Sounds heavy. Glad I followed my instincts to back away, and glad your tea is nice.Chip wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:23 am
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.
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.
What Green Are You Drinking
leafmajor, O-Cha's 20th Anniverary tea is "da bomb". If you haven't tried it, you should. You don't want to miss out on this delish one time special offering!leafmajor wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:06 pmSounds heavy. Glad I followed my instincts to back away, and glad your tea is nice.Chip wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:23 am
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.
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.
Has lots of depth and is a fairly easy brew.
Worst case scenario, I infuse and it is blech, and I waste a little energy and time heating the water and rinsing the brewing vessel and cup before I can start over with a better tea. Might be it is tasty. Might be not great but quite adequate for cold brew. Only way to find out is to open and sniff test, and if it passes that, go for INFUSE!
@Jo Well, I am fond of limited edition tea things. We'll see if it's still available on Friday when the tea budget is replenished. If not, pining for the one that got away has it's own sort of appeal and I see they have gyokuro karigane, which I like very much.
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Chip
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In hibiki-an-glish ... "Try once!" Could be foul or fair. But given all the shincha I have currently ... it would definitely have to wait.Dresden wrote: ↑Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:37 pmOK... 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???
So for now ... REFUSE!
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evanssophiya
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I with my husband love to make green tea every morning. To do it in this way: 1 teaspoon of green tea, 1 cup (240 ml) of water, Lemon or honey
DO you like green tea with different optionals?
DO you like green tea with different optionals?
Today I did enough outdoor 'work'--rode my bicycle from work to do some grocery shopping, and then back home--to really appreciate some sparkling sencha--inexpensive supermarket sencha, steeped in tap water in the refrigerator overnight, and then fizzed with a CO2 injector. That's one type of addition that I really like on a hot day, but I don't want to 'waste' my best tea on that because the CO2 covers up the subtleties a bit.
And I enjoyed a lemongrass-mint green tea from a bag this morning, but that was using up a gift. People often give me flavored teas, and I usually prepare them when I'm sharing at the office, because my tea crew love them.
But for myself, I rarely add anything; my goal is to obtain teas that are so good on their own that additions would detract. Well, additions to the tea itself. Chocolate or cookies or chocolate or fruit or chocolate can enhance the tea session as a whole, of course. This morning I enjoyed some hot Kabuse sencha from Obubu with breakfast before I went to work.
And I enjoyed a lemongrass-mint green tea from a bag this morning, but that was using up a gift. People often give me flavored teas, and I usually prepare them when I'm sharing at the office, because my tea crew love them.
But for myself, I rarely add anything; my goal is to obtain teas that are so good on their own that additions would detract. Well, additions to the tea itself. Chocolate or cookies or chocolate or fruit or chocolate can enhance the tea session as a whole, of course. This morning I enjoyed some hot Kabuse sencha from Obubu with breakfast before I went to work.
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I just finished 2x Yamashita's Gyokuro "5 High quality Gyokuro set" from Maiko. I ordered 2 sampler sets because there's only 6g of tea in each baggie.
Overall, I did not enjoy their gyokuro sampler. I have to wonder how old the tea I bought is. It doesn't say on the website. The teas had a muted gyokuro flavor and some of the underlying flavor notes were akin to straw. I haven't drunk enough gyokuro (though I am working on leveling my proficiency) to determine if this is because the tea is old, or if its because it was grown organically without a lot of fertilizer or something else, maybe to do with the processing.
I also had to use higher temp to bring out a similar level of flavor from other gyokuro (140F to start, whereas some gyokuro I can brew at room temp or 130F to begin).
Overall, I did not enjoy their gyokuro sampler. I have to wonder how old the tea I bought is. It doesn't say on the website. The teas had a muted gyokuro flavor and some of the underlying flavor notes were akin to straw. I haven't drunk enough gyokuro (though I am working on leveling my proficiency) to determine if this is because the tea is old, or if its because it was grown organically without a lot of fertilizer or something else, maybe to do with the processing.
I also had to use higher temp to bring out a similar level of flavor from other gyokuro (140F to start, whereas some gyokuro I can brew at room temp or 130F to begin).
@Elise a cold brew sencha sounds perfect right now, it feels like 98f outside right now, very hot and heavy humidity on the east coast of the US.
@Shine Magical some gyokuro are very tricky to steep and only having 8gr to sample gives you only one shot at it. I’d ask Maiko directly for steeping instructions, as these are very high end gyokuro, and most likely require some skill and practice to steep. Also, they can let you know date of packaging. Gyokuro does well resting for a year or more.
I have been enjoying the thick, brothy sweet, umami notes of Birouen‘s award winning organic Kabusecha Sencha (Sae Midori cultivar). It is very easy to steep at 155f or cooler/90sec., with no bitterness coming out. Love that. No electric kettle where I am, so just heating water in glass Pyrex stovetop saucepan and cooling 20f each time I transfer hot water between vessels if needed. Asako Isobe in Tokoname recently shared how she measures temperature;
“I usually do not use a thermometer almost at all.
I check the temperature in these ways.
・See the state of steam.
・Touch the Yuzamashi to check the temperature.
・Keep hot water into my mouth, and check the temperature.
A sense can be grasped by repeating it many times.
Please try it too.”
Her method is so simple. Pretty much like I’ve been doing it since I’m without my usual modern equipment.
On our forum I almost always include specific steeping parameters (leaf gr/water ml/temp/time) because there are many new members and old members new to certain teas. It is so easy to over/under steep delicate Japanese green teas; a few more/less grams, a little cooler/warmer water, a little more/less time, all factor in (much more so than with other teas) to the perfect steep. Then there are unique characteristics with each individual shincha, sencha, gyokuro, each requiring their own set of conditions... this is why I still keep a log for each new tea.
@Shine Magical some gyokuro are very tricky to steep and only having 8gr to sample gives you only one shot at it. I’d ask Maiko directly for steeping instructions, as these are very high end gyokuro, and most likely require some skill and practice to steep. Also, they can let you know date of packaging. Gyokuro does well resting for a year or more.
I have been enjoying the thick, brothy sweet, umami notes of Birouen‘s award winning organic Kabusecha Sencha (Sae Midori cultivar). It is very easy to steep at 155f or cooler/90sec., with no bitterness coming out. Love that. No electric kettle where I am, so just heating water in glass Pyrex stovetop saucepan and cooling 20f each time I transfer hot water between vessels if needed. Asako Isobe in Tokoname recently shared how she measures temperature;
“I usually do not use a thermometer almost at all.
I check the temperature in these ways.
・See the state of steam.
・Touch the Yuzamashi to check the temperature.
・Keep hot water into my mouth, and check the temperature.
A sense can be grasped by repeating it many times.
Please try it too.”
Her method is so simple. Pretty much like I’ve been doing it since I’m without my usual modern equipment.
On our forum I almost always include specific steeping parameters (leaf gr/water ml/temp/time) because there are many new members and old members new to certain teas. It is so easy to over/under steep delicate Japanese green teas; a few more/less grams, a little cooler/warmer water, a little more/less time, all factor in (much more so than with other teas) to the perfect steep. Then there are unique characteristics with each individual shincha, sencha, gyokuro, each requiring their own set of conditions... this is why I still keep a log for each new tea.
@Shine Magical I just read Maiko’s Gyokuro steeping instructions. They use a lot of leaf to water, 8-10gr just about covered with water (not submerged) and a long steep, like Ippodo does;
P.S. maybe someone in Kyoto can get us Ippodo’s special select gyokuro, only available at their main store in October. That is the best gyokuro I have had so far.
.
Rich.“50 degrees celsius pour the water on the tea leaves in the tea pot. The amount of water should be just enough to cover the leaves. Even if it looks like being 'too little' it will be just the right amount. Discard all excessive warm water.
Let the tea infuse for about 2 minutes.
When tea leaves have just begun to open up, the tea is ready to be served.”
P.S. maybe someone in Kyoto can get us Ippodo’s special select gyokuro, only available at their main store in October. That is the best gyokuro I have had so far.
.Wasn't there harvest/expiration date on the packages?Shine Magical wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2019 9:42 amI just finished 2x Yamashita's Gyokuro "5 High quality Gyokuro set" from Maiko. I ordered 2 sampler sets because there's only 6g of tea in each baggie.
Overall, I did not enjoy their gyokuro sampler. I have to wonder how old the tea I bought is. It doesn't say on the website.
I did try brewing it in such a way before (and tried once again this morning with the 1 packet I had left), & my review still stands. There isn't a lot of umami/ocean. I probably would have enjoyed the teas better cold brewed, but I was reluctant to use $1/g leaves in such a way.Victoria wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2019 1:16 pmShine Magical I just read Maiko’s Gyokuro steeping instructions. They use a lot of leaf to water, 8-10gr just about covered with water (not submerged) and a long steep, like Ippodo does;Rich.“50 degrees celsius pour the water on the tea leaves in the tea pot. The amount of water should be just enough to cover the leaves. Even if it looks like being 'too little' it will be just the right amount. Discard all excessive warm water.
Let the tea infuse for about 2 minutes.
When tea leaves have just begun to open up, the tea is ready to be served.”
P.S. maybe someone in Kyoto can get us Ippodo’s special select gyokuro, only available at their main store in October. That is the best gyokuro I have had so far.