Shincha 2008 Lineup

[bambooforest]

If I told ya I wasn't excited for Shincha - I'd be lying. I can smell its fresh scent in the air; the time is so near.

[Salsero]

Hello, my name is Salsero and I am a sencha-holic.

(Chorus: "Hello, Salsero")

That in itself is not much of a problem. The problem is that I don't drink enough. Since I feel committed to such a wide variety of tea, there is no way I can get to sencha everyday. That means that even a 50 gr bag of green elixir will typically last me months .

I am excited about Shincha and would like to try at least a few spring teas, but I do not want to see several bags of open green goodness go bad for lack of love. It's not so much the money, it's the indecency of wasting top grade leaf.

Is anyone else in a similar boat and interested in some sort of exchange arrangement? I know most of our sencha drinkers guzzle A LOT of weed in a month compared to me, so I was more looking for those stragglers like me who the regulars can drink under the table in no time flat.

So far I have pre-ordered only O'Cha's Fuka Supreme and my finger has hovered for hours over the button to go for Hibbiki An's Sencha Super Supreme and I really want to taste some killer asamushi from Maiko or someplace.

For those students and others on a budget, I would be fine simply mailing some of it out to you in return for a little help at deciding what to order and maybe seeing your opinions posted on TeaChat. For others who are not cash strapped, an exchange would be great. Anyone interested?

ANOTHER ISSUE:
Chip (or another sencha-holic), once the tea starts flowing in, could we get some specialized review threads going like in the Puerh forum? I think that would rock.

[insanitylater]

i really want to give shincha a try but it all looks so good and i'll only be able to get one type. since i probably will need to get one of those double lidded tins to store it. the farmer's hibiki-an shincha is starting to pull me in because as expensive as it is you get a lot of tea

salsero if you want to share your sencha with a college student on a budget i wouldn't mind helping you drink some up and post a review here/on my blog

[devites]

Hi Salsero. I am devites. I've been trying to kick this stuff for ages, but I find my self tired and worn out (lack of caffeine) and craving the sweet earthy essence of delicious Japanese tea. Oh god I need a fix. I will definitely review the the Shizouka Shincha Hatsumi from o-cha as soon as I get it. I think it should be an initiative of this forum to make sure that every single shincha should be reviewed so we Sencha lovers know what to buy. If you get the sencha super supreme, I would be interested in paypalling you some money for a sampling. PM if you do.

[insanitylater]

speaking of tins do you think those rishi ones are really air tight ? i have a leftover one at the moment which could save me the trouble of ordering one

[Chip]

By all means, start a topic for any green tea you try and want to share your experiences with fellow TeaChatters...nothing stopping anyone from doing this.

Hmmm, let me think if there is a more efficient and practical way of doing this. We could do it by prefecture...or by vendor...or by actual selection. Any input???

I plan to try a lot of different shincha this Spring through various outlets. This is my second Shincha per se. Last year's was an initiation by fire to shincha.

[devites]

i would do it by vendor as that seems the least trouble. The Rishi tea tins are very air tight if you have the inner piece as well.

[Ed]

sencha drinkers guzzle A LOT of weed

I think it would make more sense to divide it by vendor, as we have seen that prefecture doesn't really mean all that much.

[scruffmcgruff]

speaking of tins do you think those rishi ones are really air tight ? i have a leftover one at the moment which could save me the trouble of ordering one

Rishi tins are very good; I would definitely use it.

Hmmm, let me think if there is a more efficient and practical way of doing this. We could do it by prefecture...or by vendor...or by actual selection. Any input??? Question

Another forum I frequent has an entire section of the forum dedicated to reviews only, and that section is broken down into subdivisions based on the type of item. Might be something to think about.

[Space Samurai]

I'd say seperate it by vendor.

I don't know for sure how much shincha I'm going to get, two bags definitely, maybe three. I'll buy from O-cha and Hibiki for sure, and maybe Den's.

[Space Samurai]

speaking of tins do you think those rishi ones are really air tight ? i have a leftover one at the moment which could save me the trouble of ordering one

I 'recycle' mine, too. I get the impression that they are not 100% air tight, but I still have no complaints and think they work just fine.

[Chip]

Another forum I frequent has an entire section of the forum dedicated to reviews only, and that section is broken down into subdivisions based on the type of item. Might be something to think about.

This is what I was also thinking, but the current platform might not easily allow subdivisions. I do not want to create a whole new category (a current category on TC is Teas for example) for this for several reasons, one being we just worked on reducing categories from 7-5 to make the forum a little more presentable and user friendly.

I was thinking a forum w/in a category that would have subdivisions. I will look into this.

I am thinking one forum for ALL vendors. Each vendor would need a subdivision...and each subdivision would need further divisions for each tea. I wish we had thought of this sooner.

Thanx for your input. Keep it coming, please.

[scruffmcgruff]

Are you sure you want vendors to have subcategories of their own? I mean, threads aren't too threatening, but from Adagio's perspective, wouldn't there be some potential issues?

I think having, say, a "Japanese greens" section would be a good idea. Then, people could post the vendor name in the title, and everything would be relatively easy to navigate. I guess it could get clumsy as a lot of reviews start coming in, though, and vendor subcategories would help with that.

[Chip]

Are you sure you want vendors to have subcategories of their own? I mean, threads aren't too threatening, but from Adagio's perspective, wouldn't there be some potential issues?

I think having, say, a "Japanese greens" section would be a good idea. Then, people could post the vendor name in the title, and everything would be relatively easy to navigate. I guess it could get clumsy as a lot of reviews start coming in, though, and vendor subcategories would help with that.

Yeah, I have again thought of everything you say...adagio is very generous with their forum. I would not want to abuse the priviledges.

Somehow, I think they are always looking at an even bigger picture than us..we are often more concerned about issues like this than they are.

They like having "the forum!!!" There is the prestige factor. Forums have come and gone, TeaChat continues to set a pace that is out of reach of any forum I know of.

But they would have to be in on this...I would not want to be presumptuous. Plus it would be nice to ask anyway.

Keep it coming...

[Salsero]

They like having "the forum!!!" There is the prestige factor. Forums have come and gone, TeaChat continues to set a pace that is out of reach of any forum I know of.

I for one hope their sales skyrocket. I always think there must be many people who google "green tea" or whatever, find TeaChat, find Adagio, order, and we never hear from them.