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ferg wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 18, 2018 6:40 pm

The Sae Midori impress? Better than last year's?

oops ... thought I replied to this.

2017 was according to Kevin a "difficult year" for Sae Midori. But I simply adjusted time to a little to over a minute for the first steep ... and it was quite good. Different, but good. Perhaps a bit of a challenge to brew and a bit more astringent after the first steep.

2018, very good to excellent. Very easy brewer. No adjusting needed, comes out outstanding every time.

The first few sessions were wildly potent BUT at the same time rich and delicious.

"Aromatically", 2018 is perhaps the best SM I can recall. From the dry leaf to the brew, magical.

I noticed today, already, my bag that I opened immediately upon arrival has lost some of its "shincha luster" ... to be expected.

Glad I purchased 5 bags! I will be sharing this selection with sencha/shincha neophytes beginning tomorrow.

Yutaka Midori and Sofu shincha from
O-cha just arrived.

Chip wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:29 pm

Yutaka Midori and Sofu shincha from
O-cha just arrived.

Did you also order O-Cha’s Sofu sencha? A cross between Yabukita and Inzatsu 131 cultivar, with jasmine aroma. Sounds interesting to try.

Victoria wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:55 pm

Chip wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:29 pm

Yutaka Midori and Sofu shincha from
O-cha just arrived.

Did you also order O-Cha’s Sofu sencha? A cross between Yabukita and Inzatsu 131 cultivar, with jasmine aroma. Sounds interesting to try.

Yes, it arrived today.

Seems I tried this cultivar previously but do not recall much about it.

I received 3 YM and 2 Sofu.

How long do you think 2018 Shincha will be available? I was going to wait to order only when I’m almost back from a trip back east, mid-May.

Victoria wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:22 pm

How long do you think 2018 Shincha will be available? I was going to wait to order only when I’m almost back from a trip back east, mid-May.

Shincha is not replenished. It is finite. When it sells out, that is it. It is usually sells out around July, but can be sooner or later.

If you see someone selling shincha much later than that, avoid it. Instead opt for ichibancha/first flush.

Chip wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:44 pm

Victoria wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:22 pm

How long do you think 2018 Shincha will be available? I was going to wait to order only when I’m almost back from a trip back east, mid-May.

Shincha is not replenished. It is finite. When it sells out, that is it. It is usually sells out around July, but can be sooner or later.

If you see someone selling shincha much later than that, avoid it. Instead opt for ichibancha/first flush.

Okay, I’ll order now then and see if he can hold shipment

Victoria wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:47 pm

Chip wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:44 pm

Victoria wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:22 pm

How long do you think 2018 Shincha will be available? I was going to wait to order only when I’m almost back from a trip back east, mid-May.

Shincha is not replenished. It is finite. When it sells out, that is it. It is usually sells out around July, but can be sooner or later.

If you see someone selling shincha much later than that, avoid it. Instead opt for ichibancha/first flush.

Okay, I’ll order now then and see if he can hold shipment

Personally, I would simply order whatever is available at the time.

Shincha or (non shincha) Ichibancha ... both will be very good.

Often non shincha ichibancha can actually be fresher than shincha that has been packaged a while ...

Shincha season

Old sencha smelling flat
Earth warms, buds green, from the sea
Shincha aroma

Any word when oku midori from O-cha arrives?

Eyvind wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:58 am

Shincha season

Old sencha smelling flat
Earth warms, buds green, from the sea
Shincha aroma

Any word when oku midori from O-cha arrives?

Nope, have not heard ... I will be anxious to order it since it always seemed to be out when I was ordering 2017 harvest.

First time ordering from O-cha, I got Sae Midori and Chiran (as my OH likes a fair bit of astringency in his greens).

VoirenTea wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 28, 2018 4:30 pm

First time ordering from O-cha, I got Sae Midori and Chiran (as my OH likes a fair bit of astringency in his greens).

I might order Chiran. Have not decided yet.

I like to amp up the brewing of Sae Midori, increasing the leaf and the steep time (a bit) while keeping the temp down a little. SM is very adaptive and responds well to adjustments.

Hope to hear how you make out ...

We've had the Sae Midori twice now and are enjoying it. Compared to our last shincha it indeed doesn't get as bitter if you steep it longer, and it has about the same longevity - does about 750ml of steeps from a teaspoon of tea (I don't tend to weigh green tea) before tailing off quickly, though we tend to go for the full litre anyway. Nicely green colour!

I plan to try the recommended temp and time next, as we tend to steep it hotter and shorter instead.

i finally broke down and ordered some shincha for myself. better late than never

having never ordered from TdJ before, i decided to give them a shot:

• Sencha from Hon.yama, Tamakawa, Yamakai cultivar

• Sencha from Hon.yama, Tamakawa, Sôfû cultivar

i'm particularly excited to try the sofu because i've never tried an 'inzatsu' cultivar

i ended up getting these as well:

• Black tea from Gokase, Benihikari cultivar, 2017 first flush (supposedly reminiscent of tw black teas)

• Semi-fermented tea from Fujieda, Shizu-7132 cultivar (the aromatics of this cultivar are supposed to be really something, so i bet it's pretty powerful processed as an oolong)

• Goishi-cha (post-fermented tea. you can read a post about it here)

Finally put in my 2018 shincha order with O-Cha. Was set to order with Thes du Japón, but then Kevin posted a pan fried shincha and curiosity steered me back to O-Cha. I also got a set of teabags for my trips; on my last trip sencha teabags came to the rescue a few times, seems water and temp. is more forgiving with the bags.

• Kirameki Uji Shincha

• Satsuma Sae Midori Sencha

• Sae Midori Sencha

• Nagasaki Organic Guricha

• Chiran Kagoshima Green Tea Bags