Brewing Zairai Sencha...

[Denmano]

I just received an zairai sencha without brewing instructions. Does anyone have personal experience with brewing zairai? Also, I was wondering if you recommend a dedicated or non-clay pot for brewing. I found this posted on the Hojotea.com site which I found interesting. Thanks for your help!

"As a conclusion, for each type of clay teapot, I will only use it for the type of tea which gives a stronger after taste when it is combined with the clay. If I keep changing the type of tea to brew in one teapot, the performance of clay may not be upgraded much, although the performance of clay can be improved thanks to the minerals from the water. If you wish to share the same teapot for a few different types of tea, please select based on the same origin and not the category of tea. Tea should be grouped based on its source, such as "Phoenix tea", "Wuyi tea", "Taiwan Oolong", "Sencha from yabukita", "Sencha from zairai", "Yunnan tea" and etc."

[sugataishi]

I think you can tell by the look of the tea. If it is very pure, delicate, deep green, no sticks and so on I would use temp. 70C, time: 1 min for the steeping #1 and #2 and 80C 2 min for #3. As for the amount, I use 6-9g per 200 ml.
For shincha first flush sometimes 65C works well.
Generally - do not burn it.

PS
I often do enjoy senchas that require 80C like Hoshino #2.

[Denmano]

I think you can tell by the look of the tea. If it is very pure, delicate, deep green, no sticks and so on I would use temp. 70C, time: 1 min for the steeping #1 and #2 and 80C 2 min for #3. As for the amount, I use 6-9g per 200 ml.
For shincha first flush sometimes 65C works well.
Generally - do not burn it.

PS
I often do enjoy senchas that require 80C like Hoshino #2.

Thanks! Your tips helped a great deal. I hadn't heard of HoshinoCha before and it looks great! I don't see Hoshino #2 per se on their website, but there's a fukamushi that looks interesting. Which ones do you like the best? Is the service good with them?