David's Tea sencha?

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Feb 8th, '12, 13:41
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David's Tea sencha?

by Shimakaze » Feb 8th, '12, 13:41

Does anybody have experience with the sencha offered at David's Tea? Namely the "Organic Japanese Sencha" (http://www.davidstea.com/our-teas/green ... -sencha-65) and their "Sencha Ashikubo" (http://www.davidstea.com/our-teas/green ... a-ashikubo). I'm interested in how they compare to the sencha from Japanese vendors like O-Cha at similar price level. I've tried the Kiri no Mori matcha from O-Cha, and I quite enjoyed it. I'd like to give their sencha a try, but shipping to Canada from Japan does increase the cost quite a bit, especially if I get dinged by import duty and taxes. Because of that, buying from a "local" store like David's Tea is very tempting.

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Feb 8th, '12, 13:55
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by Chip » Feb 8th, '12, 13:55

One option is to give both a try. Then the truth will be in the brew.

Of course if you can walk into David's, you can see first hand how their teas are stored and their condition, this could be very telling.

You know O-Cha's teas are impeccably stored and packaged ... you will receive a very fresh and very good product every time. You can also read the O-Cha topic under TeaVendor forum of TeaChat.

Often the seemingly cheapest option can end up costing you more if you receive an unsatisfactory product that does not bring you any enjoyment and then you have to buy a replacement.

Feb 8th, '12, 15:32
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by Shimakaze » Feb 8th, '12, 15:32

Unfortunately, walking into one of their stores is not an option for me :( I suppose I'll just have to try them both to find out for myself. That's going to be hard on the monthly tea budget :P

Going a bit off-topic here: I'm pretty new to loose-leaf tea brewing; would it be a waste to brew something like the Chiran Sencha (http://www.o-cha.com/green-tea/chiran-green-tea.html) in a french press or a tea mug with infuser and lid?

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Feb 8th, '12, 15:48
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by Chip » Feb 8th, '12, 15:48

It could be done, certainly. Might not be the best way, but you should be able to get satisfactory results with some adjustments.

With a french press, I would not depress the plunger, instead pour with the plunger in the up position. Don't put the squeezer on sencha!

Infuser, just make sure the leaves have enough room to fully expand and are well submerged. A little trick to prevent too many particles from slipping through, pour the water into the cup, leaves into the infuser, THEN infuser into the water. This also helps prevent the small sencha particles from getting hopelessly stuck in the infuser holes.

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Feb 8th, '12, 16:19
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by woozl » Feb 8th, '12, 16:19

Hi,

I had good results with these infusers before I got my first kyusu.
As chip says, check sizes. Mine was good sized and drained super fast,
and left very little leaf,
key for deep steamed sencha, or all sencha for that mater.

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Feb 8th, '12, 18:57
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by entropyembrace » Feb 8th, '12, 18:57

I have a David´s Tea near my house so I´ve tried a few of their teas including the sencha ashikubo.

It was a nice, sweet sencha which I quite liked but at $37.50 per 100g its grossly overpriced...it tasted more like a $15-20 sencha. Also DavidsTea does not store their tea well...everything including the matcha is kept in huge steel cans which are not airtight. If you´re lucky you can get fresh stock but sometimes the green teas are brownish and definitely stale. I would not buy any green tea from them blind. In the store you can look and smell to see if its fresh or not before you buy, but if youre ordering online that isnt an option.

Overall I´d say if there was a store nearby it can be worth dropping in for a quick fix if you´re waiting for SAL from Japan and youre completely out of tea...but otherwise don´t bother. You will get higher quality tea at a better price and with a guarentee of freshness if you order from high quality vendors located in Japan such as O-cha.

Also don´t worry about getting dinged with import duties on tea from Japan, tea imports to Canada are not taxable.

ps don´t worry about supporting a "local" business, DavidsTea is owned by Jane Segal (the CEO of Le Château), I don´t think she needs any financial help.

Feb 8th, '12, 19:49
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by Shimakaze » Feb 8th, '12, 19:49

Great brewing tips! Definitely saved me from figuring all that out myself. I'll probably end up going with the french press instead of the mug with infuser, for more control on the amount of leaf/water needed. (the infuser only hangs half way down into the mug, and it has 320ml volume)

Thanks, entropyembrace, for sharing your experience with David's Tea. I had a feeling that they overpriced their tea. I just found out that there's actually a store in the mall near where I work... /headdesk. Somehow I had missed it all these years.

Anyway, I just ordered 1x Chiran Sencha and 1x Yame Organic Kabusecha from O-Cha to sample. Can't wait!

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Feb 9th, '12, 01:31
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by fire_snake » Feb 9th, '12, 01:31

Try David's Yun Cui.

I'm loving it. Their Dragonwell isn't bad, either.

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Feb 9th, '12, 18:47
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by sherubtse » Feb 9th, '12, 18:47

entropyembrace wrote:You will get higher quality tea at a better price and with a guarentee of freshness if you order from high quality vendors located in Japan such as O-cha.

Also don´t worry about getting dinged with import duties on tea from Japan, tea imports to Canada are not taxable.
+1 to all of the above. :)

Best wishes,
sherubtse

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Feb 16th, '12, 14:42
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by SilentChaos » Feb 16th, '12, 14:42

entropyembrace wrote: ps don´t worry about supporting a "local" business, DavidsTea is owned by Jane Segal (the CEO of Le Château), I don´t think she needs any financial help.
Until I read this last week, I thought David was just some dude on a tea journey and started this one tea shop. My gf read this too and said, "nooooo....but I like their cherry potion and toasted walnut" :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Feb 16th, '12, 18:32
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by Shimakaze » Feb 16th, '12, 18:32

SilentChaos wrote:
entropyembrace wrote: ps don´t worry about supporting a "local" business, DavidsTea is owned by Jane Segal (the CEO of Le Château), I don´t think she needs any financial help.
Until I read this last week, I thought David was just some dude on a tea journey and started this one tea shop. My gf read this too and said, "nooooo....but I like their cherry potion and toasted walnut" :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Same. *bubble burst*. I can't seem to find any information online on who owns David's Tea though.

Anyway, a little update on my tea order: I just received the sencha from O-Cha in the mail today. Pretty fast like my previous orders (took about a week), and no import duty. I'm a newbie at this so I opened the cheaper Yame Organic Kabusecha first. I really enjoyed it, but keep in mind that I had nothing similar to compare it to. The brew was sweet, and not bitter or grassy. It had a delicious aonori aroma that I liked. The leaves looked more broken up than I thought they would be. Hopefully by the time I'm through with this bag I'll have gained better appreciation for sencha :D

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Feb 17th, '12, 00:01
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Re: David's Tea sencha?

by SilentChaos » Feb 17th, '12, 00:01

Shimakaze wrote: Anyway, a little update on my tea order: I just received the sencha from O-Cha in the mail today. Pretty fast like my previous orders (took about a week), and no import duty. I'm a newbie at this so I opened the cheaper Yame Organic Kabusecha first. I really enjoyed it, but keep in mind that I had nothing similar to compare it to. The brew was sweet, and not bitter or grassy. It had a delicious aonori aroma that I liked. The leaves looked more broken up than I thought they would be. Hopefully by the time I'm through with this bag I'll have gained better appreciation for sencha :D
Hmmm...I've been eyeing that organic kabusecha for a while now. There is just too many interesting looking teas on O-Cha, and I can't order them all... :(

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