Some of Japanese greens I have tasted had hazy like transparency, even high-priced one.
How does this affect in brewing or does this has anything to do with quality?
It doesn't really affect the flavor, the haziness as far as I can tell is small bits of the leaves floating around due to the leaf unfurling. It has more to do with the particular method of processing. Fukamushi sencha for example tends to do that a lot. It's more just a characteristic of the tea than any sign of quality.
It does, but even clear teas change taste if allowed to sit. They build in astringency and bitterness if you let them sit too long. That's one reason why I like smaller cups.inspectoring wrote:I have always wondered about this as well. However, if the haziness is due to the small bits of leaves - I would assume that when the tea is allowed to site for a couple of minutes, those small bits would alter the taste.
I think good traditional sencha should give clear transparent infusion. More steamed teas are cloudy as they contain dust.
Here is one description about quality 'metrics' (copy&paste from o-cha forum)
Here is one description about quality 'metrics' (copy&paste from o-cha forum)
http://hojotea.com/item_e/g03e.htm wrote:
The leaves: the slimmer each leaf the better the quality. It reflects the tenderness of the tea leaf. During the process, old tea leaves will crack if intensive rolling process is attempted. Usually, tea leaves could not be rolled into fine needle shape and it becomes a flat shape or gets broken.
Using the early spring tea, thanks to the tenderness of the tea leaf, which is very elastic and can withstand the rolling procedure until a fine needle shape is formed.
The color of tea leaves must be dark green and glossy. Tea processed from the late harvest leaves tend to be grayish and light green in color with a dull appearance. This is because it contains less substances and moisture after undergoing the rolling process. Usually this tea gives a thin taste and cannot last for many brewings.
Japanese green tea does not maintain the whole leaf shape as cutting is part of the process after the final rolling.
Brewed tea leaves should be yellowish green in colour that indicates the young leaves are plucked. (Old leaves are green). When you hold the brewed tea leaf, it should be tender and soft.
The high end Japanese green tea gives a transparent and light yellowish green color.
Good tea leaves processed from the young leaves is tender and does not crack during the process. Therefore, it contains very little tea dust and gives a transparent liquor. On the contrary, the tea leaves produced from the late harvest leaves contain a lot of tea dust and that gives a greenish and clouded liquor.
I usually let my tea sit for just a moment to allow the "dust" to settle at the bottom of the cup. I have personally found I enjoy the flavour of the tea more if I do this.Pentox wrote:It does, but even clear teas change taste if allowed to sit. They build in astringency and bitterness if you let them sit too long. That's one reason why I like smaller cups.inspectoring wrote:I have always wondered about this as well. However, if the haziness is due to the small bits of leaves - I would assume that when the tea is allowed to site for a couple of minutes, those small bits would alter the taste.
Jack
Interesting. I actually find it to be the opposite. I find that the longer the tea sits there it generates more astringency as it is essentially steeping for a longer time. For me the first sip tends to be the best.Jack_teachat wrote:I usually let my tea sit for just a moment to allow the "dust" to settle at the bottom of the cup. I have personally found I enjoy the flavour of the tea more if I do this.Pentox wrote:It does, but even clear teas change taste if allowed to sit. They build in astringency and bitterness if you let them sit too long. That's one reason why I like smaller cups.inspectoring wrote:I have always wondered about this as well. However, if the haziness is due to the small bits of leaves - I would assume that when the tea is allowed to site for a couple of minutes, those small bits would alter the taste.
Jack