What Green Are You Drinking

[debunix]

Obubu Summer Sun sencha. They describe it as a summer harvest tea with a pleasant astringency. I find it veers from astringent to bitter, but it also has a captivating roundness and warmth like summer in the vegetable grassy notes that is very pleasing and that helps me to put up with the touch of bitter. It really does feel like a summer... when there are so much good liveliness happening in the garden, seasoned with the unpleasantness of too much heat if the time of day is off just a little bit.

[Darrel]

Yame Gyokuro. Hard to get the brewing parameters down with this one. Not as bitter today but still need some work!

[debunix]

Gyokuro should be very forgiving and not prone to bitterness.... what parameters are you using?

[Darrel]

Gyokuro should be very forgiving and not prone to bitterness.... what parameters are you using?

This vendor recommended steeping for 2.5 to 3 minutes which seems kind of long compared to what I’m used to. I lowered the steeping time to 1 minute and 1.5 on the second cup and the taste is much better with no bitterness. I have the water at 140 degrees Fahrenheit and use about 5 grams of tea.

[LeoFox]

Gyokuro should be very forgiving and not prone to bitterness.... what parameters are you using?

This vendor recommended steeping for 2.5 to 3 minutes which seems kind of long compared to what I’m used to. I lowered the steeping time to 1 minute and 1.5 on the second cup and the taste is much better with no bitterness. I have the water at 140 degrees Fahrenheit and use about 5 grams of tea.

Try 120-125 F - about 40-50 ml for 5g and start at 1 min 30 seconds - then 1 min - then 2 min - then either eat the leaves or proceed with 3 min at 140 F - and so on. If this is too bitter - either gyokuro is not for you or it is subpar tea

[Darrel]

Gyokuro should be very forgiving and not prone to bitterness.... what parameters are you using?

This vendor recommended steeping for 2.5 to 3 minutes which seems kind of long compared to what I’m used to. I lowered the steeping time to 1 minute and 1.5 on the second cup and the taste is much better with no bitterness. I have the water at 140 degrees Fahrenheit and use about 5 grams of tea.

Try 120-125 F - about 40-50 ml for 5g and start at 1 min 30 seconds - then 1 min - then 2 min - then either eat the leaves or proceed with 3 min at 140 F - and so on. If this is too bitter - either gyokuro is not for you or it is subpar tea

I will try that lower temperature. Looks like I will have to bring out my shiboridashi.

Thank you for the tips!

[Masterjeff]

Enjoying a wonderful saemidori gyokuro from Thes Du Japon, thick umami with not a hint of bitterness brewed at 4g/40ml, quite disheartening to hear about the recent changes as I really enjoy their tea.

[Masterjeff]

Another Thes Du Japon tea, this time kurasawa cultivar sencha from Tenryu, an excellent use of the notoriously hostile cultivar. Very complex in both aroma and flavor over the infusions, transitioning from fruity and floral, to floral and woodsy, to a creamy dark chocolate like bitterness at the third infusion. All throughout it carried this note of bitterness with it but in a very pleasant way, showing through more in the later infusions. I'm quite sensitive to certain kinds of bitterness but this never bothered me since it was always balanced by the other notes and doesn't last too long in the aftertaste (which is quite long but more on the floral and later creamier side). Definitely going to try it in other clays but it worked well in my banko hohin at Florent's recommended 4g/70ml 80°C 60s.

[teatray]

Another Thes Du Japon tea, this time kurasawa cultivar sencha from Tenryu, an excellent use of the notoriously hostile cultivar. Very complex in both aroma and flavor over the infusions, transitioning from fruity and floral, to floral and woodsy, to a creamy dark chocolate like bitterness at the third infusion. All throughout it carried this note of bitterness with it but in a very pleasant way, showing through more in the later infusions. I'm quite sensitive to certain kinds of bitterness but this never bothered me since it was always balanced by the other notes and doesn't last too long in the aftertaste (which is quite long but more on the floral and later creamier side). Definitely going to try it in other clays but it worked well in my banko hohin at Florent's recommended 4g/70ml 80°C 60s.

Mmm. Looks good. How do you find the banko for sencha?

[Masterjeff]

Mmm. Looks good. How do you find the banko for sencha?

I find banko works quite well for a lot of sencha (as well as other Japanese steamed greens like kabusecha and gyokuro), especially the shizu cultivars such as kurasawa or shizu 7132 as both body and aftertaste are improved while astringency is lessened, though results may vary based off water hardness and factors like clay composition, as even among Iroku's pots there seems to be variations in color.
A few senchas I've had come out worse, can't remember which ones specifically at the moment unfortunately.

[Darrel]

Organic Kurasawa Sencha from o cha. Refreshing on this semi warm day. Happy Easter to those that celebrate.