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Feb 7th, '08, 18:31
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Questions

by Cinnamon Kitty » Feb 7th, '08, 18:31

Here's the story so far: my mother's been sick for a while and I am giving her my personaliTEA since I don't have the water heating capabilities to use it at school along with a tin of the Apricot Green and a tin of the Sencha Overture from Adagio as a get well present. She enjoys tea since it helps with her throat problems and she liked the Apricot Green when I made it for her during Christmas break. I chose to give the sencha as well since I liked it and its easy to brew in comparison to some other greens.

This gives me two problems. The first one is that I have been brewing my teas in the basket that came with the personaliTEA. It fit nicely inside my mug so it works really well. Since I can't figure out how to get a replacement basket so I can continue that method, would it be better to switch to a gaiwan or one of those nifty teapots with the screen on the inside? For brewing green tea for one person, what are the pros and cons of each way?

The second problem is that since the sencha is going to Mom, I need a new every day green tea. I've looked at both Den's and O-cha for better quality green teas. I tried the Sencha Fuka-Midori from Den's and love it. O-cha seems to have a more reasonable quantity size, but I don't know where to start there and it looks to be a bit more expensive for the amount of tea. If I end up with Den's I would go for the one pound bag of the Fuka-Midori since it would be a better deal than constantly reordering samples and probably one of the $19 teapots, but I don't know if I want a full pound of one type of tea with the new tea season coming out soon.

What I am looking for is a flavorful sencha that is not highly astringent and is reasonably priced. Any tips or suggestions would be awesome.

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Feb 7th, '08, 18:47
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by Mary R » Feb 7th, '08, 18:47

1) Gaiwans are fun and can be used for tons of things, but require a certain amount of finesse. Expect dropage and burnt fingers at first. The largest you'll find is usually about 6 oz...which can seem small if you're used to mugs.

2) Kyusus are fun, but the better ones are unglazed. While the clay is usually less porous than, say, yixing...you might want to dedicate it to "just sencha" or something. Kyusus can be larger...but a 10 oz one will likely give you a nice mugfull.

3) Brew baskets are fun, versatile, and fairly idiot-proof. I don't know the size that came in Adagio's pot, but I buy a lot of cheap brewbaskets through Zensuke. They currently have ones 3 1/4" and 3 5/16" in diameter. They used to have a TON of other sizes...I wonder where they all got to? At any rate, those two sizes are fairly common mug sizes. Just grab a ruler and try to figure out what the size of your mug is. Upton has a few similar brew baskets on their site too.

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Feb 7th, '08, 19:19
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by Chip » Feb 7th, '08, 19:19

Cinnamon, it is hard to go wrong with any of the sencha, fukamushi, guricha or even kukicha/kaigane from either vendor. Find whatever is in your price range and go for it. If you have a question about a specific offering, please ask.

Like I said earlier, I would never buy a 1 lb bag for my personal consumption and enjoyment only. A 1 lb bag of the same tea would bore me silly, plus it would likely go stale before I could finish it.
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!

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Feb 7th, '08, 19:49
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by Ladytiger » Feb 7th, '08, 19:49

Here's a suggestion on if you go with the 1 lb bag. Ask around TeaChat, and your friends if they are interested in any of the 1lb of tea. If they're are takers, you can mail them little samples in your empty unused Adagio tins. You might want some money exchanging in between too. Also you would need a scale. Just a suggestion...

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Feb 7th, '08, 20:45
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by Cinnamon Kitty » Feb 7th, '08, 20:45

I decided on getting a few of the 2oz size teas from Den's. I went with 1 of the Fuka-Midori, one of the Guricha, one Fukamushi sencha maki, one bag of powdered sencha, and the yutori tea pot. This should be fun.

Thanks for the help and suggestions. You people rock!

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Feb 7th, '08, 20:49
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by Wesli » Feb 7th, '08, 20:49

Sounds like the perfect Den's order!

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Feb 7th, '08, 23:24
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by Sam. » Feb 7th, '08, 23:24

That Zensuke site is neat Mary, not one I had seen yet! I love some of the larger 8 and 10 oz mugs.

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Feb 8th, '08, 08:16
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by Mary R » Feb 8th, '08, 08:16

I've got a soft spot for Zensuke as well. Their pieces aren't artisan, but they are functional, attractive, and--most important to my klutzy fingers--infintely replacable.

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