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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Dec 26th, '13, 14:27
by Chip
... BTW, enjoying an amazing Asatsuyu today ...

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Dec 26th, '13, 18:42
by Noonie
Chip wrote:Since I am ordering the Yume Gyokuro from O-Cha, I think I will reorder this year's Sae Midori as it was pretty wonderful fukamushi!!!
Post back here after you've tried it and we can compare notes.

I took advantage of the kit where you save 10% off...I needed a 2nd kyusu so went with the dragon fly design that is for fukamushi...as I enjoy this tea a lot I thought it makes the most sense (for me). I also ordered the arita yaki cup (with sencha I like a larger cup of tea and this one holds 300ml), some sencha and a tin (all needed).

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Dec 26th, '13, 20:58
by Kevangogh
We put 1g to 1 oz of water to be conservative for customers because they usually tend to brew at too high of a temperature, it's just a guideline. Using 2g per 1 oz of water will work better.

Your brew temp was a little low, you could up that a tad. Provided everything was pre-heated of course.

Your brew time seems short to me, still. You brew with the lid OFF, you watch from above until you see the leaves starting to open. This is usually at the 2 minute mark.

What kind of teapot are you using to brew?
davidglass wrote:Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. The info in the O-Cha tutorial says to use 1g of gyokuro per 1 oz of water. The package says 1.2g per 1 oz of water. I tried 2g per 1 oz of water with the water at 125 degrees F and a brew time of 90 sec. I use a very accurate thermometer, and all cups are warm. The taste, smell, mouth feel, and lingering taste still do not compare with Hibiki-an's inexpensive Gyokuro Superior. I have one more O-Cha Gyokuro to try: Tsurujirushi.

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Dec 29th, '13, 19:16
by AdamMY
After a week in which I brewed all my tea Grandpa style to travel light. Some Yamashita Jirushi Gyokuro to finally use other teaware. :D :mrgreen: :D

Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Dec 29th, '13, 22:07
by debunix
Since I got more proficient with cool brewing 'grandpa style', I've done that more than anything else while traveling--drinking tea from water bottles ad thermos cups. It does feel quite luxurious to come home and brew up especially green tea, because that's the trickiest tea to work with on the road.

Today I enjoyed about six infusions of Aoi sencha from O-Cha. Mmmm. Part of the session was out in the garden, as a break from digging and pruning and planting. So nice.

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Dec 30th, '13, 07:02
by Stentor
I've been drinking organic South Korean Seogwang Sencha (yes, sencha from South Korea) from my local TeeGschwendner store for the last few weeks.

It is not bad at all and the price (12,60 EUR per 100 g) very appropriately reflects the quality, in my opinion. It is on the milder side and certainly not a connoisseur type sencha, but you get what you pay for, and nothing less.
I was really surprised that it wasn't stale (still vibrant green leaves and very fragrant) even though it is sold by weight and not pre-packaged. They make you buy at least 50 g of it so I guess that ensures that they frequently have to restock with fresher product.

I had only intended for this to be a stop gap until I place my next order from a Japanese vendor but I was surprised at the quality and I think I am going to buy this somewhat regularly from now on, especially since I can just go pick it up at the store whenever I feel like it.

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Dec 30th, '13, 21:34
by Chip
davidglass wrote:Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. The info in the O-Cha tutorial says to use 1g of gyokuro per 1 oz of water. The package says 1.2g per 1 oz of water. I tried 2g per 1 oz of water with the water at 125 degrees F and a brew time of 90 sec. I use a very accurate thermometer, and all cups are warm. The taste, smell, mouth feel, and lingering taste still do not compare with Hibiki-an's inexpensive Gyokuro Superior. I have one more O-Cha Gyokuro to try: Tsurujirushi.
I received the Yume no Ukihashi Gyokuro from O-Cha today (3 days in transit ... gotta love EMS for a quick fix). I just opened the bag and divided it in two. One bag will go back into storage for later, and the other bag will be used now.

I plan to try my hand at the Yume tomorrow (Tuesday). I will brew it with a ratio of at least 2:1.

I also ordered a bag of Tsuru Jirushi and Kame Jirushi ... a Tsuen/O-Cha triple Gyokuro play ... :mrgreen:

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 4th, '14, 07:59
by chrl42
Stentor wrote:I've been drinking organic South Korean Seogwang Sencha (yes, sencha from South Korea) from my local TeeGschwendner store for the last few weeks
Korean way of making green is different from Japanese one, they are closer to Chinese one, both are pan-fried.

If it is made in Sencha style of steaming, rather interesting :)

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 4th, '14, 10:42
by Stentor
chrl42 wrote:Korean way of making green is different from Japanese one, they are closer to Chinese one, both are pan-fried.

If it is made in Sencha style of steaming, rather interesting :)
Yup, it is definitely sencha style tea.
They also have a regular Korean style version, which is toastier. It's also pretty good, but I am very partial to sencha :)

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 4th, '14, 11:02
by JRS22
Two Japanese greens today. I began the day with gyokuro Yama from
o-Cha. It's fine for the price, but I'm definitely going to continue with my plan to move up in gyo price with each order. Maybe the premium gyo OTTI will be offered before I'm out of gyo.

Right now I'm enjoying a fourth steep of iri genmaicha with matcha from the same O-Cha order. I never expected to get so many steeps from a genmaicha, but today I'm going to try for five.

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 4th, '14, 12:15
by Chip
JRS22 wrote:Maybe the premium gyo OTTI will be offered before I'm out of gyo.
Could be. :wink: :mrgreen:

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 4th, '14, 12:31
by JRS22
Chip wrote:
JRS22 wrote:Maybe the premium gyo OTTI will be offered before I'm out of gyo.
Could be. :wink: :mrgreen:
FYI I have 13 sessions left which is a 4 week supply. :D

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 5th, '14, 11:47
by debunix
Enjoying some O-Cha Aoi sencha from my new 'Flower' tea bowl this morning--sweet, warm, delicate, a series of really fine infusions, enchanced by contemplation of the bowl.

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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 5th, '14, 21:44
by davidglass
Kevangogh wrote:We put 1g to 1 oz of water to be conservative for customers because they usually tend to brew at too high of a temperature, it's just a guideline. Using 2g per 1 oz of water will work better.

Your brew temp was a little low, you could up that a tad. Provided everything was pre-heated of course.

Your brew time seems short to me, still. You brew with the lid OFF, you watch from above until you see the leaves starting to open. This is usually at the 2 minute mark.

"
What kind of teapot are you using to brew?"
I brew it in an 8 oz tea mug
davidglass wrote:Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. The info in the O-Cha tutorial says to use 1g of gyokuro per 1 oz of water. The package says 1.2g per 1 oz of water. I tried 2g per 1 oz of water with the water at 125 degrees F and a brew time of 90 sec. I use a very accurate thermometer, and all cups are warm. The taste, smell, mouth feel, and lingering taste still do not compare with Hibiki-an's inexpensive Gyokuro Superior. I have one more O-Cha Gyokuro to try: Tsurujirushi.

Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Posted: Jan 5th, '14, 21:55
by Chip
I am guessing you are saying that you brewed the Yume in an 8 ounce mug? While it is possible to do it this way, you will almost certainly enjoy a finer Gyokuro much more if using teaware more designed for the process.

Part of this may be mental ... but I also think there is much to be gained by brewing in a vessel designed to brew finer tea versus a (likely) heavy, clunky mug ... keeping in mind that it is "precious dew."

You can improvise, but Gyokuro sets, for instance, feature a small brew vessel and very small cups. An example set ... selling for under 40$. http://www.o-cha.com/shoboridashi-teapot.html

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