Wednzzzday, TeazzzDay 3/26/08

[Chip]

Wednzzzday, TeazzzDay 3/26/08

by Chip » Mar 26th, '08, 02:54

Today is another day to enjoy tea, I hope everyone does a lot of enjoying.

Welcome everyone to TeaDay. Please grab a cup and share what you are drinking with the www!!! Be sure to stop by whenever you are able and feel free to give us updates. While you are here, see what fellow TeaChatters are sipping as well...I enjoy reading what everyone is drinking and I know others do as well.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic...I have shown a lot of restraint not bringing this up sooner, you should be very impressed. Shincha...aka "new harvest" is approaching fast, in fact, some new harvest Chinese teas have already hit the market, and some Darjeeling as well.

So, how important is this time of the TeaYear to you??? Please share with everyone your take on this "fresh topic." I expect this to be a fun topic.

I hope everyone is enjoying their TeaDay, remember to share it with us whenever you can!

[omegapd]

by omegapd » Mar 26th, '08, 04:34

I don't really know enough about harvest times, etc. to pay much attention to it right now.

Got some of Adagio's Kukicha ready to be brewed. I never thought I would love this stuff as much as I do...

EW

[olivierco]

by olivierco » Mar 26th, '08, 05:31

New harvests in general is something I take into account before buying some tea.
At this time of the year, I won't buy any sencha, darjeeling or chinese greens because the new harvests are coming and because I have some left in my fridge.
But I won't rush for shincha: tea sold buy good sellers are quite as good after shincha. However, I don't buy much sencha in summer, I prefer to buy it when the temperature is cooler (I don't like a parcel to stay a whole summer afternoon in my mail box where temperature can rise up to 50°C) and store it in my fridge.

This morning Keemun for breakfast and jasmine pearls right now.

[Victoria]

by Victoria » Mar 26th, '08, 08:18

As long as I can get good tea, that's how I feel right now.

But knowing myself and being a newbie, all this all can change, never having gone though spring here before. Right now I have a lot of tea on hand. I'm sure I will be buying some from the new, but I am telling myself I can be strong and not get caught up in the frenzy. But I'm scared, very scared. :o)

In my cup this morning - Yunnan Gold, my new morning favorite.

Have a lovely day all!

[CynTEAa]

by CynTEAa » Mar 26th, '08, 09:07

Victoria, that Yunnan Gold is addictive - be careful! It has been THE morning tea for me about a year now and I don't see that changing any time soon.

The tea tasting table is ready to go! Anxiously awaiting new harvest teas! There's nothing quite like it. The freshness...

[auggy]

by auggy » Mar 26th, '08, 10:21

I'm a newbie so I don't yet get the timing as to tea harvests. But as long as I can buy teas that taste good, I'm happy.

Formosa oolong this AM. Always makes me think of someone smoking a cigar.

[Warden Andy]

by Warden Andy » Mar 26th, '08, 10:40

Winter is such a depressing time of year. The cold weather and snow makes it hard to go outside to do anything, so I basically drink last years green tea and watch the animals outside struggling to survive the intense conditions. The green tea feels like a piece of spring in the middle of winter, and a reminder that spring is around the corner.

So now that spring greens are coming out, I'm ecstatic. Not only because of fresh tea, but because it also means that the weather will start warming up.

Drinking last years zhuyeqing while waiting for this years zhuyeqing to ship from china.

[TimeforTea]

by TimeforTea » Mar 26th, '08, 10:47

I have some left in my fridge.

Tea is supposed to be kept in a fridge?

[Daughteroftheki...]

by Daughteroftheki... » Mar 26th, '08, 10:51

Purposely being oblivious to the new season helps to keep my tea obsession in check.

This morning I was in a tea alchemy mood, so I blended Adagio's Gyokuro with some of their Mango Melange. Turned a deep red in the cup and was a sweet start to the day.
Moving on to White Darjeeling with Raspberry Green and Mint.

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

[TimeforTea]

by TimeforTea » Mar 26th, '08, 10:55

As a newbie, I don't know anything about shincha but am eager to hear more.

With all the talk yesterday about white tea, I brewed some white peony this morning. I used more leaves than last time. I prefer it, actually, with less leaves. I think next time I brew a white tea I will take out the digital scale.

Last night, I had cha cha before bed. It was nice, but I kept thinking "I wish this was foxtrot". Maybe I'll enjoy cha cha more during the summer, warmer months due to its light flavor.

Last night, I rearranged my kitchen to give myself a larger tea cabinet. Of course I found teas that I forgot I had. Now it is much more organized, and I get to try new teas, instead of just grabbing the first tin I see.

[olivierco]

by olivierco » Mar 26th, '08, 12:58

I have some left in my fridge.

Tea is supposed to be kept in a fridge?

I store unopened packages (nitrogen filled) of Japanese greens in my fridge. Chip has even a teafridge...
Once the package is open, I don't store it in the fridge because of water condensation. The only solution is to drink all within four to six weeks.

O-cha Hatsumi sencha this afternoon.

[Katmandu]

by Katmandu » Mar 26th, '08, 13:49

Hey everyone!
Wow its been a while!! I am very glad shincha has begun and I actually just got some Meng Ding Gan Lu green tea 2008 first flush off the boat yesterday. Last nite I ordered some Long Jing from first flush 2008 as well. Teaspring is only place Ive seen it so far but its here guys and there's much more to come at the US vendors soon.
Today I started off with the Meng Ding and then I just had a few cups of Golden Buddha before lunch which were very tasty.

Hope everyone's tea-jammin'

[Chip]

by Chip » Mar 26th, '08, 14:54

As a newbie, I don't know anything about shincha but am eager to hear more.

I see in the poll, some responders indicated they may not know what shincha is, so, here is shincha 101. This is Japanese tea terminolgy. Chinese has a much more convoluted set of terms.

Shin cha...literally means new tea in Japanese. It is always first flush, but not all first flush is shincha. Shincha is packaged for immediate sale upon final processing of the leaves. Shincha is traditionally off the store shelves by July.

Ichiban cha is simply first flush Japanese tea. Not all ichibancha is shincha. Much of ichibancha is placed into cold storage as aracha in very large airtight bales. Ichibancha goes through final processing throughout the year to provide consumers with the freshest teas possible.

Ara cha is commonly refered to as farmer's tea. It is tea that is fully processed up to the final sorting of the leaves. So, it will have all sizes of leaf and as well as leaf stems and veins. Most ichibancha is placed into huge cold storage rooms as aracha. Aracha is usually the very first tea to be consumed by tea farmers and fortunate consumers since it is the first tea to be completely processed.

When I receive a parcel of heat sealed Japanese tea, I place it into cold storage...aka, the TeaFridge. This will keep fresh sencha freshest for extended periods of time. Once the heat sealed bag has been opened, it is not recommended to place it back into cold storage, but it can be done with proper sealing of the opened bag. It is critical to keep tea that has been placed into the fridge away from odors, tea leaves are magnets for odors.

Today, sencha Fukamushi Superior is in my cup so far. Delicious. This is ichibancha sencha, but not shincha, that is 11 months post harvest but has been properly cared for throughout this period. In a month or so, I will be able to purchase this tea as shincha!

[jogrebe]

by jogrebe » Mar 26th, '08, 15:34

No, I do not really care about harvest times, as long as I can get good tea. As long as the tea is fresh as in not stale I don't care when it was harvested.

So far today I've had Chinese Lychee black tea with breakfast and have been drinking ripe puerh since.

[tenuki]

by tenuki » Mar 26th, '08, 15:42

I was searching for the 'I don't care about japanese grass clippings option', but couldn't find it.


Drinking some 2006 Spring Wuyi Zheng - Yen 'Ban Tian Yao' from Hou De.