your favorite everyday/affordable green

[Samovar]

I drink Matcha and Sencha from Pacific Leaf.

For a quick cup, I drink Bigelow Organic Green Tea.

Samovar

[Wesli]

If you like the green flavor of Gyokuro, then you may have an affinity to Japanese Greens. Some you might try are Sencha, and Kukicha. Both can be found on Adagio, and both can be found fairly cheaply. Fukamushi is my favorite type of Sencha, but it is fairly expensive.

The best of the all the cheap Senchas I have tried is Imperial Tea Court's. It becomes bitter more easily than others, so it will require more strict brewing parameters.

Remember that Sencha (as well as most other teas) is not supposed to be bitter. To brew it right, the water temp should be around 175°. Then the steeping time should be no more than 1:30 for the first steeping. If after following this procedure, the tea still turns out bitter, then try reducing temp and time.

Good luck!

[Mocha Wheels]

I made the mistake of picking some samples that looked interesting as opposed to what I would be likely to buy in a big batch.

isn't that what buying samples is about? trying a bunch if different teas w/o the financial or quantity commitment of a full container so you're more willing to try different things rather than assume what you may or may not like?

[studio271]

Remember that Sencha (as well as most other teas) is not supposed to be bitter. To brew it right, the water temp should be around 175°. Then the steeping time should be no more than 1:30 for the first steeping. If after following this procedure, the tea still turns out bitter, then try reducing temp and time.

I've had better luck with reducing the amount of tea, as far as making a less bitter brew goes.

For instance: I've experimented with my Adagio Sencha Overture and found that, for me, the magic spot is between 3.0g and 3.5g in a 150mL gaiwan at 150-160F, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, and double time anything beyond three brews (which I rarely bother with).

-Drew

[Wesli]

I've had better luck with reducing the amount of tea, as far as making a less bitter brew goes.

-Drew

While true that reducing leaf amount will bring down the bitter flavor, it will also bring down all the other flavors in the tea. Kind of an apples/oranges thing, experiment and find what you like the best.

Using way too much leaf is one thing that causes bitterness, so if you think it might be too much, then it very well could be.