Kagoshima Chiran Kanaya Midori 08

[Chip]

Pentox, strange but true, O-Cha just announced the new Chiran today and a Yame gyokuro today.

Today, I keep hearing Twilight Zone music.

Today, the possibilities for comparison just increased around 3 fold in the last 12 hours.

But I am an O-Cha TeaPlant and will carry the O-Cha banner into this battle. But 3 big names could be there for the Chiran, Kagoshima Sencha/Yame Gyokuro battle, O-Cha, Ito en, and Lupicia.

[Pentox]

Yeah, I noticed you mentioned the new ones from o-cha. I'm anxious to try those out.

Whoever picked some tea up for you today at one of the Lupicia stores has some good tastes. Aside from the shinchas I would say that the Chiran YM and the Yame gyo, are a few of the best there are. Which of the Lupicia stores was your friend at btw? The one at Stonestown in SF knows me fairly well. That would just add to the twilight zone factor.

I await to hear how the three way throwdown goes. I'm also a bit curious how this year's yame gyo from Lupicia is. Also to note that Lupicia has two YM's from Kagoshima at the moment. The Chiran Yutakamidori which is part of their standard lineup and their seasonal Yakushima Yutakamidori 2008 which is part of their shincha flush.

Oh I wish I could try this showdown.

[Chip]

O-Cha just added Chiran Sencha Supreme, made from Yutaka Midori! W@@T. He added a nice write up on it on the product page. Less than 18 USD per 100 grams. Looking at the product page, I see they are starting to add $/ounce and $/gram. This one is .18/gram and 5.10/ounce.

Kevin tells me it is unbelievable for the price. I am extremely anxious to try it.

Joel, I hope when we get together, that I can have this on hand as well.

Chiran Supreme

[joelbct]

Joel, O-Cha is about to offer a Chiran beginning next week. Comparing the Ito en and O-cha would be great.

Nice, thanks for the info. I'll have to order a packet. It will be interesting to see how it compares to the Kanaya Midori Chiran, ie which has a larger impact, the Chiran soil or the varietal used (Kanaya vs Yutaka)!

But I am an O-Cha TeaPlant and will carry the O-Cha banner into this battle.

Well you know I love my Ito En, but I hope not to the point of being prejudiced- I def love my Ippodo as well, and I won't knock O-Cha. Heck, there are probably more than a few vendors out there that I haven't even tried yet, including Marukyu, Maiko, this Lupicia place, etc... We are lucky to have all these online shops that have such good Japanese tea...

[Pentox]

This one is .18/gram and 5.10/ounce.

That value is nice to see, but on some teas I would rather not know. I.e. Tencha. It's scary.

[Chip]

If I get my normal 5 steeps from it, it will likely work out to 20 cents a steep.

Tencha, well, that is another story.