Official what GREEN are you currently drinking?

[Tead Off]

Another go at Hirumaen's Hanayaka. This time in a 70ml Banko. This seems to be the best vessel for this tea which is so different than any other sencha I've ever had. His parameters stretch the boundaries. Herbaceous, smooth, with an almost lemony taste with long finish.

Hanayaka.jpg (86.67 KiB) Viewed 992 times

[Alex]

OMG just got drinking this

http://www.thes-du-japon.com/index.php? ... cts_id=119

best tea I've had this year bar none. 4th brew still strong unami taste and smooth. Incredible tea. Must buy!

[Tead Off]

OMG just got drinking this

http://www.thes-du-japon.com/index.php? ... cts_id=119

best tea I've had this year bar none. 4th brew still strong unami taste and smooth. Incredible tea. Must buy!

Just talking with a friend in Paris who told me the 'Tobetto' is the one to get.

[kuánglóng]

Just sipping on some jasmine green a friend sent me from Istanbul. I have no idea what it is exactly but it reminds me of a Yin Hao with unusally large buds; about 2,5 inches long. This is the 15th or so steep and those frankenbuds are still alive and kicking.

[Tead Off]

Experimenting with Hosuien. Bought as a Shincha. Now almost 6 months old, the tea has mellowed noticeably. It is a fukamushi type, but not as globby as many. In this session, 3g into a 70ml Banko kyusu. 70c poured just above the tea leaves for 20 sec. KAPOWW!! What a difference in intensity of flavor, mouthfeel, and finish. 2nd brew, 80c 10 sec with water just above tea leaf level. 3/4th brew, filled teapot with 70c water, 20-30 sec. This type of brewing deserves your attention.

Hosuien.jpg (112.57 KiB) Viewed 944 times

[Tead Off]

Horaido's shuppincha. My first go-round with the famed Horaido tea. First impressions are not very glowing. I found it difficult to get to the heart of the tea. It is clean, smooth, but with no taste profile (no soul) that I would call distinct. Could it be that it falls into a very generic category that often happens to more commercial teas. I will continue to tinker with this and see if I can unlock 'that' which some posters extoll. Maybe I should have bought the HG?

Horaido shuppincha.jpg (94.35 KiB) Viewed 918 times

[PAQF]

I had a similar experience with Horaido's matchas Miyako no Shiro ordinary and HG version. I would recommend the HG version straightaway.

[Tead Off]

I had a similar experience with Horaido's matchas Miyako no Shiro ordinary and HG version. I would recommend the HG version straightaway.

I also bought the ordinary version of the Miyako no shiro matcha. This is a nice, smooth matcha that makes me want to see what the HG version is like. But the shuppincha ordinary would have to jump a fairly long distance to achieve status with me. After all, the HG version is only ¥500 more.

Thanks for your input.

[Teaarch]

Horaido's shuppincha. My first go-round with the famed Horaido tea. First impressions are not very glowing. I found it difficult to get to the heart of the tea. It is clean, smooth, but with no taste profile (no soul) that I would call distinct. Could it be that it falls into a very generic category that often happens to more commercial teas. I will continue to tinker with this and see if I can unlock 'that' which some posters extoll. Maybe I should have bought the HG?

Horaido shuppincha.jpg

I posted my impressions about the HG last month, here's what I had to say:

Had sencha twice today (Shuppincha HG by way of Horaido). First brew in the morning was good, second in the afternoon was a bit better, though I'm still getting a bit too much astringency. Still trying to dial this one in (this one's rather more finicky than I thought), but I can taste the notes of sweet/delicious flavor underneath some of the more harsher notes. All around a pretty good day.

Unfortunately, it took almost a month for the tea to mellow out, as it was still very raw/astringent tasting the first two weeks no matter how I brewed it. I haven't had too many different senchas to comment on how distinct this one is, other than that it reminded me a lot of another Uji tea I had over the summer, the Kirameki shincha.

The HG is probably some of the strangest tea I've had yet; just yesterday I had some and it tasted almost like a completely different tea. It's still a bit 'weak', as in I need to use a bit more leaf than I normally do with other senchas -- I usually start at 0.6g:1oz and find that's usually fine for my tastes, but this tea I need to go up to 1:1 or else it's basically tea flavored water -- but other than that it tastes a lot better, but I definitely still think it's missing a certain something, and you might have hit that right on the nose with the lack of soul comment.

Perhaps that's how to do with how he stores the tea. There was a post on here (which I can't find now, unfortunately) I found after doing some more research on his teas that basically said since he stores his teas in the traditional way, that they're still a bit raw like until winter/early spring.

I'm definitely going to order the HG again come December or February, just to see if that makes a difference, but I can't say I'd order this again anytime soon.

Horaido's matcha, however, is really good. The top matcha he sells is one of the best koichas I've had yet, and for the price it can't be beat.

[Tead Off]

Teaarch, thanks for your input. If you are complaining that you also cannot find 'the soul' of the HG, I would think that Horaido's senchas are not for me. Your description seems to match my own experience quite closely and the explanation of how 'raw' it still tastes is spot on. It is more like a shincha with no development. All the other shinchas that I bought this year were much better than this shuppincha. I'm quite disappointed to feel this way as there were always good reviews of Horaido teas. I probably will not buy their sencha again, HG or not.

[Tead Off]

Horaido's Miyako no shiro matcha in Korean Hakeme bowl. The matcha seems a good value, and is smooth, sweet, with a good mouthfeel.

Hakeme.jpg (66.71 KiB) Viewed 880 times

[bankung]

To be honest, the only Horaido teas I really like are their top matcha and gyokuro.

The Rinpou gyokuro is one of the best I have tried. Can't think of a much better gyokuro in the market.

Miyako no mukashi is a very mild matcha that really made to be super pleasant koicha. Super sweet and yummy. Not as exciting as other high end matcha but simply delicious. However, if you want usucha, this matcha might be a bit boring.

[bankung]

Asahi matcha from Thes du Japon.
A disappointment. Not really shine out and it is quite expensive.
Just more umami and nothing else extraordinary.

[William]

I tried for over a year various teas from Horaido.

Miyako-no-mukashi: one of the best matcha I ever tried; simply amazing prepared both thick or thin.

Miyako-no-shiro HG and Miyako-no-shiro: both quite good, more smooth and less in-your-face flavours; hardly bitter.

Hatsumukashi: extremely smooth, good consistency; if prepared a bit on the tick side (so usucha with 3/4 scoops) it really shines despite the low price; hardly bitter.

Rinpou: AMAZING.

Kame-no-yowai: extremely good, good balance between flavours (a bit different from Rinpou) and umaminess;

Fuuki and Matsu-no-midori: quite smooth, less in-your-face flavours; I like both brewed in heavy quantity.

Shuppincha HG: I only tried this sent so far, and I liked it. Less umami than the typical sencha, but I loved the flavours and perfect balance. Quite funny to play different parameters with this tea (really versatile).

Ps. I suggest to use higher temperature and quantity if the tea doesn't shine, this worked for me and made me a regular customer.
Pps. If looking for a sencha/gyokuro with extreme umaminess and upfront-strong flavours (mainly sweet), maybe they could seem to be too smooth (after all different people, different preferences, no? ).

[Tead Off]

True, that the tea seems to need higher temp, but still doesn't produce something I would call 'good', not even 'interesting', so far.