What Green Are You Drinking

[Pan]

Trying to correctly steep a very tricky gyokuro, O-Cha’s Uji Gyokuro Suigyoku. This one requires some skill, and I have not yet found a perfect balance between water and leaf yet. Used Iceland Spring which has low TDS and unfortunately the liquor tasted as if any imperfection in the water was accentuated. Next time I’ll crank up the tetsubin and see if that helps or makes steeps worse. 6g/70ml/122f/2.30min in Jozan III mayake mogake 80ml kyusu. A little thin steeped this way so I’ll try 10g leaf next time .

Success! Used more leaf and paired this Uji Suigyoku gyokuro with Tachi Masaki’s slightly more porous shigaraki kyusu. I also added some distilled water to Chrystal Geyser to reduce mineral count. Much better using more leaf. Rich, vegetal, mouth watering, with lingering salivation. 6g/70ml was too watery even in Jozan 80ml somewhat porous mayake kyusu. With such cool water more leaf makes a big difference. Another thing 10g leaf expands 2X practically filling the kyusu so second steep uses less water, making liquor richer. 10g/80ml/122f/2.30min in Tachi Masaki shigaraki kyusu.


Tachi Masaki shigaraki in foreground, Tani Seiuemon shigaraki shiboridash in rear.

hmmm I may try this with Ocha's Uji Gyokuro. I have been having some good results with just crystal geyser, more leaf and Fugetsu's Honin. producing a rich, thick and bone broth flavor full of umami.

[Pan]

Tusen Uji soo sencha

1st infusion 40 degrees 20grams
Produced a VERY rich and thick brew almost like Gyokuro

Used Fugetsu Kyushu and Tom Habla porcilen cups

3rd infusion same tea ware
Much less umami but still sweet and more vegetal

Last picture is my bird puthe who wanted to watch

[Victoria]

Tusen Uji soo sencha

1st infusion 40 degrees 20grams
Produced a VERY rich and thick brew almost like Gyokuro

Very nice Fugetsu kyusu. Watch out with birdie and breakage ...... 20 grams of sencha is a lot even for me

...p.s. where’s the cloth cushion

[Pan]

Tusen Uji soo sencha

1st infusion 40 degrees 20grams
Produced a VERY rich and thick brew almost like Gyokuro

Very nice Fugetsu kyusu. Watch out with birdie and breakage ...... 20 grams of sencha is a lot even for me

...p.s. where’s the cloth cushion

Puthe walked away so no breakage thankfully, the cloth cusion(temporary ) was that peice of cloth, I just forgot to use it. it is alot, been trying to figure out how to not let it get so watery and a good combination of thick and smooth.

[Balthazar]

Sencha is probably the category of tea that I have the simplest relationship with: Blind buy a bunch of different teas, usually from TdJ, only keep one bag open at a time. Once the bag is empty I decide whether or not it’s something I want to get more of, but by this time it’s usually sold out anyways.

Helps keeps decision fatigue and strong attachment to specific teas at bay. I should try to develop this relationship with more teas at some point, I think.

Currently enjoying a very budget friendly sencha of the Benifûki cultivar. Possibly the first time I’ve had a Benifûki sencha… Very different from the mostly umami-rich senchas I drink, with mostly fruity notes and a creamy aftertaste. Curiously I like this much more than this black Benifûki, that Florent has spoken of in very high terms on his blog and in his newsletter.

The first tea I've brewed in this kyusu I bought from @Darbotek, which just arrived after a lengthy journey that seems to have involved two trips between the new and the old world...

[faj]

Sencha is probably the category of tea that I have the simplest relationship with: Blind buy a bunch of different teas, usually from TdJ, only keep one bag open at a time. Once the bag is empty I decide whether or not it’s something I want to get more of, but by this time it’s usually sold out anyways.

Helps keeps decision fatigue and strong attachment to specific teas at bay. I should try to develop this relationship with more teas at some point, I think.

Funnily enough, starting from the same place I am trying to do the opposite : reduce the random buying of sencha and its corollary : having to dedicate a large part of my sencha drinking to teas I am not too fond of.

[Balthazar]

Even more odd is that I haven't had single sencha I don't enjoy ... probably ever. Otherwise the blind buying surely wouldn't work.

I think there are two contributing factors: I usually drink senchas while doing something else (i.e. focus is not on the tea alone), and I pay less per gram for my senchas than most other teas (i.e. I've never had amazing stuff). Either that or TdJ's sourcing is unsurpassed

[Victoria]

@Balthazar very nice kyusu. Any info on artisan who made it?

I’m finishing off a random sencha from Kaburagien that was refrigerated, and now having been open many months, tastes like sweet hay in a meadow. Looking forward to fresh shincha

[faj]

Even more odd is that I haven't had single sencha I don't enjoy ... probably ever. Otherwise the blind buying surely wouldn't work.

Maybe there are some you enjoy more than the others, and you would like those to be back more often in the rotation? That is my line of thinking at least.

I pay less per gram for my senchas than most other teas (i.e. I've never had amazing stuff). Either that or TdJ's sourcing is unsurpassed

Senchas from sources most often mentioned on the forum tend to be quite affordable when compared to the price range for other types of tea. Aside from TdJ's most expensive ones which tend to be quite a bit higher priced than other vendor's, I can convince myself to drink their most expensive senchas on a daily basis if I like them more, even if they are not amazing.

I have ordered a few times now from TdJ. Despite Florent's ability to identify aromatic notes in his descriptions, I cannot say I have found a way to reliably spot the teas I prefer from these descriptions, as it seems my appreciation generally does not seem to hinge on the presence of distinct notes. I probably am a somewhat of a simpleton or "average customer" : with vendors of blended teas, my appreciation generally scales with pricing. With TdJ, the correlation has been weaker, which may reflect my own inability to appreciate some of their unique teas rather than their intrinsic quality.

[faj]

Even more odd is that I haven't had single sencha I don't enjoy ... probably ever. Otherwise the blind buying surely wouldn't work.

By the way, what you say about sencha echoes my (short) experience with Liu Bao. I have liked all those I have tried. Some more than the others, but in a way that does not make me wish there was something else in my cup when having others.

[Balthazar]

@Victoria: Thanks. It's made by Kuwayama Keiyo.

Maybe there are some you enjoy more than the others, and you would like those to be back more often in the rotation? That is my line of thinking at least.

I'm with you on this in general. What I've done with senchas, however, and which started out as something kinda contrived, is a bit different. I decided to to only open one bag at a time not only due to wanting to retain the freshness of the teas, but also (and more importantly) to kill the whole "rotation" concept. So in my sencha consumption there really is no rotation. I open a bag and consume it over several weeks. No other senchas before the bag's empty. When it's gone, it's gone forever (save for the few cases when I reorder a sencha, but I think it's been at least 2-3 years since last time). I feel like this has a subtle but noticeable effect on how I experience the teas, I am perhaps less analytical and, as a corollary, less critical, which could explain the "no bad teas" thing...

I do find this approach liberating in some sense, but it's not one that I apply to other categories of tea, where I spend much more time thinking about my purchases past, present and future. I don't really know how it started with senchas either. Probably one of these "accidental traditions" I've mentioned

Despite Florent's ability to identify aromatic notes in his descriptions, I cannot say I have found a way to reliably spot the teas I prefer from these descriptions, as it seems my appreciation generally does not seem to hinge on the presence of distinct notes. I probably am a somewhat of a simpleton or "average customer" : with vendors of blended teas, my appreciation generally scales with pricing. With TdJ, the correlation has been weaker, which may reflect my own inability to appreciate some of their unique teas rather than their intrinsic quality.

This echoes my experience. As does your observation about Liu Bao, a category of tea that never disappoints nor amazes me.

[faj]

I decided to to only open one bag at a time not only due to wanting to retain the freshness of the teas, but also (and more importantly) to kill the whole "rotation" concept.

I do the same thing you do in terms of having only one bag open at a time. Having too many bags open reduces the quality (been there, done that, and not just with sencha), but also, spacing out sessions with a given tea makes it harder to pinpoint the parameters that suit it best, because the tea changes, memory fades...

By "rotation", I meant "purchasing rotation" : where my aim differs, is that I would like to reorder a few teas on a regular basis, those I like most, so that most of my drinking revolves around them. I am not there yet. There is nothing wrong with trying new teas, of course, but as I (hopefully) find teas I really like, I would want them to occupy most of my sessions, with exploration done in a more careful way (i.e. not just purchasing blindly to see what sticks).

As I have written before : (a) drinking mainly teas you like, (b) trying a large variety of new teas, (c) avoid wasting tea : pick two. My pick is "a+c".

[pedant]

Hello,
I'm new on this forum and I apologize for posting here my question, I didn't find a more suitable thread.
I've been in Japan and my wife bought on the street some "tea" in little bags.
The tea tasted like soup and it was powder. I liked it a lot.
I'd like to get more but I really don't know what is it.
From what I searched online I think it is Matcha, but I'm not sure.
I have pictures of the packaging, I will post them here, the text is Japanese I think.
Please enlighten me what is this "tea" and if I can find it in Europe/Romania.
Thanks a lot,
George
...

hi George,

sincere apologies! your post got caught in the moderation queue for an uncharacteristically long amount of time.

the tea was green, correct? it was probably sencha, matcha, or a mixture of the two.

the "soup" taste you describe is probably umami which is very typical of this style of tea.

[pizzapotamus]

Hello,
I'm new on this forum and I apologize for posting here my question, I didn't find a more suitable thread.
I've been in Japan and my wife bought on the street some "tea" in little bags.
The tea tasted like soup and it was powder. I liked it a lot.
I'd like to get more but I really don't know what is it.
From what I searched online I think it is Matcha, but I'm not sure.
I have pictures of the packaging, I will post them here, the text is Japanese I think.
Please enlighten me what is this "tea" and if I can find it in Europe/Romania.
Thanks a lot,
George

Found it, the back of the package starts with the product name in the lower far right which kindly provides the reading of the kanji in simple characters so I could apply my extremely basic japanese and google "kouyoucha" resulting in..

https://yunomi.life/products/kouyoudo-k ... from-kyoto

"Sold at Buddhist temples throughout Kyoto, this matcha blend includes powdered shiso (perilla leaves), ume (Japanese plum), konbu (kelp seaweed) and of course matcha from Kyoto, in a flavor that is certain to help bring your to enlightenment."

The link is simply provided for the description and identification of the product, you might be able order from them but I have no clue/make no endorsement. It does sound interesting though, I'll be sure to try some if I'm ever able to get back to Japan.

[pedant]

"Sold at Buddhist temples throughout Kyoto, this matcha blend includes powdered shiso (perilla leaves), ume (Japanese plum), konbu (kelp seaweed) and of course matcha from Kyoto, in a flavor that is certain to help bring your to enlightenment."

wow, that sounds like quite the blend. i'd try that for sure.