I am a little short on greens this month, help?

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


User avatar
Jun 6th, '13, 10:39
Posts: 1247
Joined: Nov 7th, '07, 12:23
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by JRS22 » Jun 6th, '13, 10:39

Kevangogh wrote:The shelf life reflects an unopened bag of tea. Once you open it, you're lucky to get 2 months out of it.
Is the 2 month time frame just for gyokuro, or does it also apply to other japanese greens such as the Karigane Otsuusan I just opened?

User avatar
Jun 9th, '13, 07:21
Vendor Member
Posts: 267
Joined: Jul 13th, '09, 11:43
Location: Japan
Contact: Kevangogh

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by Kevangogh » Jun 9th, '13, 07:21

It pretty much applies to any green tea, gyokuro or not. However, if you stick an unopened bag of tea which has been vacuum packed and or had the oxygen replaced with nitrogen, it will last a pretty long time - a year no problem. But once you open it, the clock starts to tick.

As a side note, the taste can improve a few days after opening the bag, I'm mostly speaking of long term storage after opening.

Also, there is no agreed upon conventional expiration date, every manufacturer sets it as they feel best. I think Ippodo sets theirs at two months.

Jul 15th, '13, 19:57
Posts: 9
Joined: Feb 6th, '06, 23:07

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by ceterisparibus » Jul 15th, '13, 19:57

That's an interesting statement and something I've been wondering about.

I've been drinking various shinchas the past month or so and thinking "that's a little different but not so radically different" (stuff I haven't tried before) and "that's about the same as I remember" (stuff I have had before).

I can understand, in times before cold storage/vacuum packing/etc, the New Year's offering being completely different and a lot better/fresher than what you had the week or month before. And there's, no doubt, something about the idea of new fresh tea, celebrating another year, etc.

Are we saying there's nothing inherently better with shincha? That's kind of what I've been feeling - of course, I've only really been at this a year or so and don't have the depth of tea experiences a lot on this forum do.

Thanks.
Kevangogh wrote:It pretty much applies to any green tea, gyokuro or not. However, if you stick an unopened bag of tea which has been vacuum packed and or had the oxygen replaced with nitrogen, it will last a pretty long time - a year no problem. But once you open it, the clock starts to tick.

As a side note, the taste can improve a few days after opening the bag, I'm mostly speaking of long term storage after opening.

Also, there is no agreed upon conventional expiration date, every manufacturer sets it as they feel best. I think Ippodo sets theirs at two months.

User avatar
Jul 15th, '13, 20:56
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by Chip » Jul 15th, '13, 20:56

ceterisparibus wrote:Are we saying there's nothing inherently better with shincha? That's kind of what I've been feeling - of course, I've only really been at this a year or so and don't have the depth of tea experiences a lot on this forum do.
I would not state it in such absolutes. I have had sencha that was better than the shincha counterparts. And vice versa.

For me, Shincha is more of the celebration of the new harvest ... which I celebrate in abundance!!! Not sure why I always target trying at least 20 shincha every year.

Jul 15th, '13, 22:16
Posts: 9
Joined: Feb 6th, '06, 23:07

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by ceterisparibus » Jul 15th, '13, 22:16

Right, I guess that's what I'm saying (or asking). Shincha isn't inherently better than Sencha and vice-versa. In any given year, you may prefer what's still around to what's new and fresh (or vice versa) - it largely depends on harvest conditions, etc. And that shouldn't surprise me.

I do get the celebration of the new harvest and the hope and wondering.

Thanks for the clarification, Chip.
Chip wrote:
ceterisparibus wrote:Are we saying there's nothing inherently better with shincha? That's kind of what I've been feeling - of course, I've only really been at this a year or so and don't have the depth of tea experiences a lot on this forum do.
I would not state it in such absolutes. I have had sencha that was better than the shincha counterparts. And vice versa.

For me, Shincha is more of the celebration of the new harvest ... which I celebrate in abundance!!! Not sure why I always target trying at least 20 shincha every year.

Jul 25th, '13, 02:06
Posts: 7
Joined: Apr 2nd, '13, 06:51
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Contact: ianchun

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by ianchun » Jul 25th, '13, 02:06

Secrets from the Japanese tea industry.

This is how the Japanese tea industry treats shincha. Shincha is sencha that has just been harvested. In general, if it hasn't just been harvested, you revert to sencha. So many tea producers will stick a shincha sticker onto their bag, until the end of June, and then not stick it on starting in July. Some producers will make a special bag for their shincha if they have large enough volume.

However, some producers will also make a very special batch of tea for their shincha, and this batch will be a cut above the rest. This is done to establish themselves as a high quality producer, not as a product they rely on to put food on the table. For example, a farmer might harvest 25 kg of tea leaves by hand, handroll it into 5kg of tea, and submit it to a competition. If they get a good rating, they can then sell the tea for 30,000 yen (US$300) / kg to a wholesaler, and it may then sell at 8000 yen ($80) per 100-gram bag by retailers. At this point, shincha is definitely infinitely better than regular sencha.

Does it sound like there is no standard? You're right. There is no standard. It all depends on who's selling it.

Aug 12th, '13, 06:23
Posts: 7
Joined: Jul 9th, '13, 02:58

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by jasonlee88 » Aug 12th, '13, 06:23

For low cost & low quality shincha, you can try this vendor.

http://sawadaen.jp/

:) ...

It considered quite cheap, but the taste is moderate. Not really good

Aug 14th, '13, 03:04
Posts: 88
Joined: Oct 15th, '11, 14:27

Re: I am a little short on greens this month, help?

by jbu2 » Aug 14th, '13, 03:04

it doesn't seems English friendly , guess you can only order to japan, anyhow i order about 1 KG of tea, so i think i am good until next year, but now i am looking for Japanese tea cup that can hold about 100 ml :)

+ Post Reply