Xell, Zenhodo, Japanese green tea and teaware

Check out members who are in the business of TEA/teaware!


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Apr 20th, '11, 03:01
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Xell, Zenhodo, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » Apr 20th, '11, 03:01

Hakoniwado can be translated as miniature garden (in a box). Hope customers will get this feeling when opening and drinking our tea :)
I only started to work with tea and it's still didn't go much further than addition to hobby, thought i'm working in a direction where i could somewhere in future move completely to tea business. For now i'm gaining experience and learning from a local tea shop owner, who has his own shop for about 30 years and using his stock for my own shop.

I'm offering tea from most south tea growing regions Yame and Ureshino. And few Tokoname kyusu.

Until april 25 it's possible to pre-order special edition Yame shincha, it will be ready to ship 1-7 may. Everything else will be replaced by 2011 crop at the end of may or beginning of june.

http://www.zenhodo.com
Last edited by Xell on May 7th, '15, 20:57, edited 3 times in total.

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Apr 20th, '11, 09:43
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by tortoise » Apr 20th, '11, 09:43

Good luck, Xell!

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Apr 21st, '11, 07:43
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » Apr 21st, '11, 07:43

tortoise wrote:Good luck, Xell!
Thanks, especially now i will need a lot of luck. Radioactive panic is actually quite strong :(

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Apr 21st, '11, 09:46
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Tead Off » Apr 21st, '11, 09:46

Xell wrote:
tortoise wrote:Good luck, Xell!
Thanks, especially now i will need a lot of luck. Radioactive panic is actually quite strong :(
Krypto cha, the anti-radioactive tea, a best seller!

Best Of Luck,

Tead Off

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Apr 21st, '11, 10:42
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by karmaplace » Apr 21st, '11, 10:42

Can you point out which of the selections are light-steamed? Or give a recommendation? :mrgreen:

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Apr 21st, '11, 11:50
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » Apr 21st, '11, 11:50

karmaplace wrote:Can you point out which of the selections are light-steamed? Or give a recommendation? :mrgreen:
Most likely Ureshino sencha's are light steamed. Why i didn't write it yet, i'm not 100% sure that it's not middle steamed :) When i asked about steaming, i was told that it's "usual way" and how i understand, it's asamushi or light steamed, most common for him. Going to clarify this soon to avoid confusion.

What i can say about taste, Yame sencha's have more round and softer taste and leaves have somehow stronger aroma, feels like gyokuro a bit. Ureshino has more grassy or floral taste, can't really explain, i'm picking up a lot of different notes.

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Apr 21st, '11, 12:12
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by karmaplace » Apr 21st, '11, 12:12

Let me know when you get the steaming clarified. 8)

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Apr 21st, '11, 12:17
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Chip » Apr 21st, '11, 12:17

I believe a lot of the Ureshino "sencha" in general are tamaryokucha (guricha) and kamairicha. So the processing is different.

Some may be fully steamed, some may be a combo with pan firing.

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Apr 22nd, '11, 06:21
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » Apr 22nd, '11, 06:21

Chip, thanks for pointing out, seems it was my fault - "lost in translation" :roll: Ureshino teas are steamed tamaryokucha (蒸製の玉緑茶). Soon i'll update webpage too with short story about why people in Ureshino use this method :)

Tea leaves look exactly like on photo here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamaryokucha

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Apr 25th, '11, 15:22
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by teaisme » Apr 25th, '11, 15:22

nice canisters there

your packaging looks so familiar? Is it the same in japan (like taiwan), the bags are just sold empty and vendors put own stickers on them?

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Apr 26th, '11, 11:09
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » Apr 26th, '11, 11:09

churng wrote:nice canisters there

your packaging looks so familiar? Is it the same in japan (like taiwan), the bags are just sold empty and vendors put own stickers on them?
Yes, vendors themselves pack tea, sealing machines aren't big. Shiny, fancy bags cost extra :)

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May 5th, '11, 18:34
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Chip » May 5th, '11, 18:34

Have just finished the 2010 Ureshino "Guricha" and Yame fukamushi ... and am still going throough the one Yame gyokuro.

The guricha is a very good value at this price point. Guricha is usually pretty reasonably priced. This had a lot of flavor and sure beats any bancha which can easily cost as much or more than this guri. Nice veggie tones with a hint of fruit and cocoa in the aroma. Fairly complex for a guri.

The Yame fukamushi was not toooo deeply steamed and would probably appeal to a wide range of tastes. I think this might be chumushi based on leaf appearance and also liquor color. It can be brewed mellow or full throttle by simply using more leaf.

The Yame gyo, not the top grade offering, brewed well at a 1.5:1 grams leaf to ounces water ratio. So, brewed it at 4.5 grams for 3 ounces (90 ml) water. I think this can be brewed at 1:1 and create a nice sweet mellow cup. At 1.5:1, it still was nice and rich, sweet and potent.

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May 7th, '11, 10:11
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » May 7th, '11, 10:11

Thanks for review, Chip.

Some news, Yame and Ureshino shincha 2011 are available now. I was told that Ureshino shincha will be available only for 3-4weeks at most.

In several days i also will add Yame matcha, soon will go for tasting :) No details yet, but looks like it will be 2 types, 20g per can.

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May 16th, '11, 09:30
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » May 16th, '11, 09:30

Added matcha kits for beginners, chawan, chasen, chasaku, chasen holder and of course matcha itself.
http://japantea.org/beginners_kits

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Jun 21st, '11, 12:22
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Re: Xell, Hakoniwado, Japanese green tea and teaware

by Xell » Jun 21st, '11, 12:22

Just uploaded few more kyusu and first yunomi's. One yunomi is from Hokujo Shimizu.

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