Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


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May 22nd, '16, 10:31
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by debunix » May 22nd, '16, 10:31

Tsuen Aoi Sencha via O-Cha. Mmmm. Sweet, vegetal, soothing for the first day of a cold. The last packet of this tea from last year. I did pretty well with my order that time but my next will have more gyokuro....

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May 23rd, '16, 19:38
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by victoria3 » May 23rd, '16, 19:38

Over the past year I've gradually enjoyed Jasmine Pearl from Bird Pick as an easy standby when I travel. It's grown on me and is easy to brew with different water conditions. While its made from Chinese 'tender silvery green tea buds infused with jasmine flowers' I have a hard time thinking of it as a 'green' tea since I'm coming from Japanese greens. At any rate, I continue to enjoy it for casual work settings when precise temperature settings are too time consuming.

This afternoon I was pleasantly surprised by the results after opening a 2013 Maiko Shincha Sencha Kinari that I kept sealed in a Loksak Opsak bag in the refrigerator. This tea is Supremely Tasty. My notes are similar to 2013; Beautifully formed dry leaf long needles, sweet aroma. Seaside woodsy umami with refined flavores. Flavor palate is deep & lingering. Smooth.

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May 27th, '16, 13:28
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by NateHevens » May 27th, '16, 13:28

^It's funny...

Jasmine Pearls was my introduction to looseleaf tea, and it's one of my absolute faves, but Japanese greens were the first greens I really dived into after that, and then I got my hands on more Chinese greens. Chinese greens are definitely different, as Japanese greens tend to be stronger.

I love both, personally, to a point that I can't really pick which I prefer. It really depends on what mood I'm in. I'm drinking cold-brewed Clouds and Mist right now, and it's delicious, but I also have some Sencha cold-brewing, as well, ready for when I finish this...

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May 28th, '16, 11:04
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by debunix » May 28th, '16, 11:04

NateHevens wrote:I love both, personally, to a point that I can't really pick which I prefer. It really depends on what mood I'm in. I'm drinking cold-brewed Clouds and Mist right now, and it's delicious, but I also have some Sencha cold-brewing, as well, ready for when I finish this...
Lovely that we don't have to choose. I'm feeling ready for sencha this morning but unfortunately don't have the right setup with me today--green tea is trickier on the road. I had my first 'sparkling sencha' in ages recently, but with hot weather just around the corner, I'll soon be making lots of it. Have to stock up on the inexpensive tea I prefer for that. One of these days I might even try a cold brew of the right chinese green with the sparkling water: which would you suggest?

Meanwhile oolong is always ready to serve, whatever the brewing conditions. Good thing I love it too!

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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by daidokorocha » May 28th, '16, 14:43

NateHevens wrote:^It's funny...

Jasmine Pearls was my introduction to looseleaf tea, and it's one of my absolute faves, but Japanese greens were the first greens I really dived into after that, and then I got my hands on more Chinese greens. Chinese greens are definitely different, as Japanese greens tend to be stronger.

I love both, personally, to a point that I can't really pick which I prefer. It really depends on what mood I'm in. I'm drinking cold-brewed Clouds and Mist right now, and it's delicious, but I also have some Sencha cold-brewing, as well, ready for when I finish this...
Try upping the leaf amount of the Chinese greens. I think on many you can get a much stronger, bolder taste. In my opinion, it is really easy to underbrew Chinese greens.

I just received my order from Yunomi yesterday. Technically, I received it two days ago, but I had to go to the post office multiple times before I was able to get it.

One of the teas I got was the Sanpin-cha, which is Okinawan Jasmine tea. I find it to be very pleasing. I have had quite a few cups of it since yesterday and am currently cold-brewing the latest batch of used leaves. The tea is 20% oxidized.

http://www.yunomi.life/products/nakazen ... 4078125317

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May 28th, '16, 20:04
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by jayinhk » May 28th, '16, 20:04

Sanpincha is lovely. I had a very good sanpincha at a fine Okinawan restaurant up on the Motobu peninsula in Okinawa. The stuff I brought home wasn't nearly as good, but was the best I could find! A lot of Chinese jasmine tea is still imported into Okinawa, which is what got the Okinawans drinking jasmine tea in the first place.

Drinking Taiwanese longjing again today in a big pot. I used more leaf than usual, as I really enjoy the sweet, fruity flavors from this tea (very different from the West Lake longjing) and wanted more flavor than the last time I brewed this tea up. Big pot brewing seems to work well with Chinese greens. I can't seem to find the desire to drink sencha at all this summer, but Taiwanese and Vietnamese greens have been in regular rotation, although I've been drinking lots of yancha and pu erh recently.

I see Taiwansourcing carries this Sanxia-grown tea and the reviewers mentioned melon. I guess that fits somewhat, but I find green baozhong to be much more canteloupe-like. I wonder if there's more to just terroir in northern Taiwan that makes their teas so fruity; maybe something about the processing or fertilizer use? Either way, it's very enjoyable tea and I prefer Taiwanese greens over all other green teas.

Brewed strong, I'm getting sweet caramel, malt/barley and black tea notes from this tea, along with the fruit. More like peaches than melon, I'd say. Such a pleasure to wake up to!

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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by daidokorocha » May 28th, '16, 22:05

jay, I have been meaning to ask, how do you do your big pot brewing? I feel like since I never brew in such large quantities that I have been getting some failures lately. I had a good Fish Hook from Hatvala in a 12 oz pot today. The floral came through nicely on it. I find that 12 oz is ... typically manageable to brew, although it needs some refining. I think the fish hook is better brewed in the 12 oz than it is in gaiwan or shiboridashi. However, I tried to brew it in 24 oz the other week and I didn't enjoy it. If only things could all be as easy as my companion tonight - roasted TGY just thrown in a cup.

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May 30th, '16, 22:13
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by victoria3 » May 30th, '16, 22:13

I enjoy brewing my everyday Jasime Pearl in 12oz portions using 2TBs/5minutes, but then I go for a strong brew.

Continuing with Maiko's Sincha Sencha Kinari. The 1st brew is a stellar trip to the seaside through the woods & is the richest brew. Each subsequent brew is thinner and slightly bitter even when reducing temp/time. A well priced Sincha that is very elegant, but also tappers off quickly. 1st: 8.1/7/145/1:40

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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by daidokorocha » May 30th, '16, 22:24

Soon to wave goodbye to my longjing. Brewing it grandpa and really enjoying just how floral this one is. It will be missed. I am going through many teas in the last few days, including a Li Shan--that I somehow went through incredibly fast despite not actually really caring much for it--and some high-fire TGY. In some ways sad, but it means new tea awaits me. Especially since my Yunnan Sourcing order should be here... some day.

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May 30th, '16, 23:24
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by debunix » May 30th, '16, 23:24

Discussion about a steamed Chinese green tea in another topic prompted me to order some from Jing Tea Shop, which will take a while to arrive--they have very fine tea but not always the most prompt service--and meanwhile, I'm still working through the TeaHabitat tasting set, tonight enjoying a tea whose name I neglected to take down properly before I came downstairs to the kittens. I think it is similar to a Liu An Gua Pian, and it is delicate and vegetal but with a definite cooked flavor. It is not my favorite style of chinese green, but when I limit the leaf enough I get a very lovely brew.

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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by daidokorocha » May 30th, '16, 23:42

I think you'd enjoy the En Shi Lu Yu, Debunix. My main advice with that one is to play around with it and find what you like. Very versatile tea, I think. It is a chance to brew a steamed green without having the characteristic that Japanese leaves have of becoming engorged. The Bai Sha Lu from Jing though--which is what I assume you ordered--is one I have not had. Perhaps I'll look into that next.

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May 31st, '16, 01:40
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by debunix » May 31st, '16, 01:40

daidokorocha wrote:The Bai Sha Lu from Jing though--which is what I assume you ordered
Correct. I scouted several shops I'd ordered from before for the En Shi Lu Yu, and through that some of the other offerings from Jing looked very good, so ordered that instead of the En Shi Lu Yu. It sounded from the description like they're from the same district and prepared the same way, so likely very similar teas.

And to complete what I was saying before about the Bat Cave Gua Pian: I often do not care as much for the second infusion of chinese greens as much as the first or the third, because there is a cooked note that comes out quite strongly then. This tea has that from the first infusion, if brewed with a hotter start of 180 to 190 before dropping the temperature a bit; but today I had a more pleasing series of infusions by starting cooler and keeping the leaf-to-water ratio low in the early infusions.

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May 31st, '16, 11:29
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by jayinhk » May 31st, '16, 11:29

daidokorocha wrote:jay, I have been meaning to ask, how do you do your big pot brewing? I feel like since I never brew in such large quantities that I have been getting some failures lately. I had a good Fish Hook from Hatvala in a 12 oz pot today. The floral came through nicely on it. I find that 12 oz is ... typically manageable to brew, although it needs some refining. I think the fish hook is better brewed in the 12 oz than it is in gaiwan or shiboridashi. However, I tried to brew it in 24 oz the other week and I didn't enjoy it. If only things could all be as easy as my companion tonight - roasted TGY just thrown in a cup.
IMO Thai Nguyen green is very forgiving. 24 oz is a huge pot; I'd use maybe two and a half tablespoons of leaf. Adjust based on preference Prewarm pot with boiling water, flash rinse with water at maybe 190, then brew with water just off the boil.

A big pot to me is 16-18 oz. My usual pots are 65-100ml Yixing. I strongly suggest you try a Yixing pot for Chinese oolongs. I know you're happy with your shibos, but there's a reason why so many of us are Yixing crazy. ;) they make great tea.

You can indeed brew it in a mug, too, but with both the fish hook and TGY I'd rinse first. The only teas I don't rinse are sencha and gyokuro. I don't drink matcha just yet!

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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by daidokorocha » May 31st, '16, 22:33

Debunix, I have run into the issue of the second steep of some Chinese greens being putrid after having a very good first steep. I am wondering if anyone has tips on preventing this.

Jay, I think my problem with big brewing when I tried 24 oz (yes it is a huge pot!) with the thai nguyen is that I just did not use enough leaf. I rarely brew over 6 oz and I feel like as I add water scaling the tea is a bit more difficult because I don't want to do gaiwan style brewing in 12 oz or up. So I try using a similar amount of leaves and brewing it longer. Thus, it came out weak. When brewing in a larger pot, I ideally aim for either 1 teaspoon per 4, 6, or 8 oz depending on how much leaf I feel like using. I'm pretty sure when I tried it I did 1 teaspoon per 6, so I ended up with 1 1/3 tablespoon. Even at my highest, it would only be 2 tablespoons. I probably would enjoy it more if I upped the ante a bit as you suggest. As mentioned, the 12 oz is a lot easier to brew in because I can avoid many of these issues. The farther I get away from shiboridashi brewing of non-Japanese teas the worse my brewing seems to get. :lol: Do you really brew the thai nguyen with off the boil water though? Is this because of the flash rinse? I brew mine at 185 without the flash rinse. I'll have to give it a shot.

Another question. Is there a big difference (minus the clay source) between a Yixing and, say, a similar Japanese clay pot like the one in the link below? I have been considering clay of some time and was wondering if a Yixing is particular is the way to go for me. You are right though, as it is an experience I would like to try. I see a lot of people who give up on gaiwan and strictly use yixing. I could see myself going between clay/shiboridashi quite often that I feel clay would be a decent investment. They are quite beautiful as well.

http://media.photobucket.com/user/dlb_1 ... sort=1&o=0

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May 31st, '16, 22:56
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by jayinhk » May 31st, '16, 22:56

David, with pan fried greens, try only drinking halfway down the pot before refilling with more water. Continue until you're done. This is what the Chinese do with longjing when brewing in a glass, and I do this with many long-brewed teas.

Putrid is a pretty strong word, but I know what you mean. lol

In Vietnam, Thai Nguyen tea is usually brewed with boiling water and it is BITTER. I have found off the boil to work best. Great flavor without the bitterness from cooked leaves.

My only experience with Japanese clay is a very thin Tokoname clay kyusu I use for sencha. I would never dream of using it for a Chinese green; I've tried, and the results were poor (the clay seemed to take too much away from the delicate tea). I have used it with Japanese pan-fried green, however, and that was lovely.

Yixing pots tend to be less porous IMO, although there are less and more porous clays among the Yixing clays and firing varies (whether intentional or unintentional). I'd suggest a good zini pot for medium-to-high roast oolongs or even medium oxidized teas (you can use the same teapot).

I can't see that Ken Shimizu pot, and have no experience with his pots, so I'll let other people who are familiar with his work tell you how Yixing and Shimizu pots compare!

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