TeaChat

It's finally here! That time of the year when the best green teas of our Eastern friends start to trickle over to the US!

I'm a big fan of Longjing and Gyokuro, and am having a hard time finding places that are selling the newest and freshest stocks of Spring 2007 greens. :/

Also, I'm aware this searching may be happening too early on my part, so if not now, then when?

Any suggestions?

P.S. - I know teaspring has a few in, but that seems wayyyy too early to me, so I'm hesitating.

I was on the phone with a rep from Rishi today, and she said that they will be getting new shipments of green tea in the next few weeks.

By the way, gyokuro is generally aged for a period of time, so you will not see 2007 gyo for several months at least. Shincha sencha on the other hand, will start to become available around the 20th of April and every week or so, shincha sencha from another prefecture will become available. O-cha.com will have Shizuoka shincha starting April 25th. Tea from Kagoshima will follow and then Uji around mid May. Their Yutaki Midori and Miyabi are some of the best sencha available and I think very fair priced. Since they are in Japan, their tea is available weeks before domestic vendors...plus they sell only Japanese green tea.

The Teaspring offerings are very nice so far. I have tried 2 out of the 3 Long Jing so far. The Emperor is always going to be a light style Long Jing. The Lion Brand Xi Hu Long Jing is outstanding. I will be getting the Bai Long Jing which was amazing last year as well as Bai Yin Zhen (yeah, I know, it is white but worth mentioning) within a week or so.

I have a friend in the tea business in China and she gives me release dates for all Chinese teas. Teaspring has fallen right in line with the release dates. They are always going to be earlier than domestic vendors because...well, they are after all located in China.

Chip...you're just a fountain of knowledge...

tomasini wrote: Chip...you're just a fountain of knowledge...

...no, not really, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

wiseacre |wīzˌākər|, noun. See Chip.

I love sarcasm, it makes the world go round
But seriously, you are wise in the ways of tea buying

I plan on getting some Uji Miyabi Shincha from O-cha, but they are not coming out till sometime in May. It'll be a long wait for sure. I've tried other green teas but the Uji Miyabi is my favorite by far.

I love me some Dragonwell, but is it best in the spring as is the rest of these teas with which you speak?
Yes, i love me some Dragonwell.

streetspirit wrote:I plan on getting some Uji Miyabi Shincha from O-cha, but they are not coming out till sometime in May. It'll be a long wait for sure. I've tried other green teas but the Uji Miyabi is my favorite by far.

Hey Streetspirit,
Have you tried O-Cha's Yutaki Midori. I really like both and give a slight edge to this leaf from Kagoshima. This sencha will also probably be available a week or two earlier than Miyabi.

I am dieing of waiting for shincha. I am not buying any sencha until I can get new harvest...but I agree, the wait is agony.

Chip,

Actually I have tried the Yutaka. It is a great tea in its own right. I personally found the Miyabi to be slightly grassier, which is the taste I'm looking for. The earlier harvest sounds appealing though... I might cave in and get some since they are so similar anyway. I haven't tried the Hatsumi, I've heard good things about that too. I don't think you can go wrong with those three choices.

Since Shincha is the first (prized) harvest of Sencha and Gyokuro is the highest grade of tea, from Sencha ... which is better: Shincha or Gyokuro? I am thinking Gyokuro. If that's the case, then Shicha would be second best?

It is a little like comparing apples to oranges.

Sencha is the daily favorite tea of the Japanese. And for me too. I really like gyokuro, but sencha is my everday choice. I will have gyokuro only on occasion.

So, if I am going to drink sencha, then shincha is the winner. Now is the time to buy shincha...well, now through June or so. After that, shincha is not traditionally sold anymore. You will then find ichibancha, which is still first flush, just processed a little differently.

I will have some shincha in hand and cup within about a week of its actual harvest. That is as fresh as it gets. As a fan of sencha, this is what I wait for all year. Seriously, I have been talking about this year's shincha for the last 4 months.

By the way, gyokuro is aged at least 6 months after harvesting, so 2007 gyokuro will not be available for quite some time.

Chip was too fast for me... but I can at least testify that he has been talking about shincha for a long time.

Personally I like sencha better-- it is more approachable than gyokuro and much less of an acquired taste.

Chip, if you see this, I have a question. Is there such thing as shincha matcha? I don't think I've seen this but I'm wondering why, since I feel like freshness is even more important for matcha than sencha.

Good question, Scruff, I honestly always assumed that since it is made from Gyokuro leaf, that it was aged like gyokuro.

I have never seen shincha matcha, so, if I was a betting matcha matcha man, I would say no.

Let me know if you hear otherwise.