SHINCHA 2019!
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swordofmytriumph
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
It’s arrived stateside! Only another couple days to wait for the 20th anniversary tea!!
Likewise, mine flew from Tokio directly to Los Angeles and has landed, which means any day now. Glad it didn’t go through San Francisco, where all my order get delayed. Now it just needs to warm up a little here along the coast so it feels more like spring. Most days are foggy in the low 60s, with 72% humidity right now.
I'll be ordering from Yuuki-Cha again this year. They have a pretty large selection and I like to try a different sencha every year. This year, I'm getting an asamushi sencha, Organic Yakushima Sencha Kuritawase.
Haven't pulled the trigger yet though. Waiting until the new kamairicha is back in stock, hopefully sometime this month.
Haven't pulled the trigger yet though. Waiting until the new kamairicha is back in stock, hopefully sometime this month.
Today, May 2, is the 88th day of Spring in Japan, Hachijuu-hachi-ya. Tea picked today is said to be optimal and brings good fortune for the year. In past years I purchased a few 88th night shincha from Sugimoto and Maeda-en but don’t remember thinking they were AAA great.
I'll be ordering from Yuuki-Cha and O-Cha. Whichever is available sooner, the Shimofuri Masashige from Yuuki-Cha or the Kurasawa from O-Cha will determine which vendor gets the first order. I don't typically buy non-organic, but all the talk about the 20th Anniversary Sae Midori has me convinced to order one if it's still available by then.
That was one of my favorite senchas from Yuuki-Cha last year, enjoy!
I have not seen any of their tea labeled shincha. This pouch arrived without any other english on it. I thought Okinawa, being pretty far south, might be harvesting early. Or it might be a 'winter' tea.Chip wrote: ↑Sun Apr 28, 2019 8:36 pmDo they typically market and sell selections labeled "shincha"?debunix wrote: ↑Sun Apr 28, 2019 9:58 amI believe I am enjoying shincha as I write this. My most recent tea shipment from Obubu Tea Farm included a small pouch of 'Fresh Tea From Okinawa'. It is a quite pleasing sencha-style tea, with a bit of astringency and not as delicate as, say, their spring sun or Kabuse senchas that I was drinking most recently, but still nicely vegetal and not too sharp.
The one date on the package is 2020.3.20, so I'm guessing they have a cooperative agreement of some kind with an Okinawa tea farm.
I would be interested to know.
It seems most Japanese sencha have a 1 year shelf life, but 3/20/19 seems like a highly improbable harvest or packaging date for a 2019 shincha.
No problem. I haven't been leaving reviews on there because I thought they never showed up, but it looks like some I left a year ago finally appeared, so I'll be sure to do so in the future. If you have tried either the Imuta or the chumushi Yakushima, the Kuritawase is similar, but was better to me. You can look at those reviews to maybe get a sense of this tea.
Yazoo, pop pop pop sweetness... the 20th Anniversary Sae Midori has playful popping dissonant notes yet is a smooth sweet operator, with long lasting aftertaste.
It deserves a tribute song or playlist to go with it. Seeking nominations....
Made me think of the band Yazoo, then of The Flying Pickets, a British cappella group singing Yazoo’s ‘Only You’ it captures something of this fukamushi;
The Flying Pickets - Only You
Yazoo - Don’t Go
Per Chip’s recommendation, I amped up the volume going with 1.7gr/1oz (30ml)/160F/60sec.
It deserves a tribute song or playlist to go with it. Seeking nominations....
Made me think of the band Yazoo, then of The Flying Pickets, a British cappella group singing Yazoo’s ‘Only You’ it captures something of this fukamushi;
The Flying Pickets - Only You
Yazoo - Don’t Go
Per Chip’s recommendation, I amped up the volume going with 1.7gr/1oz (30ml)/160F/60sec.
i just ordered some 20th Anniversary Sae Midori from o-cha 
Will be interesting to hear what you think of this special Sae Midori. The needles are very fine, so I’ve been using my Gyokuryu reduction fired kyusu with a sesame filter. @Chip which kyusu are you using? For me a wall filter would get clogged and slow the pour quite a bit leading to over-steeping. But maybe you have mastered the craft of the pour.
Have gotten my 20th anniversary SM as well, very interesting, quite different from the regular SM.
First session, yesterday, was a bit off, my water was a bit too cool, but enjoyed it very much this morning.
It has sort of an herbaceous note going on, sorta like pea pods, not sure if I should attribute that to it being fresh shincha or just a different character altogether.
Cheers.
First session, yesterday, was a bit off, my water was a bit too cool, but enjoyed it very much this morning.
It has sort of an herbaceous note going on, sorta like pea pods, not sure if I should attribute that to it being fresh shincha or just a different character altogether.
Cheers.
I was excited to see the Organic Kabusecha is back at O-Cha this year! It went missing last year, and is one of my favorites. I went ahead and ordered it along with the Sae Midori Kabusecha, Kirishima Asamushi, and the 20th Anniversary Sae Midori. And now, I wait.
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swordofmytriumph
- Posts: 429
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:19 am
- Location: Seattle, USA
Finally opened the 20th anniversary sencha, and WOW. 
this is amazing. By far my favorite sencha yet. It’s amazing. Words don’t do justice to the symphony of flavors in that tea.
On another note, I’ll have even more sencha coming to me, my dad is in Tokyo for work this week thru next, and I have prevailed upon him to visit Ippodo and Thes Du Japon and bring me tea. This is the best possible time for it since he can bring me back shincha!
this is amazing. By far my favorite sencha yet. It’s amazing. Words don’t do justice to the symphony of flavors in that tea. On another note, I’ll have even more sencha coming to me, my dad is in Tokyo for work this week thru next, and I have prevailed upon him to visit Ippodo and Thes Du Japon and bring me tea. This is the best possible time for it since he can bring me back shincha!
I much prefer to buy organic as well so I appreciate the Kuritawase recommendation from Yuuki-cha! I ordered it as well as the Chiran and Yukushima senchas and the Matcha Iri Sencha just for kicks. By the way, I wouldn't count too much on most vendors posting anything less than very good to excellent reviews on their own sites. I'd like to think that if I was a tea vendor that I wouldn't screen reviews but I've never been in that position yet to know for sure!nasalfrog wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 12:12 pmI'll be ordering from Yuuki-Cha and O-Cha. Whichever is available sooner, the Shimofuri Masashige from Yuuki-Cha or the Kurasawa from O-Cha will determine which vendor gets the first order. I don't typically buy non-organic, but all the talk about the 20th Anniversary Sae Midori has me convinced to order one if it's still available by then.
That was one of my favorite senchas from Yuuki-Cha last year, enjoy!
