Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


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Apr 4th, '13, 00:57
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by minor_glitch » Apr 4th, '13, 00:57

Good call on the golden oolong. Drinking it right now and it's my fav of the three. Interesting that their bottled teas have a significant amount of vitamin c in them. 230% daily value!

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Apr 4th, '13, 01:18
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by Chip » Apr 4th, '13, 01:18

minor_glitch wrote:Good call on the golden oolong. Drinking it right now and it's my fav of the three. Interesting that their bottled teas have a significant amount of vitamin c in them. 230% daily value!
Vitamin C is commonly added as a preservative to more premium RTD teas. Most brands seem to have it.

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Apr 4th, '13, 07:59
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by chingwa » Apr 4th, '13, 07:59

Suntory also has pretty decent bottled tea... including a deep "koi" green tea. They have a houjicha that actually almost tastes like real houjicha... :) (almost)

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Apr 5th, '13, 12:12
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by 5am » Apr 5th, '13, 12:12

Charaku Yame Gyokuro, Fukuoka
sweet and delicious. :) Yumm

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Apr 10th, '13, 06:09
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by Stentor » Apr 10th, '13, 06:09

Ippodo Sencha Hosen. Although I have been drinking sencha for years and have tried teas from several vendors, this is the first tea I have tried from Ippodo.
I find it to be incredibly mild, really, incredibly mild. I can see now why they recommend so much leaf. That is not to say that it is bland, though.
I'm doing 3.5 oz water, 5 grams of tea right now, according to their recommendations. Surprisingly it is not even that strong, comparable with what 1.2 g per oz would be like with most other asamushi sencha. I'm probably going to use a little less leaf next time, though.

It is very good Uji sencha but it doesn't beat my Uji favorites, Maiko's Maruyama and O-Cha's (Tsuen's) Ujibashi San no Ma (Kirameki).

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Apr 10th, '13, 12:49
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by chingwa » Apr 10th, '13, 12:49

I'm also enjoying the Hosen right now and completely agree with your conclusion. When I first started drinking Ippodo teas I was dissapointed, and didn't realize that they really do require more tea ratio than other suppliers. Now I'm enjoying them quite a bit... though I think they aren't quite as cost effective ( at least not the higher end teas) since you have to use so much tea per use.

Somehow I've never been a fan of Tsuen's tea... maybe it's a similar issue to Ippodo, where you really need to use more tea per session?

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Apr 11th, '13, 05:45
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by jayinhk » Apr 11th, '13, 05:45

Currently in my dad's Austrian apartment right in the heart of Vienna; found a small box of longjing my dad had purchased several years ago and stuck right in the back of a kitchen cabinet. It was closed up tightly. it looked dark and didn't have much aroma to it dry, so I thought it would be terrible to drink. After moaning about poor storage, I decided to try and brew some up, and it is surprisingly aromatic. Not top grade stuff since it has stems and broken leaf along with the whole leaves, but it's definitely the real deal from the bean-like aroma.

This tea was most likely purchased right up the street from my dad's old factory in Hong Kong (at Ying Kee Teahouse' flagship branch).

I brought a whole bunch of tea with me on this trip, but have been drinking dad's pu erh and mom's black (red) lychee tea for the last four or five days instead of the tea I brought with me. The last thing I expected to find was a small box of longjing!

Everyone else in my family drinks flowering green jasmine teas, aside from mom, who likes the occasional cup of black lychee (Keemun I guess). Now mom loves the TGY I drink and is always up for a cup or three, although she never makes her way through a whole session before clamoring for Indian tea with milk :)

After waiting ten minutes or so for the leaves to settle, we tried the LJ. Mom said it tasted like hot water, but then she picked up on the delicate flavor that was still evident. It definitely had lost intensity, but still tasted pretty good to me, with nice floral notes towards the end of the tumbler (I've been using a tumbler as a cha hai for the last week).

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Apr 11th, '13, 08:46
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by Stentor » Apr 11th, '13, 08:46

chingwa wrote:Somehow I've never been a fan of Tsuen's tea... maybe it's a similar issue to Ippodo, where you really need to use more tea per session?
I don't think they're quite as subtle as Ippodo's Hosen but they definitely do really well with a lot of leaf as well.
The Ujibashi San no Ma (Kirameki) is excellent for sure. The Aoi is also very nice.

Apr 11th, '13, 11:04
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by ethan » Apr 11th, '13, 11:04

jayinhk, You tell us of drinking tea in the heart of Vienna w/ no mention of pastry. No raspberry torte, etc.?
Full disclosure, please

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Apr 11th, '13, 11:06
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by BrooklynBrew » Apr 11th, '13, 11:06

I tried (and failed) to brew a gyokuro from Ippodo this morning. At first it was too weak and then it was too strong. I think I need a kitchen scale. But live and learn, it's a tea I just fell in love with and I want to learn how to make it for myself.

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Apr 11th, '13, 11:26
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by Chip » Apr 11th, '13, 11:26

BrooklynBrew wrote:I tried (and failed) to brew a gyokuro from Ippodo this morning. At first it was too weak and then it was too strong. I think I need a kitchen scale. But live and learn, it's a tea I just fell in love with and I want to learn how to make it for myself.
Yeah, Gyokuro is a bit of a challenge! Getting a digital scale that weighs to .1 grams is very helpful and cheap via amazon and other sites. Worth the 10-15 USD spent!

Keep in mind, Gyokuro is usually not defined as intense, it is full of umami and subtleties ... best appreciated in a quiet moment.

However, the flavor profile can be amped up with the use of higher ratios of leaf to water especially if it is a good Gyokuro.

Most would agree that temp is uber critical as well, but it sounds like you already used cooler water?

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Apr 11th, '13, 12:22
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by BrooklynBrew » Apr 11th, '13, 12:22

Chip, I got the water temp right and used the correct brewing vessel.

I think my issue was the leaf to water ratio and steeping time. The first batch I made was right flavor wise, but a bit insipid. The second was a little too bitter. Fortunately, I've had gyokuro done right so I can compare.

I used O-cha's instructions, but I may go back to Ippodo's which is how I was introduced to gyokuro in Kyoto.

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Apr 11th, '13, 12:50
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by Stentor » Apr 11th, '13, 12:50

"Bitter" would suggest the temperature being too hot or possibly - but less likely - too much time. You are extracting something you do not want to extract. That usually happens when you cross a certain temperature threshold below which the undesired (bitter) substances do not get extracted.
Too much leaf gives quite a different sensation. Maybe give it a try with a cheaper tea and really overdo the leaf to water ratio so you can be sure you're not confusing "too strong" with bitterness. This should narrow it down to what parameters you need to be tweaking.
Hope this helps!

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Apr 11th, '13, 13:00
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by BrooklynBrew » Apr 11th, '13, 13:00

Stentor wrote:"Bitter" would suggest the temperature being too hot or possibly - but less likely - too much time. You are extracting something you do not want to extract. That usually happens when you cross a certain temperature threshold below which the undesired (bitter) substances do not get extracted.
Too much leaf gives quite a different sensation. Maybe give it a try with a cheaper tea and really overdo the leaf to water ratio so you can be sure you're not confusing "too strong" with bitterness. This should narrow it down to what parameters you need to be tweaking.
Hope this helps!
I think it was oversteeped. O-cha said two minutes but when I brewed at Ippodo, I brewed for like 60-80 seconds. I do know the water temp was fine (I have a variable temp kettle and I measured it too). The leaf amount I can't speak for since I don't have a scale and just wing it with teaspoons.

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Apr 11th, '13, 13:59
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Re: Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

by jayinhk » Apr 11th, '13, 13:59

ethan wrote:jayinhk, You tell us of drinking tea in the heart of Vienna w/ no mention of pastry. No raspberry torte, etc.?
Full disclosure, please
Actually, no. :) Just had some Tuscan-style biscotti and some cabanossi (air dried Italian sausage) though, and now some creme brulee-flavored Lindt chocolate.

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