Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

[jayinhk]

Hainan Baisha green again. This stuff was one of the teas found to contain banned pesticide when Greenpeace tested a selection. I rinsed before brewing for a solid minute in my kyusu. A little too bitter (brewed hot), and still less flavorful than in a gaiwan. :/

[JRS22]

Today was a Japanese tea festival in my kitchen. I was about to recommend O-Cha on another thread when I was overcome with longing for my favorite everyday Japanese greens. So Sunday PM on our USA holiday weekend I ordered my beloved kariganes and some matcha Genmai Cha. I paid $6 extra for EMS, and 4 days later, almost to the hour, I was drinking the tea.

I know lots of people have complaints with their post office service, but my tea reached town about 10 AM and by 11 AM it was on the truck and out for delivery. My O-Cha boxes are so light that they're usually sent out with the letter carrier but not this time.

The Karigane Asa Giri is gyokuro stems and leaves, while the Karigane Otsuusan (as far as I can tell), is mostly Sencha with some gyo stems added. Two very different flavor profiles and both excellent for those of us cursed with extra strong bitterness sensors. The Iri Genmai Cha is wonderful. I tend to forget how many steeps it's good for and make it in my 175 ml pot. I'm on the 5th infusion now and that should do it for today.

[jayinhk]

Tenfu's fancy Hainan green (AFAIK, only sold in Hainan stores). I've been disappointed with this stuff, but I read the label and it said to use 1/3 of a teapot full of leaves! Wowsers. Well, I tried it, and WHAM! Great flavor. Caramel, dark fruit and melon. Very nice.

[daidokorocha]

Oh lovely lovely day... a session of some newly ordered sencha and some shincha I'm near to finishing off that I got back in May. I feel aracha coming into my cup in the near future.

[JRS22]

Uji Gyokuro-Hou from O-Cha. I used the brewing parameters that Debunix shared - going with warmer rather than cooler water -than I usually use with gyo - with excellent results. I think this tea has also benefitted from a bit if 'aging' in my tea cabinet.

[Andy S.]

I enjoy Matcha Iri Sen-Cha and the actually Matcha most because of their strong smell and taste. I do prefer cold Matcha Latte on a hot day and Matcha Iri Sen-cha in the morning to wake me up.

[Pig Hog]

Placed a large (for me anyway) order with ippodo to make the most of their high shipping charges...

Rimpo gyokuro, because I've only had gyokuro once before; gokujou genmaicha; gokujou houjicha; sencha konacha; mugicha and sakaya no mukashi matcha.

Looking forward to the fun!

I also wanted some iribancha but it made the whole think too expensive, so I'll try that next time with a different order.

[Pig Hog]

Just dusted some leftover matcha over ice cream and it was excellent!

[JRS22]

I've begun my tea day with Karigane Otsuusan from O-Cha. I have a beautiful small kenji kyusu and matching sake cup that I use for this tea. Kenji makes nerikomi pots and they're usually impractically large for me - 300 ml. This one is only 75 ml.

[daidokorocha]

Just dusted some leftover matcha over ice cream and it was excellent!

I buy some lesser quality stuff or this purpose but I find myself secretly sneaking out my better stash as it just tastes so much better! I'll leave the lesser quality to baking, but when all you have is ice cream and matcha, the better the matcha, the better the finished product, certainly. One thing that is delicious it to mix matcha with Hokkaido milk ice cream. If you haven't had some, next time you venture to Japan (are you still there?) you should seek some out. Heavenly stuff!

[chrl42]

Finishing my last left-over of Mt.Lao green in my Long Shan Ming Sha yixing...


The last brewing of this year's summer tea....ready to turn into a fall guy

[debunix]

The morning started with Gyoku-Hou from O-Cha. Tasty green wonderfulness. There will definitely be some gyokuro in my next order of Japanese teas.

[jayinhk]

Drank a solid 10g of Chinese greens tonight: Hainan Wuzhi Mountain and then some organic from Zhejiang. The Wuzhi is more savory, bitter and sour, the Zhejiang is more fruity and less bitter and sour. Both interesting in their own ways!

[Pig Hog]

Yesterday I made usucha with ippodo's sayaka no mukashi:

[img]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09 ... 95dec5.jpg[/img]

Today I made koicha:

[img]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09 ... 34f659.jpg[/img]

As we speak, I'm also brewing some mugicha and (@daidokorocha) from the way the barley smells dry, I think it may well be what I was looking for!

[daidokorocha]

Ay, both of those matcha came out very beautiful, pig hog. Also, I'm glad to hear that you may have found what you were looking for. I think I might celebrate the occasion by making cold brewed mugicha!