Genmai Cha

[sriracha]

My impression was that it's the way Japanese have bred their tea plants, selecting the ones whose tea had this taste and further developing that strain. Nothing added.
I'm not terribly well-informed on the subject though, take my word with a grain of salt.

[depravitea]

Chip, I was wondering if you might recommend a place to get a cheaper sencha or bancha? I haven't gotten tea over the internet very often, so I was wondering if there was a good/trustworthy place?

[olivierco]

Chip, I was wondering if you might recommend a place to get a cheaper sencha or bancha?

What is the price range you are speaking of?

[depravitea]

$20 to $30 perhaps...

[olivierco]

For that price range you can get very good sencha (bancha is actually cheaper)

O-cha http://www.o-cha.com/green-teas/sencha/ is a good place to start with. Their light steamed sencha are a bit more expensive.
Ippodo (if you order many items since they ship only via EMS)

[depravitea]

Ippodo (if you order many items since they ship only via EMS)

Thanks for the info, though I'm not sure I understand that last part...

[Chip]

Yeah, 20-30 USD gets you pretty good sencha. From O-Cha, that is all but a few of their sencha. And Chiran Supreme is actually cheaper.

Ippodo has a high minimum for shipping which is what Olivier is refering to. Thus you have to plan your order carefully or the shipping per item can be very high.

[depravitea]

Oh, understood. Sounds like O-Cha is my best bet