Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

[Tead Off]

By 'special', I mean a bottled water that I buy here in Thailand that is soft and a bit high in TDS (Totally Dissolved Solids).

[Tead Off]

Taisyou from HIrumaen. This is not a tea that delivers an in your face drink. It is mild, subtle, with not much umami. But with some perseverance, I have began to brew it a bit like Gyokuros using low temp and long brew time. After extensive experimentation with Sencha and Gyokuro teas, my preference is now to brew both types similarly, perhaps extending the brew time for Gyokuro's first brew to 2 minutes or more with most teas. This one got 5g/50c/90 sec in a Petr Novak shibo. Beside a touch of tingle on the tongue, the tea was smooth and mellow without umami. No wallop here. Not the most memorable of teas but decent.

Taisyou.jpg (86.92 KiB) Viewed 868 times

[Frisbeehead]

I finally opened up my Shi Feng Longjing from Jing Tea Shop today and gave it a shot. I read all kinds of posts and blogs about brewing longjing to try to find a good way to do it. I settled on the tall glass method, and I used 4 grams to about 300-400ml of water.

I tried following Hojo's instructions, which instructs you to brew for 3 minutes total. Then it says "serve". I am a slow tea drinker, as I like to sit back and take sips over a period of time. So I got a little nervous that I was going to oversteep this longjing and ruin the 4 grams that I had used. When I got to around 4 minutes or so I emptied the glass out into my chahai and left the tea leaves in the glass.

Overall, it tastes good! It sort of reminds me of some sencha that I have tried, but with a nuttier flavor. I'm still only on the first infusion, so we'll see what the second is like.

Does anyone have any input on this? I keep seeing this method recommended, but how do they not oversteep the leaves and make the tea bitter? Especially if it's a pricier longjing.

I may just brew it directly in my glass cha hai next time, since it'll be easier to filter the tea juice out.

[kuánglóng]

Does anyone have any input on this? I keep seeing this method recommended, but how do they not oversteep the leaves and make the tea bitter? Especially if it's a pricier longjing.

I may just brew it directly in my glass cha hai next time, since it'll be easier to filter the tea juice out.

Why start with 4g if that's all you've got of a sample? For most teas I use 1g/100ml to get a first impression, that's 2g for the teapot below - leaves some grams to try other temperatures or parameters. I'm a slow sipper too and never brew up more than 200ml if I'm alone, most of the time about 100-150ml.
As to new teas, I usually brew up them up in a small 200ml glass teapot with a built in strainer.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Small-Clear-Gla ... 0818864373
I prewarm the pot, add the leaves and ~200ml of H2O and starting at about 2 mins I tilt the pot backwards to empty the spout (!), give the pot a little swirl, pour ~25ml into a small tasting cup, take a whiff and a slurp or two and keep repeating this every 20-30 seconds - all up to you. This gives me a good idea about the development of the brew over time and has worked for me for many years, especially with finicky leaves like some Darjeelings or Phoenix oolongs.

[Frisbeehead]

Does anyone have any input on this? I keep seeing this method recommended, but how do they not oversteep the leaves and make the tea bitter? Especially if it's a pricier longjing.

I may just brew it directly in my glass cha hai next time, since it'll be easier to filter the tea juice out.

Why start with 4g if that's all you've got of a sample? For most teas I use 1g/100ml to get a first impression, that's 2g for the teapot below - leaves some grams to try other temperatures or parameters. I'm a slow sipper too and never brew up more than 200ml if I'm alone, most of the time about 100-150ml.
As to new teas, I usually brew up them up in a small 200ml glass teapot with a built in strainer.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Small-Clear-Gla ... 0818864373
I prewarm the pot, add the leaves and starting at about 2 mins I tilt the pot backwards to empty the spout (!), give the pot a little swirl, pour ~25ml into a small tasting cup, take a whiff and a slurp or two and keep repeating this every 20-30 seconds - all up to you. This gives me a good idea about the development of the brew over time and has worked for me for many years, especially with finicky leaves like some Darjeelings or Phoenix oolongs.

Actually I have 25g of the longjing I tried today, so I'll get to experiment with it some more. It turned out really well actually, after the first steep I just let the leaves stay in the glass. I was able to get 3 more infusions out of the leaves, and none of them were bitter.

That's a smart idea, I may have to try that. All my teapots are clay, and the only non-porous teaware I have is a couple gaiwans. I'll consider the glass teapot, I have wanted one for a while. That method seems very intuitive and practical, I never thought of trying teas for the first time like that. Thanks for the advice, kuang.

[kuánglóng]

Actually I have 25g of the longjing I tried today, so I'll get to experiment with it some more. It turned out really well actually, after the first steep I just let the leaves stay in the glass. I was able to get 3 more infusions out of the leaves, and none of them were bitter.

That's a smart idea, I may have to try that. All my teapots are clay, and the only non-porous teaware I have is a couple gaiwans. I'll consider the glass teapot, I have wanted one for a while. That method seems very intuitive and practical, I never thought of trying teas for the first time like that. Thanks for the advice, kuang.

Welcome. You can get those pots even cheaper on ebay, like here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250ml-8-5oz-Bor ... SwMmBVi6dx

In case you order one just ask the seller to send you one without flaws. They're handmade from borosilicate glass (pyrex) and sometimes they can have air bubbles in the glass somewhere - that can be a bit of a problem in the long run. I have a couple; they're sort of my work horses for the Darjeelings etc... and worth every penny.

PS: the Long Jing looks great in that glass. Enjoy it!

[Tead Off]

Kin-no-Shizuka from Hirumaen. For me, the King of Senchas. I don't think I've ever had a better Sencha.

Ki-no-shizuka.jpg (90.36 KiB) Viewed 824 times

[TORamarn]

By 'special', I mean a bottled water that I buy here in Thailand that is soft and a bit high in TDS (Totally Dissolved Solids).

See that you're also in Bangkok, can you say what exactly that high TDS soft bottled water is?

[Tead Off]

By 'special', I mean a bottled water that I buy here in Thailand that is soft and a bit high in TDS (Totally Dissolved Solids).

See that you're also in Bangkok, can you say what exactly that high TDS soft bottled water is?

Aura brand mineral water. When I use the term soft, I am talking about the feeling in your mouth as opposed to more crisp. Higher ph waters usually taste softer to me, over 7ph. I happen to have read that Aura's water is rather high in TDS. Mont Fleur is another Thai bottled mineral water that is good, but lower in TDS. I find the Aura slightly better with Japanese green teas.

[TORamarn]

By 'special', I mean a bottled water that I buy here in Thailand that is soft and a bit high in TDS (Totally Dissolved Solids).

See that you're also in Bangkok, can you say what exactly that high TDS soft bottled water is?

Aura brand mineral water. When I use the term soft, I am talking about the feeling in your mouth as opposed to more crisp. Higher ph waters usually taste softer to me, over 7ph. I happen to have read that Aura's water is rather high in TDS. Mont Fleur is another Thai bottled mineral water that is good, but lower in TDS. I find the Aura slightly better with Japanese green teas.

Thanks for sharing, Tead Off.

I've tried many mineral water but couldn't find any brand I like - Thai, European, or even Japanese. I feel that mineral water can add body to the tea, but always comes with some astringency on the tongue and creates some fuzzy texture.

At the moment the water I seem to like most is rain water. The body comes out a bit too light for my liking, but the clarity it gives is really wonderful. I feel that it makes the tea shows just the way it truely is - nothing added or lost.

[Tead Off]

By 'special', I mean a bottled water that I buy here in Thailand that is soft and a bit high in TDS (Totally Dissolved Solids).

See that you're also in Bangkok, can you say what exactly that high TDS soft bottled water is?

Aura brand mineral water. When I use the term soft, I am talking about the feeling in your mouth as opposed to more crisp. Higher ph waters usually taste softer to me, over 7ph. I happen to have read that Aura's water is rather high in TDS. Mont Fleur is another Thai bottled mineral water that is good, but lower in TDS. I find the Aura slightly better with Japanese green teas.

Thanks for sharing, Tead Off.

I've tried many mineral water but couldn't find any brand I like - Thai, European, or even Japanese. I feel that mineral water can add body to the tea, but always comes with some astringency on the tongue and creates some fuzzy texture.

At the moment the water I seem to like most is rain water. The body comes out a bit too light for my liking, but the clarity it gives is really wonderful. I feel that it makes the tea shows just the way it truely is - nothing added or lost.

Water is an essential part of tea brewing. The other parts, the quality of the tea, the brewing vessel, and the skill of the brewer, all combine to get a favorable result. If one element is off, the result will not be optimum. I'm very surprised to hear that there is no mineral water you like. I can't imagine it as there are several very good ones, IMO.

[TORamarn]

Water is an essential part of tea brewing. The other parts, the quality of the tea, the brewing vessel, and the skill of the brewer, all combine to get a favorable result. If one element is off, the result will not be optimum. I'm very surprised to hear that there is no mineral water you like. I can't imagine it as there are several very good ones, IMO.

Maybe it's because I don't like green tea brewed using any mineral water. To be honest, I prefer filtered tap water, which's what I mostly used until recently when I started to taste more spiciness from many sencha and matcha. I tried Singha water and found that it changed that hot & spiciness into mild menthol-like coolness for some teas. However, I still feel that spice in many other Japanese teas, so I finally tried rain water and discovered the wonderful effects it makes. That spiciness still stays though, so I guess it's really the taste of the tea.

The problem with rain water is they only sell in 300ml glass bottles.

[TORamarn]

FYI, I'm using porcelain, glass, reduction & oxidation-fired Tokoname, or Shigaraki vessels depending on my mood that day.

[William]

Just drank two bowls of Aya-no-mori (Horaido) for the first time.

I must say I really liked this matcha. Good balance between bitterness and sweetness, smooth flavours and good foam. Sure, not much aroma nor a lengthy aftertaste, but for what if offers and for what it costs (¥900/40g), I found it to be perfect when I have enough of extremely sweet and strong matcha (that remain my favorite, of course).

Will buy again and drink a tin or two from time to time.

[Jomana]

http://store1.up-00.com/2015-11/1448310119971.jpg


my tea