2023 Shincha Harvest tea recommendations?

[chillian12]

Hey everyone! With 2023 Japanese Shincha harvest coming in a couple of months - I wanted to check in with the tea community here on recommendations for Shincha, mainly what tea farms/producers should I be looking out for (apart from the big producers like Horii Shichimeien and Marukyu Koyamaen), any particular breeds apart from Yabukita, or if there are any exceptional Shinchas you've had in the past might be a good starting point as well.

I usually buy online from yunomi.life and Sazen, but any other website recommendations with worldwide shipping are also welcome! Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction!

[Baisao]

Hey everyone! With 2023 Japanese Shincha harvest coming in a couple of months - I wanted to check in with the tea community here on recommendations for Shincha, mainly what tea farms/producers should I be looking out for (apart from the big producers like Horii Shichimeien and Marukyu Koyamaen), any particular breeds apart from Yabukita, or if there are any exceptional Shinchas you've had in the past might be a good starting point as well.

I usually buy online from yunomi.life and Sazen, but any other website recommendations with worldwide shipping are also welcome! Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction!

I suggest you look at https://www.thes-du-japon.com for better Japanese greens. There are no shincha in stock at the moment but that could change.

Unpopular opinion: shincha is overrated. It's like drinking wine that hasn't rested or aged correctly. You'll often find that shincha tastes better after 4-6 months of refrigerated rest. If your interest in shincha is to celebrate the seasonality of sencha a la Beaujolais nouveau, that's great. If it is to enjoy especially good sencha, shincha falls short.

[LeoFox]

Unpopular opinion: shincha is overrated. It's like drinking wine that hasn't rested or aged correctly. You'll often find that shincha tastes better after 4-6 months or refrigerated rest. If your interest in shincha is to celebrate the seasonality of sencha a la Beaujolais nouveau, that's great. If it is to enjoy especially good sencha, shincha falls short.

100% agree

[ferg]

+1 overall, I am in agreement. Exactly why I was comfortable stocking up on TdJ’s 2022 stock now.

But I do recall ordering and enjoying shincha offerings by O-Cha in year’s past. Offhand, I recall those worth exploring, as recommended by fellow former Teachatters, including fuka’s Sae and Yutaka Midori, and Tsuen’s AOI and their highest end gyo, forget the name atm.

Also always liked to pick up Maiko’s shincha sencha Kinari, but have no idea if they still offer up this particular variety.

And yes, I do plan to pick up some of these shincha offerings this year. ...prob only to leave them rest in fridge as suggested above.

[Victoria]

Haha, I love fresh green shincha. In season, I wake up imagining the aroma, like an elixir calling me. I have really enjoy O-Cha’s shincha, when available MiteCha out of Mie, Maiko and Kaburagien too. I still have a shincha pillow that has such a sweet aroma after several years A search in Green Tea forum here has many shincha entries, as there are many fans here

P.S. Looks like since TeaForum’s inception in September 2017, we’ve had Shincha threads for 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, but missed 2022 probably because of Covid and life’s twist and turns. @Chip has been our shincha grandmaster all these years, so thanks @chillian12 for starting the 2023 thread.

[chillian12]

Unpopular opinion: shincha is overrated. It's like drinking wine that hasn't rested or aged correctly. You'll often find that shincha tastes better after 4-6 months or refrigerated rest. If your interest in shincha is to celebrate the seasonality of sencha a la Beaujolais nouveau, that's great. If it is to enjoy especially good sencha, shincha falls short.

100% agree

Fair point, I just like buying the bulk of my sencha during the first harvest season as it's more something I can look forward to, being relatively new to the world of tea I haven't had enough time to confirm if shincha is better than regular sencha, I suspect most sencha blends released later in the year end up using the first few harvests.

Most of my 'shincha' ends up stored away in my dark cabinet for a few months because I tend to buy quite a few packets but don't open them until later in the year - I guess it 'ages' albeit less optimally than wine hahaha

[chillian12]

Haha, I love fresh green shincha. In season, I wake up imagining the aroma, like an elixir calling me. I have really enjoy O-Cha’s shincha, when available MiteCha out of Mie, Maiko and Kaburagien too. I still have a shincha pillow that has such a sweet aroma after several years A search in Green Tea forum here has many shincha entries, as there are many fans here

P.S. Looks like since TeaForum’s inception in September 2017, we’ve had Shincha threads for 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, but missed 2022 probably because of Covid and life’s twist and turns. Chip has been our shincha grandmaster all these years, so thanks chillian12 for starting the 2023 thread.

Great, thanks for the recommendations Victoria! I'll be sure to look out for these in the coming weeks, and probably dig up the older threads for more information as well. I've also considered buying from O-Cha in the past, but never really pulled the trigger. I've never heard of Mie sencha or Kaburagien, but I'll browse their offerings when the time does come.

I'm just excited for the harvest - it's probably the highlight of my year when it comes to tea.

[Baisao]

Unpopular opinion: shincha is overrated. It's like drinking wine that hasn't rested or aged correctly. You'll often find that shincha tastes better after 4-6 months or refrigerated rest. If your interest in shincha is to celebrate the seasonality of sencha a la Beaujolais nouveau, that's great. If it is to enjoy especially good sencha, shincha falls short.

100% agree

…I suspect most sencha blends released later in the year end up using the first few harvests.

I cannot confirm that one way or the other. Each season has unique qualities. It is worth noting that Thés du Japon does not sell blends. They stand alone in a market full of blends.

[chillian12]

100% agree

…I suspect most sencha blends released later in the year end up using the first few harvests.

I cannot confirm that one way or the other. Each season has unique qualities. It is worth noting that Thés du Japon does not sell blends. They stand alone in a market full of blends.

Appreciate the recommendation though! I will definitely check out Thés du Japon, I do want to try as many unique breeds outside of the usual Yabukita - which don't get me wrong is a solid choice and there's a reason why it's so popular and used widely.

[Victoria]

Haha, I love fresh green shincha. In season, I wake up imagining the aroma, like an elixir calling me. I have really enjoy O-Cha’s shincha, when available MiteCha out of Mie, Maiko and Kaburagien too. I still have a shincha pillow that has such a sweet aroma after several years A search in Green Tea forum here has many shincha entries, as there are many fans here

P.S. Looks like since TeaForum’s inception in September 2017, we’ve had Shincha threads for 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, but missed 2022 probably because of Covid and life’s twist and turns. Chip has been our shincha grandmaster all these years, so thanks chillian12 for starting the 2023 thread.

Great, thanks for the recommendations Victoria! I'll be sure to look out for these in the coming weeks, and probably dig up the older threads for more information as well. I've also considered buying from O-Cha in the past, but never really pulled the trigger. I've never heard of Mie sencha or Kaburagien, but I'll browse their offerings when the time does come.

I'm just excited for the harvest - it's probably the highlight of my year when it comes to tea.

Our Inagural Gyokuro Tasting included a selection from Mite Co. I happen to know company reps and so have received shincha, sencha, gyokuro from them, it’s possible they don’t sell directly to consumer. High quality selections for sure. Kaburagien are the ones who sent me the sweet shincha pillow, they jump start shincha pre-sales earlier than most and pricing is very reasonable. I haven’t ordered from them though in at least 6 years, and now notice that my notes and postings (over at the old TC) are thin, maybe not the best endorsement. Will be interesting to see this April which shincha are available from various sources and how shipping is handled these days.

I use to enjoy shincha refrigerated one two-years, but now feel six months, or less, is best to still enjoy freshness and pop of delicate first flush

[Randy the Intern]

I just saw that Ippodo opened up pre-orders today. They have a discount on theirs until the end of April. I'm hoping to see some other vendors offerings before I decide who to order from. Does anyone know when Thes du Japon usually posts their shincha?

[faj]

Does anyone know when Thes du Japon usually posts their shincha?

I cannot provide you with dates, but monitoring the website every few days is not too much of a burden.

My main issue in the last couple of years has been that not all teas are available at the same time, some teas run out quickly, and I ended up not buying anything because by the time enough teas had been made available to justify the shipping cost (Fedex only...), some that I really wanted had run out and it made the whole thing collapse.

It is true that Shincha is not inherently better. However, some teas are only available at that time of the year, and even if your are in no rush to drink them and your intent is to store them for many months in the refrigerator because you think they will be better then (or to actually test if they will), you still have to buy them during shincha season.

[Teafortea]

I have loved all the 2022 shincha I’ve ordered in the past from thes du Japon. In particular shincha from Hon Yama Tamakawa, yamakai cultivar. I couldn’t stop drinking it for a month straight. If I remember right it was made available in end of may or even June. For Japanese teas I don’t even bother looking elsewhere, Florent is very honest in his description of taste and aromas, never regretted what I ordered from him.

[Victoria]

Good to hear about Thes du Japon’s Sincha @Teafortea. I just received notification that Ippodo’s Sincha pre-orders are up on their site. Haven’t tried those yet.

[chillian12]

Does anyone know when Thes du Japon usually posts their shincha?

I cannot provide you with dates, but monitoring the website every few days is not too much of a burden.

My main issue in the last couple of years has been that not all teas are available at the same time, some teas run out quickly, and I ended up not buying anything because by the time enough teas had been made available to justify the shipping cost (Fedex only...), some that I really wanted had run out and it made the whole thing collapse.

It is true that Shincha is not inherently better. However, some teas are only available at that time of the year, and even if your are in no rush to drink them and your intent is to store them for many months in the refrigerator because you think they will be better then (or to actually test if they will), you still have to buy them during shincha season.

I hope that doesn't happen to me... although I am guilty of adding items to my cart but never to check them out because the shipping always is so expensive if I don't order in bulk!

This year, I've made it a point to probably try Thes Du Japon for the single cultivars and probably O-Cha for the Uji harvested Shincha as well seeing as these two vendors seem to be rated in this community.

Now all I need is to convert more of my friends into tea drinkers and I can maximise the shipping, currently only have two more regular drinkers but I'm hopeful to get more into Japanese greens this year