[SOLVED] Cheap everyday sencha

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


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Dec 7th, '11, 23:38
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by iannon » Dec 7th, '11, 23:38

sencha wrote:Sorry for being so cheap. I just can't afford a lot right now. :lol:
Dont be sorry! It's all good! I too wish I had more funds for even better teas and teawarez!

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Dec 8th, '11, 17:51
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by sencha » Dec 8th, '11, 17:51

Chip wrote:Someone on TC needs to try them and report back. :idea:
Looks like I'm going to be the guinea pig. 8)

I'm going to get Tokusen Kokyu from the Tokusen series, but I'm trying to decide which of the Ocha-Zanmai series to get. There's the regular and the fukamushi (deep-steamed). Which do you think would be better? I've never had fukamushi as far as I know.

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Dec 8th, '11, 17:59
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by iannon » Dec 8th, '11, 17:59

sencha wrote:
Chip wrote:Someone on TC needs to try them and report back. :idea:
Looks like I'm going to be the guinea pig. 8)

I'm going to get Tokusen Kokyu from the Tokusen series, but I'm trying to decide which of the Ocha-Zanmai series to get. There's the regular and the fukamushi (deep-steamed). Which do you think would be better? I've never had fukamushi as far as I know.
not much to go on about the tea on their page BUT assuming that the Tokusen is Asa or Chu based on them not specifying "deep steamed" then if you are going to get one of those others might as well try the Fuka to see the differences in flavor profile of a light or medium steamed vs deep steamed.

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Dec 8th, '11, 18:42
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by sencha » Dec 8th, '11, 18:42

Thanks Ian. I'll try the Fukamushi then. :D

I know you said to avoid the clear-wrapped ones but I'm hoping they know enough to have it stored in a dark place, away from light. When I get it, I'll be sure to keep it in the dark.

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Dec 9th, '11, 11:38
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by Stentor » Dec 9th, '11, 11:38

I was given some bagged Yamamotayama "sencha" once. It was really terrible, stale tea dust, so be warned. (The packaging was still sealed by the way.)
I hope their loose leaf is better.
Disclosure: Upon smelling and looking at it I did not proceed to actually drink it.

Budget considerations are important and obviously limit your choices but I would be careful not to get past the point where the product you're buying does not resemble what green tea is supposed to be like. Personally, I'd rather get a medium price range product and drink less of it. I realize that may not be an option for everybody.

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Dec 9th, '11, 12:12
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by Chip » Dec 9th, '11, 12:12

... good points, Stentor. In lean times, I learned to make smaller steeps in order to use less tea leaf and really came to appreciate teas much more!

Today I still do the smaller steeps because I found I enjoyed them actually more so than bigger steeps. So necessity was the mother of invention ... so to speak ... er steep. :mrgreen:

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Dec 9th, '11, 16:32
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by sencha » Dec 9th, '11, 16:32

Stentor wrote:I was given some bagged Yamamotayama "sencha" once. It was really terrible, stale tea dust, so be warned. (The packaging was still sealed by the way.)
I hope their loose leaf is better.
I sure hope so considering I've already ordered it. :lol:

If this falls through, I'll definitely start paying attention to everyone and start getting decent tea.

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Dec 9th, '11, 17:38
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by iannon » Dec 9th, '11, 17:38

sencha wrote:
Stentor wrote:I was given some bagged Yamamotayama "sencha" once. It was really terrible, stale tea dust, so be warned. (The packaging was still sealed by the way.)
I hope their loose leaf is better.
I sure hope so considering I've already ordered it. :lol:

If this falls through, I'll definitely start paying attention to everyone and start getting decent tea.
WHAT!? you mean you aren't paying attention now?? :lol:

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Dec 12th, '11, 20:49
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by sencha » Dec 12th, '11, 20:49

iannon wrote:WHAT!? you mean you aren't paying attention now?? :lol:
I was hoping to find a diamond in the rough... but so far it looks like it's just a pipe dream... :P

I'm still waiting for the Yamamotoyama sencha to arrive. I'll let everyone know how it is when I get it.

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Dec 15th, '11, 00:50
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by FlyedPiper » Dec 15th, '11, 00:50

iannon wrote:
sencha wrote:Sorry for being so cheap. I just can't afford a lot right now. :lol:
Dont be sorry! It's all good! I too wish I had more funds for even better teas and teawarez!
I've been drinking Hibiki-an's sencha superior as my daily (I do a bag in between more choice stuff) and I've found it a very nice three steep tea. More "man this is good" thoughts than "man, I can't wait until this bag is finished so I can open the good stuff". $15 a bag (it comes with 2 100 gr bags per order so throw one in the fridge) and free shipping if you go over $36, so buy something else too. As stated before, budgeting doesn't mean you have to drink sub-par tea. You just have to shop around more and find something you like.

A lot of it depends on how you brew as well... I can make the first steep on that sencha superior taste so good it is in the same ballpark with any other premium sencha out there. You have to go with low water temps and less water to leaf.

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Dec 15th, '11, 11:53
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by sherubtse » Dec 15th, '11, 11:53

FlyedPiper wrote: As stated before, budgeting doesn't mean you have to drink sub-par tea. You just have to shop around more and find something you like.
Very true. I keep discovering smaller, "boutique", stores that have good prices.

Best wishes,
sherubtse

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Dec 21st, '11, 15:42
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by sencha » Dec 21st, '11, 15:42

I just received my order today. :mrgreen:

I wanted to try the Fukamushi first, since I've never had fuka before. The dry leaf has a fairly strong aroma and doesn't look/smell stale. They recommend 1 tablespoon per 8 ounces of water for up to a minute on the packaging, so I figured I'd try that first. My first impression was a big "wow" (not in a good way). The flavor is very intense, but unpleasant. I haven't tasted green tea that tasted this way before. It's very bitter as well. Even on the second and third steep, it tasted gross.

On my second attempt... I thought a tablespoon seemed like a lot of tea per cup, and I've never used that much before for any sencha I've tried, so I decided to use around one teaspoon at one minute, and the result is much better and more in line with the other senchas I've tried. I don't like it as much as Adagio's sencha I tried, but it's not bad at all.

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Dec 21st, '11, 15:46
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by iannon » Dec 21st, '11, 15:46

wow...1 min for a fuka is waaaay too long.. probably why it tasted so bitter. use your original amount of leaf and cut the steep time down below 30 seconds.

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Dec 21st, '11, 15:48
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by Chip » Dec 21st, '11, 15:48

... or tooooo hot or too much leaf for this grade of tea.

If the tea is HQ, the temp is low and right, even too long of a steep will often be forgiven. However, if you are at upper limits on leaf, temp, then time is uber critical as Ian mentions.

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Dec 21st, '11, 15:58
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Re: Chinese vs Japanese sencha

by sencha » Dec 21st, '11, 15:58

I'll definitely give that a try next time. The recommended time is 30 seconds to a minute, and I usually do the maximum time to get the most flavor, but looks like in this case, I don't want the full flavor! :lol:

I don't really like using that much tea per cup though... I'll run out of tea a lot quicker...

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