deep throat during aftertaste.
Soothing mind feeling even in this hot and humid morning in Guangzhou.

First tea of the day, Sae Midori from the O-Cha.
Very late tea due to Chip having an early morning bike ride and my work schedule.
Delish, as expected.

Up too late, just had a round of this heavenly Xu Fu Long Ya from Teaspring. Slightly disappointed to see that it is $0.70/gram, but that doesn't surprise me, wow it's good.

Sweet, succulent. Better than any Long Jing I've had in years, if that's any benchmark. And I guess 3g is still much less than a Starbucks latte, who ever drinks those anyway

Chip and I enjoyed Yutaka Midori from Kagoshimo this morning on our patio. Delicious tea, one of my faves from O-Cha!

Jo wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 13, 2018 1:48 pm

Chip and I enjoyed Yutaka Midori from Kagoshimo this morning on our patio. Delicious tea, one of my faves from O-Cha!

I am also enjoying O-Cha’s 2018 shincha, Sae Midori. It has a really rich vegetal broth, with sweet pea notes. Letting it rest one minute in the cup sweetens it a little, must be because it is cooling a little. How did you find they differed this year? Also, how many good steeps are you getting? I’m getting three.

Victoria, we have 2 of O-Cha's Sae Midori, a fukamushi from Kagoshima and an asamushi, I think also from Kagoshima.

The fuka is defiantly my favorite, flavor is more in your face, the Asa has more finesse and elegance.

Both can be amped up by adjusting time and/or more leaf. As Chip says, pretty hard to mess up.

High character and high profile steeps, yep, we are getting 3. However we thoroughly enjoy 5 to 6.

Chip says, that's how we roll.

Jo wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 13, 2018 8:42 pm

Victoria, we have 2 of O-Cha's Sae Midori, a fukamushi from Kagoshima and an asamushi, I think also from Kagoshima.

The fuka is defiantly my favorite, flavor is more in your face, the Asa has more finesse and elegance.

Both can be amped up by adjusting time and/or more leaf. As Chip says, pretty hard to mess up.

High character and high profile steeps, yep, we are getting 3. However we thoroughly enjoy 5 to 6.

Chip says, that's how we roll.

Am savoring the deep steamed Kagoshima Sae Midori so far. I just let 4th steep sit for many hours. Will wait to open competition grade Satsuma Sae Midori that is light-steamed with umami profile. Should be interesting. I'm restricting myself to one open shincha at a time

Hey Joel, your photo of longjing looks like vegetables. Once, I have bought a tea, I try to forget how much it cost (at least when drinking it). cheers

Shine Magical wrote: ↑

Fri May 04, 2018 9:02 am

I just finished drinking Sumire sencha from kettl co.
It's so good, I liked it a lot. I think I liked it just as much if not more than Aoi from Tsuen.

I realized that I can't drink sencha hot anymore really, I believe that since the leaves are not whole but chopped up, they irritate my stomach too much. It's the same with cheap sheng puer, the chopped up leaves make the brew irritate my stomach while whole leaf sheng is fine. I am very interested in trying whole leaf sencha though, I believe Hojo sells some and will be trying it out. It's a shame because I really like the sencha flavor. Has anyone heard of whole leaf gyokuro?

I ended up cold brewing half of the package because I didn't want to irritate my stomach anymore, as I get more experienced as a tea drinker I am more aware of these more subtle types of effects on my body. I hope I was still able to get a lot of the beneficial properties of the tea while cold brewing, it still tasted pretty good though.

Try brewing a little cooler! Drop temperature 5 to 10 Celsius and you might be fine after. If I brew sencha too hot, I suffer!

Chiran in our cups this morning, just a touch of astringency, but mild.

This shincha selection is from the O-Cha.