Any Chinese Teas Like Sencha?

[kasey]

Are there any Chinese teas that offer the same calmness and clarity of
thought that Sencha provides?

I haven't sampled many, but the caffeine effect of the Chinese teas that
I've tried leave me feeling nervous.

The Japanese monk who fell in love with tea and who brought it to his country had found a Chinese tea that kept him calm and alert while meditating.

What might that have been?

[Tead Off]

Are there any Chinese teas that offer the same calmness and clarity of
thought that Sencha provides?

I haven't sampled many, but the caffeine effect of the Chinese teas that
I've tried leave me feeling nervous.

The Japanese monk who fell in love with tea and who brought it to his country had found a Chinese tea that kept him calm and alert while meditating.

What might that have been?

I don't know what Chinese teas you have tried, but, caffeine and nervousness are not descriptions that I would associate with Chinese teas unless one drinks an awful lot of tea or exceptionally strongly brewed teas. It is the same plant grown in both countries, but, processed in very different ways.

Allow me to suggest that calmness and clarity of thought come before drinking any tea, otherwise, taking a sedative may have the same effect on some people.

[Jack_teachat]

The Japanese monk who fell in love with tea and who brought it to his country had found a Chinese tea that kept him calm and alert while meditating.

What might that have been?

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it would have been a powdered green tea (not dissimilar to matcha).

[AdamMY]

I don't know when Tea found its way to Japan, but that would be more of a separate post on the history of Tea, and then looking at the style of tea production of that time.

But If you want a chinese green that is "like" sencha in the sense that it is steamed. Look for an En Shi Yu Lu, as those are typically lightly steamed.

[bryan_drinks_tea]

There Is a Chinese *sencha* but from what i've heard it's no good. The above poster has something going though, with the En Shi Lu Yu. Good Luck!

[clareandromeda]

I think sencha has ruined me for chinese greens.

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

As mentioned, En Shi Yu Lu is a steamed Chinese green tea. I however do not have any personal experience with this tea. If you're willing to "Guinea pig" this tea, be sure to let us know how it turns out! Dragon Tea House sells En Shi Yu Lu: http://cgi.ebay.com/Premium-En-Shi-Yu-L ... 33528867ae

[Chip]

TeaSpring has had this steamed Chinese leaf as well. I hear it is good, but do not expect it to taste like Japanese steamed leaf. Pales by comparison.

I think sencha has ruined me for chinese greens.

After I had my first good sencha years ago, I knew this was the one!

[Rainy-Day]

I don't get any caffeine effect from Chinese greens at all, however this may be because I always brew them lightly. I don't get much of an effect from sencha, either, because I only drink about 11oz at a time, again on the lighter side.

Based on just taste alone, here's what I can say:

Out of teas I've tried, I would say a good Long Jing or Bi Luo Chan. Silver Needles is not a green tea but I think it's much closer to sencha in some ways than many chinese greens (again, talking about a good SN here..)

[aKnightWhoSaysNi]

You know, I have a medium grade Tai Ping Hou Koi that is somewhat reminiscent of sencha. It's grassy; but also a wee bit fruity and leaves the mouth with a very fresh and clean feeling. Of course my description is subjective (like all tea descriptions); but I think in the realm of Chinese greens one could do much worse than a nice Tai Ping Hou Koi.

[Chip]

You know, I have a medium grade Tai Ping Hou Koi that is <i>somewhat</i> reminiscent of sencha. It's grassy; but also a wee bit fruity and leaves the mouth with a very fresh and clean feeling.

Now that you mention this one, the cheaper yet similar fashioned Luan Gua Pian is reminiscent of sencha as well. Perhaps why I like both of these so much?

[Tea and coffee]

I have Sencha powder from Stash tea.
Reminds me a matcha tea as it is green and powdery.
Ok price and good taste. the lemon ginger one is very nice i find.

Is Sencha tea, w the whole leaves supposed to be very light?

I tried a Chinese green that is called "fire rings" or also girl ring tea or "jade earing" tea.
It is the leaf tips rolled into hoops and not sure exactly how they are dried.
But it is a dark green tea and very very light tasting, has a sweet taste.

It is my favorite tea at the moment as I like the appearance of the dried tea (looks like small rings) and the lightness of it.
Some people on ebay sell it or else look online.

[AlexZorach]

My favorite Chinese green teas are not even remotely like Sencha.

I have tried Chinese sencha's and I haven't been terribly excited by them (although they haven't been bad either).

I haven't tried En Shi Yu Lu, but from what I've read it is more similar to Gyokuro than to Sencha.

[verus]

I'm currently drinking a Chinese green tea that is somewhat like sencha. The liquor is greener than any other Chinese tea I've ever tried, it's almost jade coloured. It's a Lu Xue Ya Cha, Green Snow Bud Tea from Fujian and I'm loving it.

It's got some astringency, and it's quite grassy and vegetal with a soft sweet undertone. It's probably slightly roasted, so it's not exactly like sencha. The first time I brewed it I let it steep for too long which made it a little harsh, but if you let it steep for 40 seconds it's wonderful and very smooth and buttery.

[AlexZorach]

Keep in mind, the region in which a tea is grown can have just as much impact on flavor and aroma as the means of production. I just tried Upton Tea's Vietnam Sencha (detailed review in that link) and I was surprised to find that it tasted more like other green teas I've had from that region (i.e. Thailand or Laos, since I hadn't tried any teas from Vietnam before) than it resembled Japanese sencha. Here's a link to Upton's listing of Vietnam Sencha.