What Green Are You Drinking

[Victoria]

I’ve been enjoying a few of Ippodo’s green teas, two gyokuro and their rich Gokujo Hojicha. The Premium Gyokuro and Tenkaichi are both really quality gyokuro with lots of elegant umami notes. Ippodo is one of the few vendors that consistently nails exactly perfect steeping proportions/time/temp. It’s funny that they always seem to use 10g as a base line. Both gyokuro are set at 10g/80ml/60c/90sec and the hojicha is 10g/240ml/100c/30sec.


Konishi with Ippodo’s Premium Gyokuro

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[d.manuk]

Is gyokuro generally the only tea that would taste better brewed without the lid?

[Victoria]

Is gyokuro generally the only tea that would taste better brewed without the lid?

I’d think any tea brewed under +-155F will be OK with lid off (then there’s very hot open bowl brewing too). I enjoy looking at the leaves so with gyokuro and sencha the lid off works well for steeping. During the pour it just needs to be slow. To extract more liquid between the leaves I’ll put lid back on so I can easily rock the kyusu back and forth without the leaves dropping out.

[Darbotek]

I’ve been out of town for work, so a little lazy Sunday tea is in order. Kabusecha from Yoshida Meichaen.

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[debunix]

.... but still has a pleasing freshness. It does not have the 'cooked pea' note that I am not so fond of, and the fresher herbaceous notes are still fine enough to be worth a bit of bitterness that comes with it....

The taste of cooked peas is mentioned here; & I, debunix, & others (I think) have mentioned it other times. So, after finding frozen petite peas ("petite" now having replaced "baby" in pea terminology it seems) I prepared some as well as regular frozen peas. The taste did not seem the same as a green tea taste to me......

I have not drunk much green tea. Maybe they should be drunk in timely fashion. I don't know what is usual. I do know that this one does not taste nearly as good if it sits long. Drunk right away or several minutes after it is prepared, this is one of the best teas, I ever had. Drunk 10 minutes after preparation, it still pleases, but is not wonderful, not the truly special experience it can be.

(Sort of like normal frozen peas boiled just in water & eaten versus petite peas w/ some tiny onions & butter mixed in---perhaps = good versus outstanding.)

The cooked pea flavor that I do not care for in many green teas is a note that comes with overcooking especially mature green peas. It is not buttery, but.....well....like overcooked green peas. It is not nutty or fresh or buttery. Yes, boiled green peas overcooked would taste like that.

I agree that green tea does not 'stand' well. My impression has always been that some of the fresh and delicate flavors transforms into somethin murky and even bitter when it stands, like it is oxidizing unpleasantly. I see the same in white tea. This is one key reason why I rarely prepare these in my thermos, along with a tendency to bitterness from more tannins being extracted.

[LuckyMe]

I agree that green tea does not 'stand' well. My impression has always been that some of the fresh and delicate flavors transforms into somethin murky and even bitter when it stands, like it is oxidizing unpleasantly. I see the same in white tea. This is one key reason why I rarely prepare these in my thermos, along with a tendency to bitterness from more tannins being extracted.

In general this is true. However, there are a few notable exceptions like Anja Bai Cha and Long Jing which can do well continuously steeped.

[Bok]

Something new for me today, Vietnamese green from old trees. The dry leaf smell and later, wet smell of this tea is incredible, intoxicating! It reminds me of some Japanese dish, dried fish flakes, but in a good way if that makes sense… ?

Got some more tea from the same source, looking forward to sample those as well. Note: I did use a gaiwan before I switched to Duanni.

It’s a powerful, not a soft tea. A pleasant bitterness shines through, a bit like in a Dancong. It coats the whole throat and lingers forever.

[LeoFox]

Hojo jasmine in jinpachi ogawa pot. I think it's a nice pairing




Here is pour

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsEARFzt ... IwNjQ2YQ==

[Dresden]

O-Cha fukamushi SaeMidori

[LeoFox]

Happy Mother's day!

Since it's my wife's favorite- brewed up one of those flowering ball teas - this one is from seven cups and is supposedly made by the guy who invented the concept:

Our blooming teas are made by the original inventor of blooming tea, the tea master Wang Fang Sheng, who has been making tea for most of his life. Blooming teas were created to do something new and different with green tea. He uses a base of high quality early spring green tea buds and leaves for delicate sweetness. The young leaves are harvested from the local Di Shui Xiang tea cultivar in Anhui Province, a region also famous for its Huangshan Maofeng (Yellow Mountain) green tea. This Rose Jasmine blooming tea is one of more than 600 visually stunning designs he has created since 1986. His son Wang Huizhou is a sixth-generation tea maker who has created 12 blooming designs of his own.

https://sevencups.com/shop/rose-jasmine ... splay-tea/

---

Video of ball expanding:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsOb-lvA ... BiNWFlZA==

[debunix]

Not quite so fancy as a flower tea....this morning enjoying what I think is the last packet of Obubu's annual treat of Sakura sencha. It is deliciously floral, a little fruity, on a grassy sencha base, and somehow the sweetness makes the bitter that comes along more a pleasing accent than a detraction. Mmmm.

[debunix]

‘Wind’ sencha from Obubu….a very fine start to the day

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[Teafortea]

Shincha from Hon. Yamaha Tamakawa Yamakai, Thes du Japon. 2023

An amazing sencha to start my morning. The dry leaf smell, wow! The aroma completely overpowered my nose when i opened the bag.

The tea itself was what Florent describes, sweet and long lasting. A top top favorite this one.
P.s I forgot the third infusion and steeped it a bit longer, 2 min at least as I was writting this post, and to my suprise no bitterness even with a longer steep.

[debunix]

A fine Honyama sencha is a very fine thing.

[Teafortea]

It is. I'm looking fwd to some more tomorrow.