TeaChat

Chip wrote:

BrooklynBrew wrote:2013 Hashiri Shincha from Den's.

It's quite nice. Almost like the perfect tea to have in Spring. Flavor, but not too heavy. I prefer brewing this at a cooler temperature than the suggested hotter one Den has on the packaging. I felt that while the hotter temp gave me more aroma, I felt it made the taste really aggressive to the point where I couldn't really enjoy it.

In my experience drinking tea brewed by Den, I sense he likes his sencha BOLD.

LOL!

Maiko Yamashita Gyokuro Yashiki no cha. A great gyokuro, though not sure it deserves its price. I actually think I liked some of the lower levels a bit more. Still doesn't change the fact that the Yamashita Gyokuro line is A++++++ In my opinion.

Maeda-en matcha-iri genmaicha. This was the last of the grocery store Japanese tea that I picked up a couple of weeks ago, which has been sitting in my cupboard ever since. It's OK. I like the rice portion, but the tea flavors are too grassy for me and don't combine well with the roasty flavor of the rice.

I grew up drinking cheap genmaicha, which I love, and this is my first try with loose-leaf, somewhat less cheap genmaicha. So far I prefer the Yamamotoyama teabags I'm used to.

While waiting for Shincha to show up, Asanoka from Notti 2.

Currently having some Sencha Benifuki for my allergies while I wait on the shincha and other new green teas. It seems to help if I take it regularly, but heaven help me if I skip a day of drinking it (sneezing galore!). Not the best sencha I've had, a little on the astringent side, but it seems to serve it's purpose.

Den's Hashiri Shincha in his $5 kyusu special, iced in my Matchawan. It's better hot, but on a 95 degree day in San Diego, it's just what I need.

Also drinking cold sencha--putting the glass brew mugs to work in the fridge today. Just right for a hot afternoon. A few more brewings and I'll have finished off this batch of inexpensive sencha, bought from a chinese tea shop. It's not great stuff for brewing 'straight up', but just fine for this use.

For the past week I’ve been enjoying a few great 2013 sinchas; Maiko’s Sincha Sencha, Maeda-en’s 2013 Shin-cha Oohashiri & last years 2012 New Crop Shin-Cha Gold.

When I’d had enough of a caffeine buzz from sinchas, I balanced out with Den’s Premium Fukamushi-Sencha Yame, O-Cha’s Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori & Uji Sencha Otsuusan.

Today though, I opened up Bird Pick’s Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea. I don’t know much about oolongs but really enjoyed this one, it is a somewhat floral very aromatic tea. Later, I enjoyed it as ice tea since it was warm here, delicious that way too.

Ippodo Tenka-ichi. So satisfying and chicken soup, with a kiss of pineapple and tons of umami. YUM!



https://shop.ippodo-tea.co.jp/kyoto/sho ... id=gyokuro

During this 2013 SINCHA season I'm having some very nice Xi Hu Dragon Well.

Kiri-no-Mori matcha from O-Cha

Asanoka from NOTTI
Has been taking a while to get dialed in. Must say while good, I still prefer Kuritawase.
Pic below:
http://is.gd/gknHeX

Matcha-slushy from Ippodo NY.

Yum.

BioHorn wrote:Asanoka from NOTTI
Has been taking a while to get dialed in. Must say while good, I still prefer Kuritawase.
Pic below:
http://is.gd/gknHeX

What brewing parameters did you key in on?

Devoted135 wrote:

BioHorn wrote:Asanoka from NOTTI
Has been taking a while to get dialed in. Must say while good, I still prefer Kuritawase.
Pic below:
http://is.gd/gknHeX

What brewing parameters did you key in on?

+1 I haven't been having trouble, but I don't feel like I'm getting the tea's full potential either.