What Happened to That Grassy Flavor?

[JRS22]

I purchased the green tea gift set from O-Cha, and have been enjoying the 2 senchas that are included. I prefer the Miyabi, which started out with a grassy flavor that over the past few weeks has disappeared. I keep the tea in the double-sealed canister that came with the tea. More info: I brew the tea for 1 min 15 sec at 165 degrees.

I want to try more teas from O-Cha, but before I purchase and open more packages of tea I'd like to know if there's anything I can do differently to preserve that rush of grassy aroma that I experienced when I first opened the Miyabi package.

TIA,
Janice

[AdamMY]

I'm not sure but perhaps at first you were brewing with slightly warmer water, try 170 and see if the grassy flavor comes back. As for storage, it sounds like you aren't doing anything different than most of us (Except for Chip and his TeaFridge ).

[Chip]

I want to try more teas from O-Cha, but before I purchase and open more packages of tea I'd like to know if there's anything I can do differently to preserve that rush of grassy aroma that I experienced when I first opened the Miyabi package.

TIA,
Janice

Janice, this is why I believe the utmost care must be taken to preserve the freshness of open bags of sencha.

I split the bag in half, placing the one half in "reserve" and set it aside and not opened again til the other half is used. I go to extremes and "triple wrap" this reserve. And in a rather controversial move, I place this reserve then back in cold storage, the TeaFridge! I do not recommend this practice however since there is some risk, but it has served me very well!

I place close attention to temp,etc. from the moment the bag is opened and do everything possible to prevent excessive exposure to air when opening prior to brewing.

And I try to use the entire amount w/in 30 days of initial opening.

This is also a big reason for not opening too many Japanese greens at the same time. I calculate how much I will use and open accordingly, so no bags of the good stuff will be open longer than this imaginary line of 30 days.

[Chip]

Oh, also placing sencha into an oversized canister spells doom IMHO. Best to use as small a canister as possible.

I use sample tins from Upton which barely holds 50 grams which I then place into a double lidded Japanese canister.

Excessive, maybe, but I would rather be a bit overprotective of those tiny leaves.

[JRS22]

I must now confront the many sins I committed against that innocent bag of Miyabi Sencha and it's equally innocent partner Yutaka Midori. I received the green tea gift set (a gift to myself) from O-Cha around 1/11/10. That's almost 8 weeks ago! - much too long to expect delicate greens to remain fresh. Then I emptied all 80 grams of Miyabi into a canister and put the Yutaka Midori in a supposedly safe place. After a few days I caved and opened the Yutaka Midori so I could do comparisons while the Miyabi was fresh. The canisters are sized for 100 gram packages of tea so they were the right size for about 2 weeks but by now they're filled mostly with air.

On the bright side I do use a thermometer, digital scale, digital timer and filtered water. I could go a step further and double-tin the tea. Nobody outside of fellow Teachatters needs to know. I could experiment with storing half the package of the next tea I order in two ziploc freezer bags in the freezer - at my own risk, and with adequate time allowed for defrosting.

Now comes the truly difficult part - deciding what O-Cha tea to try next!

[JRS22]

I'm not sure but perhaps at first you were brewing with slightly warmer water, try 170 and see if the grassy flavor comes back. As for storage, it sounds like you aren't doing anything different than most of us (Except for Chip and his TeaFridge ).

I just tried brewing the Miyabi at 170 degrees and all it did was up the bitterness level. I'm beginning to envy Chip his TeaFridge - after all, even Target sells wine refrigerators - why is no one concerned about ourtemperature control needs?

See my other response above where I finally admit that I'm complaining about tea that I opened 8 weeks ago!

[woozl]

I'd like to see a tea canister that you could pump the air out,
like a wine bottle sealer. Not that I have any problem with half finished wine bottles

[Chip]

I'd like to see a tea canister that you could pump the air out,
like a wine bottle sealer. Not that I have any problem with half finished wine bottles

They do have canned nitrogen at a lot of liquor stores for preserving open wine, I guess one could use this also for tea preservation.

[Chip]

I must now confront the many sins I committed against that innocent bag of Miyabi Sencha and it's equally innocent partner Yutaka Midori. I received the green tea gift set (a gift to myself) from O-Cha around 1/11/10. That's almost 8 weeks ago! - much too long to expect delicate greens to remain fresh. Then I emptied all 80 grams of Miyabi into a canister and put the Yutaka Midori in a supposedly safe place. After a few days I caved and opened the Yutaka Midori so I could do comparisons while the Miyabi was fresh. The canisters are sized for 100 gram packages of tea so they were the right size for about 2 weeks but by now they're filled mostly with air.

On the bright side I do use a thermometer, digital scale, digital timer and filtered water. I could go a step further and double-tin the tea. Nobody outside of fellow Teachatters needs to know. I could experiment with storing half the package of the next tea I order in two ziploc freezer bags in the freezer - at my own risk, and with adequate time allowed for defrosting.

Now comes the truly difficult part - deciding what O-Cha tea to try next!

I am certain that 99.9999% of the English speaking people of the world would surely think we are nutz. I am also sure that 99% of the English speaking tea drinkers of the world would think we are nutz as well. I saw a woman store her crappy tea collection above the oven, why not just throw it in the oven and turn it on high and be done with it already?!?
..............
Oddly, I have been collecting Japanese canisters for some time, but I don't think I have ever dumped tea right into one. What good does the double lid/airtight canister do when the canister is 3/4 air and 1/4 tea? This is why I first put it in the Upton sample tin, then into the Japanese double lid canister.

Be aware and beware that clear plastic bags are NOT gas impermeable, air will pass through the bags. At least place your tea in a foil lined bag first.

The TeaFridge, btw, is nothing more than a hand me down cube fridge ... I keep it at around 33-34*. To show you how effective it is (cold storage in general), I recently opened a bag of Fukamushi that had been in there since 2008 (2008 harvest). It was simply a Fuka that never called my name. So I opened it around a week ago, and miraculously it is excellent ... a few sessions left. Had this been stored at roon temp, it would have been worthless.

[JRS22]

Be aware and beware that clear plastic bags are NOT gas impermeable, air will pass through the bags. At least place your tea in a foil lined bag first.

Are the bags that O-Cha uses adequate or do you add special bags like the ones that Upton sells here http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.a ... tegoryID=0

The TeaFridge, btw, is nothing more than a hand me down cube fridge ... I keep it at around 33-34*. To show you how effective it is (cold storage in general), I recently opened a bag of Fukamushi that had been in there since 2008 (2008 harvest). It was simply a Fuka that never called my name. So I opened it around a week ago, and miraculously it is excellent ... a few sessions left. Had this been stored at roon temp, it would have been worthless.

Now I understand why you're famous for your TeaFridge. I'm still looking for a space for a small kiln for fusing glass so I'm not sure I'm ready for a TeaFridge just yet...if I ever remodel my kitchen maybe I can squeeze them both in.

[Chip]

Are the bags that O-Cha uses adequate or do you add special bags like the ones that Upton sells here http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.a ... tegoryID=0

The Upton bags are likely better due to the zip lock. The O-Cha bags are great if you can adaquately close the top.

Now I understand why you're famous for your TeaFridge.

More infamous I think ...