TeaForum.org

I thought exactly the same!

Fujikaori from Fujieda via tdj is back in stock this year. One of my favorite green teas from him, pleasantly floral and with an unexpected longevity as far as Japanese green teas go.

The vividness of that vibrant green prompted a return to morning sencha instead of grandpa style oolong. Today it's Obubu's Earth sencha, with a deep vegetal flavor, mild astrigency, not much in the fruity or floral line, but rich fresh green vegetable/herb goodness. Enjoying from Eiichi's Rock guinomi:

Toganoo by Marukyu Koyamaen, a kawayanagi

Yellow stalks, large leaves but also a good amount of dust. Prepared 10g/300ml/100°C/15s. Fresh smells from the wet leaf. Liquor was a pretty emerald color. Taste was extremely fresh, surprisingly nice. Light, balanced, clear notes, full and mild at the same time; not much fruitiness, no nuttiness, no corn, no spinach, no hay, a bit grassy, a pleasant hint of firing scent. Simple but enchanting, some sweetness as well. Made me feel wide awake.

Acc/to M.K., kawayanagi "is made from the thick and large leaves sorted out during the processing of Kabusecha and Sencha". The Toganoo "is made from larger sprouts of Kabusecha that are characterized by a distinctive aroma and refreshing flavor."

It's pretty cheap (<$10 for 250g). I didn't expect much--it does sound a bit like a by-product, and the one sencha I've tried from M.K. (their 2nd most expensive) tasted pretty meh. (I do like their gyokuro though, which was the reason for the order.) I purchased directly from their company web shop, for the first time (good experience, reasonable prices/shipping, courier delivery if EMS not available for your country). Maybe that's why it's so fresh.

Sencha from Goko cultivar- Thés du Japon!

I think I’ve found my top favorite sencha. Oh my, it’s so good. I love figs and this tea really brings the fig flavor in your palate. I usually have a green tea once a day, but this week has been only shincha’. A top favorite!

West Lake Longjing tea (Dragon well) for now, the best grade of Longjing 43, very nutty and floral

I haven't posted in a while, though I do check out the latest posts a few times a week. After opening a 2022 Sincha from O-Cha today and having a wonderful tea session, I had a strong desire to post something.

After getting 'serious' with tea, Sencha was one of the first teas that really grabbed me. Since then--and while I continue to drink Sencha--I've explored Chinese and Taiwan Oolongs, Matcha, and jumped into the puer rabbit hole. My morning brew is ripe, I have a Japanese green tea around lunch, and often have a raw or ripe around dinner time. On occasion I have high mountain Oolong in place of one of those daily teas. I had bought some Matcha a while ago and was having that daily instead of Sencha, for maybe a month now.

I bought some Sencha (Shincha) from O-Cha in the spring and just enjoyed my first session with a 2022 harvest (Kabusecha Sae Midori). Sweet. Slightly grassy. Delicate. I paid attention to temp and steep time more than I do for my daily puer, and I felt it really paid off. I steeped it for 60/30/60 at 72C and then around 2:00 at 80C for a final brew. The first two steeps were perfect. Third faded slightly and the fourth was worth it, but lacked that subtleness that you're rewarded with if paying attention.

This tea, and session, brought me back to that feeling of exploration I first felt after discovering Sencha years ago. While I initially had that same feeling with the wide world of puer, I find the puer train to be getting a little boring. While it packs punch, with some teas going for 10-15 steeps, has so much history and a lot of popularity, nearly endless variety, it's become too regular for me. Today's experience reminded me that it's great to stray from routine, but also revisit what is special.

2022 wild dingu dafang from daxuejiadao

The 2021 non wild version was mentioned here:
viewtopic.php?p=37931#p37931

After another hot night (at least things did cool down enough, and the air quality was barely OK enough to actually open the windows), hot tea was again out of the question this morning. Fortunately, in my last batch of prep of tea to be chilled in the fridge, I included some sencha. So this morning, I'm starting my day with sparkling 'Wind' sencha from Obubu. So refreshing, and still undeniably sencha fresh and sharp. Mmmm.

debunix wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 07, 2022 9:54 am

After another hot night (at least things did cool down enough, and the air quality was barely OK enough to actually open the windows), hot tea was again out of the question this morning. Fortunately, in my last batch of prep of tea to be chilled in the fridge, I included some sencha. So this morning, I'm starting my day with sparkling 'Wind' sencha from Obubu. So refreshing, and still undeniably sencha fresh and sharp. Mmmm.

So hot here too but yesterday I received a new order and I HAD to try that tea. . No Ac in here and I did what I could.

Yamakukai cultivar sencha- thes du Japon

very very good!

Sometimes you gotta make it work any way you can.

debunix wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 08, 2022 9:24 am

Sometimes you gotta make it work any way you can.

I'm back to chilled sparkling sencha this AM. It's already warm enough that it feels just right.

Hojo jasmine - after nearly three years, the underlying green tea from yunnan is starting to shine- in a sheng-y way

Currently drinking some Green Tea from Steven Smith Tea Maker!