O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by **Chip** » Feb 28th, '10, 02:57

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Feb 28th, '10, 02:57

plant partaker wrote:but they dont have samples do you (anybody) know where to get this tea in a smaller portion

Rarely is tea from Japan sold as samples due mostly to strict packaging procedures, however often members offer samples to other members.

by **rjiwrth** » Feb 28th, '10, 13:10

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by rjiwrth » Feb 28th, '10, 13:10

Chip wrote:
plant partaker wrote:but they dont have samples do you (anybody) know where to get this tea in a smaller portion

Rarely is tea from Japan sold as samples due mostly to strict packaging procedures, however often members offer samples to other members.

Plant Partaker:
I tried to check out your profile to see what country you live in. If you are in the US, I will share a few samples with you. Someone here was very nice to me and did the same thing when I first joined. Just PM me and let me know.

Rebecca

by **Chip** » Feb 28th, '10, 14:43

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Feb 28th, '10, 14:43

Rebecca, I never tried the Kame and YM, how about samples for meeeee? :mrgreen:

JK of course. :wink:

Thanks for sharing the leaf. :!:

by **plant partaker** » Mar 2nd, '10, 03:11

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by plant partaker » Mar 2nd, '10, 03:11

does anybody know if you could use the ingenuitea fro yutaka midori or any of he other Japanese greens

by **plant partaker** » Mar 2nd, '10, 03:11

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by plant partaker » Mar 2nd, '10, 03:11

does anybody know if you could use the ingenuitea foryutaka midori or any of the other Japanese greens

by **rjiwrth** » Mar 2nd, '10, 08:02

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by rjiwrth » Mar 2nd, '10, 08:02

I'm sending Plant Partaker samples of my kame and YM and after my brewing nightmare with both of them, I told him he needed to ask if he could use his ingenuitea with those tea. I don't know about that device. I found a trick to use for the YM that works until my kyusu arrives, but the kame is a different story. I don't want him to hate the tea when it is just a matter of brewing it correctly. For beginners, a thermometer is really important with these teas.

Plant Partaker: I forgot that you can go to Den's Teas and order a $3 sample pack. Also, please read this link before brewing your kame and use it as a guide when brewing it:
http://www.o-cha.com/brewing-gyokuro.htm

YM is my new favorite morning tea, but I am not caring for the kame so much. It is my brewing, I'm sure. I followed the directions above, but I will keep trying.

by **Chip** » Mar 2nd, '10, 10:20

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Mar 2nd, '10, 10:20

rjiwrth,

For Kame, most of us use 2 grams leaf per ounce of water, around 130* in a preheated pot! 1.5-2 minutes for the first steep. I easily get 5 steeps.

The ingenuity will likely work for these teas, but hopefully a kyusu is in the future!

by **LauraW** » Mar 2nd, '10, 16:43

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by LauraW » Mar 2nd, '10, 16:43

Plant pa... wrote:does anybody know if you could use the ingenuitea foryutaka midori or any of the other Japanese greens

I've actually been using my IngenuiTEA for both Sencha Fuka-midori and Fukamushi-Sencha (both from Den's). It works pretty well, but Chip's absolutely right, preheat it and make sure that the water temp is right. But it does a really nice job because it filters really well, and I've found it useful to be able to fill up halfway and have that be ~6oz. Good luck!

by **rjiwrth** » Mar 2nd, '10, 21:28

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by rjiwrth » Mar 2nd, '10, 21:28

Chip wrote:rjiwrth,

For Kame, most of us use 2 grams leaf per ounce of water, around 130* in a preheated pot! 1.5-2 minutes for the first steep. I easily get 5 steeps.

The ingenuity will likely work for these teas, but hopefully a kyusu is in the future!

I've got a kyusu from Hojo coming and I'm seeing what damage I can do with Petr Novak's creations. I really wasn't sure what to tell Plant P about that ingenuitea device, but it sound like it has worked well for Laura. Thanks all!

by **Oni** » Mar 3rd, '10, 15:35

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by Oni » Mar 3rd, '10, 15:35

Kyusu? Tokoname, Banko or Sado Mumyoi Yaki? I await your pictures.

by **rjiwrth** » Mar 3rd, '10, 21:34

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by rjiwrth » Mar 3rd, '10, 21:34

Oni wrote:Kyusu? Tokoname, Banko or Sado Mumyoi Yaki? I await your pictures.

Victoria: Unfortunately, Hojo was out of the Banko I wanted

Looks like I'm still on the hunt for that. But he had a lovely Gyokko pot I ordered. I will post a pic of it in the teaware and accessories on the thread I started "Dark Banko hunt gone bad" or something like that) if you'd like to see it. I'm not sure what clay the pots I've ordered from Petr are...I was so captivated I forgot to figure that part out!

Now, I will get another big bowl of Matcha Manten from O-Cha while I sift through all these interesting posts. Seriously, this is the best Matcha I have ever set my lips upon!

by **TokyoB** » Mar 4th, '10, 22:12

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by TokyoB » Mar 4th, '10, 22:12

Uji Gyokuro Gyoku-Hou from O-Cha

I tried this today for the first time. It came out rather weak - it was about 1 gm per oz of water. Actually since I didn't measure carefully I might have had a bit more water (ratio of tea to water less than 1g/oz). The first steep was 140F for 2 min. Second steep was water at 150F, not sure of time and third steep at 175F. The second and third steeps were with about 1/3 to 1/2 less water. All 3 brews were sweet with umami but rather weak. I will certainly use a higher leaf/water ratio next time.

Has anyone else tried this gyokuro recently? Thought on it, including brewing parameters?

by **Chip** » Mar 4th, '10, 22:25

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by Chip » Mar 4th, '10, 22:25

Tokyo-B, well, it has been a little over a year, I was involved in a tasting with this and the O-Cha Gyokuro Fujitsubo and another Gyo.

I liked the Gyoku-Hou, but it was not quite as easy to brew as the Fijitsubo and the Kame. Once I figured it out, it sang. You should certainly add more leaf.

Of the 4 all leaf Gyo I had from O-Cha, I ranked it third behind Kame and Fijitsubo.

by **TokyoB** » Mar 6th, '10, 14:59

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by TokyoB » Mar 6th, '10, 14:59

Chip,
I'm still struggling with the Uji Gyokuro Gyoku-Hou. I tried again today - 5 gms with 3 oz water. First steep 140F for 2 mins. Followed by 145F/45 sec and 150 or so for a few mins. The first couple were weak but a bit bitter. Will keep at it.

by **olivierco** » Mar 7th, '10, 06:38

Re: O-Cha "Official" Japanese tea topic

by olivierco » Mar 7th, '10, 06:38

TokyoB wrote:Chip,
I'm still struggling with the Uji Gyokuro Gyoku-Hou. I tried again today - 5 gms with 3 oz water. First steep 140F for 2 mins. Followed by 145F/45 sec and 150 or so for a few mins. The first couple were weak but a bit bitter. Will keep at it.

You might try with 7g and decrease the steep time to 60-90s (subsequent steeps about 10s).