Today I tried hibiki-an's matcha superior, which I liked very much. I was in danger of huffing some powdery bits into my lungs because the scent was so nice to my nose. The taste is much softer and creamier than the house stuff and froths up so easily I was slightly shocked. Slight bitterness with very hot water but the bite just made things more interesting. Gave me a nice relaxed yin-like feeling after and I very nearly fell asleep daydreaming about more matcha... I could easily drink this one every other day, alternating with wako once I get more in. A very nice surprise and I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's bowl.
Still looking for a good Friday night matcha now that I've laid down some basics, but I'm in no rush and the search is pleasant. I think I'll try something from ippodo next.
What Green Are You Drinking
This morning had some Taiwanese Qing Xin early spring green tea. Smell was out of this world, I got a lot of those baozhong aromatics. The taste was kind of a generic green tea flavor though. Green bean and spinach notes, but very thin and lacking depth. Unfortunately, that's the story with all Taiwanese green teas I've tried. Taiwan produces some amazing oolongs but the green tea grown there doesn't quite match up to the tea from Japan and China.
Or you just didn’t have a good one yet...LuckyMe wrote: ↑Tue Jun 25, 2019 1:05 pmThis morning had some Taiwanese Qing Xin early spring green tea. Smell was out of this world, I got a lot of those baozhong aromatics. The taste was kind of a generic green tea flavor though. Green bean and spinach notes, but very thin and lacking depth. Unfortunately, that's the story with all Taiwanese green teas I've tried. Taiwan produces some amazing oolongs but the green tea grown there doesn't quite match up to the tea from Japan and China.
I’ll take a Taiwan greener Oolongs over Japanese or Chinese any day.
What you describe sounds like low quality, low altitude Taiwan tea. Or it might even be Vietnamese or Thai.
Felt better today so cut my hair, made tofu for hiyayakko and had it on the deck with some shincha brewed hotter than usual to bring out some much needed bitterness. I look and feel less like a wild creature now, about which I have mixed feelings.
Spent the day in wine country, which as a reformed wino wine drinker, was a little underwhelming. Afterwards, shared a bowl of koicha with my favorite person, which more than made up for it. Good tea, good company. Feeling very quiet and relaxed now.
The more I drink tea the less I want beer or wine!
Of all the teas I drink, a “rich” sencha is my favourite. I’m not good at describing tea taste, but reading your description had me instantly recognizing what you meant.
Today's Japanese lesson was especially tough and left me a bit grumpy so decided to order yet more tea to lift my mood. Checked out a new-to-me vendor with some interesting all-organic offerings but their weirdly passive aggressive 'about the company' page put me off so much I just ordered some sample sizes from Yunomi, instead. Drinking more of Hibiki-an's shincha traditional while I wait.
-
Chip
- Admin
- Posts: 371
- Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:47 pm
- Location: In the TeaCave atop Mt Fuji
- Contact:
Sadly, I could likely guess the vendor where I am personae non grata and am all but named public enemy number one on their "about our store" page.leafmajor wrote: ↑Mon Jul 01, 2019 9:18 pmToday's Japanese lesson was especially tough and left me a bit grumpy so decided to order yet more tea to lift my mood. Checked out a new-to-me vendor with some interesting all-organic offerings but their weirdly passive aggressive 'about the company' page put me off so much I just ordered some sample sizes from Yunomi, instead. Drinking more of Hibiki-an's shincha traditional while I wait.
But on a positive note, really enjoying yet another bag of 20 Anniversary special edition Sae Midori from ... yes O-Cha.
... 5th steep still enjoyable.
- 20190702_091952.jpg (549.57 KiB) Viewed 6882 times
Wow, 5th stew being enjoyable is impressive. I almost always stop at 3 because I rarely enjoy the 4th, let alone the 5th.
OK... So I am not proud of this but it seems I must play a round of "Infuse or Refuse".
As I was digging in the depths of my tea cabinet today I happened across a brand new, unopened bag of Organic Shizouka Tenryu Misakubo. How this one slipped by me I have no idea, but it is what it is. Bare in mind that this was shincha from the 2010 harvest season.
What would you do?
Brew?
Cold Brew?
Toss?
INFUSE OR REFUSE???
As I was digging in the depths of my tea cabinet today I happened across a brand new, unopened bag of Organic Shizouka Tenryu Misakubo. How this one slipped by me I have no idea, but it is what it is. Bare in mind that this was shincha from the 2010 harvest season.
What would you do?
Brew?
Cold Brew?
Toss?
INFUSE OR REFUSE???
Infuse or Refuse: Great tongue and cheek title for a new thread @Dresden. I would infuse using very cool water like 135f, it might still be tasty. Worst case it’s sweet hay, so a nice cool summer hydrator.