Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

[Teaarch]

I still have some of last year's shuppincha from Horaido, not the HG. Posters said I should try the HG because my experience with their normal grade was less than stellar. Now, you post a similar report about the HG. Mine never became accessible to me no matter how long I waited and however I tried brewing it, which was a myriad of ways.

Nor did mine. I kept it for about 5 months after I bought it, and while some of the astringency disappeared, I was still disappointed. Usually, I wouldn't reorder a tea that didn't interest me, but the other Uji teas I tried afterwards convinced me that this wasn't a defect inherent in Horaido's teas, but a more general case. And I wanted to test his claims about his storage method to see if it made any difference (which he calls the traditional way, which apparently differs from the usually way most do it, and causes his teas to change character throughout the year). I say it did. I don't know if you've tried it, but it's comparable to something like Tsuen's San no Ma, also a yabukita, but with more umami.

With that said, I wouldn't praise it too much. If coming from drinking a lot of high mountain teas from Honyama or similar, one might be disappointed.

If you'd like to taste a delicious sencha, I've been drinking Thes du Japon's Sencha Miyakonojo from Miyazaki, Kyushu is excellent and very satisfying to me on many levels. Can't beat the price, too.

The oku-midori? That definitely caught my eye, but I also noticed he had a similar one from Uji. Just judging by the pictures of the leaf though, I'll probably pick the Miyakonojo one.

You mentioned the Yumewakaba in another post. I believe this is a Saitama tea. I've bought Gokuchanin's (Hirumaen) Yumewakaba. I found it a difficult tea to penetrate. I like teas with umami and found the Yumewakaba lacking it. Perhaps Thes is different.

I haven't tried the one from Hirumaen, so I can't comment on the differences, but umami wasn't a highlight of the one from Thes. Judging by the teas I've had from there, I'd say umami isn't the main point of interest. He seems to pick his teas mainly on the strength and longevity of the aftertaste, with umami being a plus.

How would you say the Oku-midori compares? I notice he didn't mention umami in the description, and I've found he's very upfront with those descriptions.

[Tead Off]

How would you say the Oku-midori compares? I notice he didn't mention umami in the description, and I've found he's very upfront with those descriptions.

This particular tea, the Miyakonojo, is a full mouthful of flavor, smooth and delicious through the finish. There is no attempt to discover its qualities as with some other teas. It is there from beginning to end. It is rich, perhaps not as rich as Hojo's Honyama sencha which is wonderful but a lot more expensive than the Miyakonojo.

Often, I don't experience what the sellers describe about their teas. One such example is the Kabusecha from Wazuka that TdJ sells. I find this tea very astringent and drying in the mouth as opposed to the seller's description of it as having no astringency. Differences are to be expected and I don't hold it against them unless this happens with more teas than not. This isn't the case with TdJ. Excellent seller.

[debunix]

Den's Gyokuro Kin. I first bought this tea in 2010, and then I didn't really know what to do with it, and while it was tasty enough, I didn't really become attached, and it was a while before I bought gyokuro again. Now that I've had better experience with other gyokuros (finding a parameters I liked for O-cha's Gyoku-Hou), I'm enjoying this one more than before. Sweet, but not too heavy with umami as I'm brewing it, delicate and mellow and harmonizing so well with morning hot chocolate. Mmmmm.

[GeorgeGR]

Just had some of O-Cha's Sencha Miyabi which never fails to impress.

Side note, does anyone have any experience with Yuuki-Cha? I've really only ever ordered from Hibiki-an and O-Cha and am looking to try some different vendors for a bit of change. I mainly like gyokuro and medium-steamed sencha.

[debunix]

Side note, does anyone have any experience with Yuuki-Cha?

My experience with them started from a tasting in another forum, and has always been positive. Not everyone here has had such good experience, as you'll discover, but they do have some very good tea.

[jayinhk]

Drinking a special grade of Hainan Baisha green tea from 2014. I thought this tea would have faded significantly, but it still very flavorful. The dominant aroma is of berries, with good sweetness and it is very smooth and easy to drink. Even some light date action in the background. Really a nice tea. It's interesting that Hainan green teas seem to have a terroir of their own!

[Chaisha]

These last few days I've been drinking my first shincha: Honyama nagatsumata.
It's a japanese green tea, very flavoury and with evident herbal notes.
It's aroma is quite sweet. I liked the taste very much.
It reminds me of a gyokuro (from kyushu) I drank. If you like the genre you'd probably like it.
Has anyone tried it?

[JRS22]

These last few days I've been drinking my first shincha: Honyama nagatsumata.
It's a japanese green tea, very flavoury and with evident herbal notes.
It's aroma is quite sweet. I liked the taste very much.
It reminds me of a gyokuro (from kyushu) I drank. If you like the genre you'd probably like it.
Has anyone tried it?

Sounds interesting. What's the source?

[Chaisha]

These last few days I've been drinking my first shincha: Honyama nagatsumata.
It's a japanese green tea, very flavoury and with evident herbal notes.
It's aroma is quite sweet. I liked the taste very much.
It reminds me of a gyokuro (from kyushu) I drank. If you like the genre you'd probably like it.
Has anyone tried it?

Sounds interesting. What's the source?

Honyama district, shizuoka prefecture.
Hiraoka shoten is the manufacturer (?), suidocho 5-3, aoiku, shizuoka.
I bought it at a teahouse in Milan (La teiera eclettica).
Sorry if I wrote too much but I wasn't sure about what you meant ^^'

[debunix]

I haven't had a Honyama sencha for quite a while. I remember it being mellower than most of the others I had at the time, and now I'm going to crave it because you're reminded me how lovely it is.

Today's green tea was more Gyokuro Kin from Den's, as usual in the tiny shibo from Shawn McGuire, and rotating through some of the smaller teacups in the collection--the little Kazuwa guinomi from 3rd Touichi YOSHI.



And now back to larger teacups and bowls for a hot day, grandpa style, topping off concentrated hot teas with lots of cold water, and waiting for a sample of Dens cold-brew sencha teabag to finish in the refrigerator. More green tea notes when I drink that one.

[debunix]

Drank the sample cold-brew Dens green tea, which comes in a nylon-mesh pyramid bag, added to 20oz cool water in my oldest teapot, and left to infuse and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator. The contents are sencha and added matcha powder, and the resulting brew was delicately flavored, vegetal and sweet at the start, but towards the bottom of the pot there was a hint of stronger, slightly bitter flavor. It was nice, just as tasty as the cold-brew sencha I prepare in my glass infusion mugs, but not quite as pleasing as sparkling sencha. Still, a few of those teabags might be handy for cool-brewing on the road in hot weather.

[daidokorocha]

Just had some of O-Cha's Sencha Miyabi which never fails to impress.

Side note, does anyone have any experience with Yuuki-Cha? I've really only ever ordered from Hibiki-an and O-Cha and am looking to try some different vendors for a bit of change. I mainly like gyokuro and medium-steamed sencha.

Yuuki-cha is fine. As per their name, they try to make their tea organic. I have not had too many of their greens actually and instead opted more for their black and their oolongs. I am quite pleased by the blacks. I think I will have a session right now of one of those oolongs followed by one of those blacks.

[davidglass]

How would you say the Oku-midori compares? I notice he didn't mention umami in the description, and I've found he's very upfront with those descriptions.

This particular tea, the Miyakonojo, is a full mouthful of flavor, smooth and delicious through the finish. There is no attempt to discover its qualities as with some other teas. It is there from beginning to end. It is rich, perhaps not as rich as Hojo's Honyama sencha which is wonderful but a lot more expensive than the Miyakonojo.

Often, I don't experience what the sellers describe about their teas. One such example is the Kabusecha from Wazuka that TdJ sells. I find this tea very astringent and drying in the mouth as opposed to the seller's description of it as having no astringency. Differences are to be expected and I don't hold it against them unless this happens with more teas than not. This isn't the case with TdJ. Excellent seller.

[davidglass]

How would you say the Oku-midori compares? I notice he didn't mention umami in the description, and I've found he's very upfront with those descriptions.

This particular tea, the Miyakonojo, is a full mouthful of flavor, smooth and delicious through the finish. There is no attempt to discover its qualities as with some other teas. It is there from beginning to end. It is rich, perhaps not as rich as Hojo's Honyama sencha which is wonderful but a lot more expensive than the Miyakonojo.

Often, I don't experience what the sellers describe about their teas. One such example is the Kabusecha from Wazuka that TdJ sells. I find this tea very astringent and drying in the mouth as opposed to the seller's description of it as having no astringency. Differences are to be expected and I don't hold it against them unless this happens with more teas than not. This isn't the case with TdJ. Excellent seller.

Miyakonojo is delicious. Thanks to Tead Off for another great recommendation.
3 oz water/6g tea/140F/1 min. 2nd brew: 140F/30 sec,

[GeorgeGR]

Finishing up some of O-Cha's Miyabi on this rainy morning...

Side question, has anyone tried konacha?