What's Your Fave Sencha From 2015?

[Griff]

With vendors starting to offer 2016 shincha, I've been thinking retrospectively of the 2015 harvest.

Do you have a favourite sencha from last year? Was your fave different from years prior? I'm curious to know.

For me, it was O-Cha's Asamushi Sae Midori. I found this surprising because this sencha was very economically priced. I figured it was a mid tier offering, but it tasted exactly like what I crave in Japanese green tea.

[JohnnyChai]

Yes, the Asamushi Saemidori was certainly a steal...
For me there were two teas, Hatsu Karasu from Kanbayasi in Uji; this tea is not easy to come by but it is certainly worth it. No Sencha I have had compares to it. Another Sencha that stands out is the Okama Oma from ThesduJapon. A very unique profile that stays with the tea throughout the brewing. I had enough effect for me to order it on three separate occasions.

[pedant]

i tried the following from o-cha last year. i'm ranking them in descending order of preference:

1. Ureshino Tamaryokucha
2. Uji Gyokuro "Kamejirushi"
3. Kagoshima Sencha Sae Midori

i thought the ureshino was really good. it's funny, but i honestly wasn't into the sae midori.

[Griff]

For me there were two teas, Hatsu Karasu from Kanbayasi in Uji; this tea is not easy to come by but it is certainly worth it. No Sencha I have had compares to it.

Sounds intriguing. Could I ask how you came by it? Is it something available online, or was this something you had to find in person in Uji?

i tried the following from o-cha last year. i'm ranking them in descending order of preference:

1. Ureshino Tamaryokucha
2. Uji Gyokuro "Kamejirushi"
3. Kagoshima Sencha Sae Midori

i thought the ureshino was really good. it's funny, but i honestly wasn't into the sae midori.

I had the Tamaryokucha as well-- also enjoyed it quite a bit.

I should probably clarify that the Sae Midori I had was the light steamed offering, not the deep steamed flagship version.

[pedant]

I should probably clarify that the Sae Midori I had was the light steamed offering, not the deep steamed flagship version.

oh yeah, i guess you actually did indicate that before. i just missed it

[Teaarch]

Best tea I had in 2015 was all from Thesdujapon. The yabukita and omune from Tobetto was the best one I had from there. All around fantastic, and really couldn't brew it wrong.

Others I enjoyed were some of O-cha's lower end offerings -- the sayamakaori (this is a cultivar that can get very astringent, but this one was very mellow), and their zairai -- and some teas from yuuki-cha, their asatsuyu was tasty but my favorite was their most expensive sencha, the saemidori, which he classified as a chumushi closer to a light steamed than deep steamed.

My least favorite teas all came from Uji. Flavorless, bland, tea without soul -- I had it all. Well about four different senchas from different places. I'm guessing some tea farms just had a bad year in 2015, but then again, these weren't the really expensive teas, so maybe I missed out on some of the better offerings.

[JohnnyChai]

For me there were two teas, Hatsu Karasu from Kanbayasi in Uji; this tea is not easy to come by but it is certainly worth it. No Sencha I have had compares to it.

Sounds intriguing. Could I ask how you came by it? Is it something available online, or was this something you had to find in person in Uji?

i tried the following from o-cha last year. i'm ranking them in descending order of preference:

1. Ureshino Tamaryokucha
2. Uji Gyokuro "Kamejirushi"
3. Kagoshima Sencha Sae Midori

i thought the ureshino was really good. it's funny, but i honestly wasn't into the sae midori.

I had the Tamaryokucha as well-- also enjoyed it quite a bit.

I should probably clarify that the Sae Midori I had was the light steamed offering, not the deep steamed flagship version.

In this case, you have to know somebody or be able to go to Kanbayashi yourself. It's similar to what Ocha is doing with Tsuen's teas but Kanbayashi only has retail outlets that sell their tea. I believe you can buy there Matcha online, but the Sencha is more difficult to come by; similar to Marukyu-Koyamaen. There is an online incense store selling there lowest grade sencha mixed with matcha. I had thought of getting a group buy together but these teas are in the upper-tier quality and pricewise. Only ThesDuJapon is offering anything similar with the 50g selection; as far as I know.

Agreed on the Ureshino from OCha as well, wondering if the ThesDuJapon has the same qualities.

[Griff]

My least favorite teas all came from Uji. Flavorless, bland, tea without soul -- I had it all. Well about four different senchas from different places. I'm guessing some tea farms just had a bad year in 2015, but then again, these weren't the really expensive teas, so maybe I missed out on some of the better offerings.

Now that you mention it, I don't recall any 2015 sencha I tried from Uji being particularly remarkable. Though I also could have missed out on some better offerings. It would be interesting to know if anyone else feels this way about 2015 Uji cha.

Sounds intriguing. Could I ask how you came by it? Is it something available online, or was this something you had to find in person in Uji?

In this case, you have to know somebody or be able to go to Kanbayashi yourself. It's similar to what Ocha is doing with Tsuen's teas but Kanbayashi only has retail outlets that sell their tea. I believe you can buy there Matcha online, but the Sencha is more difficult to come by; similar to Marukyu-Koyamaen. There is an online incense store selling there lowest grade sencha mixed with matcha. I had thought of getting a group buy together but these teas are in the upper-tier quality and pricewise. Only ThesDuJapon is offering anything similar with the 50g selection; as far as I know.

Agreed on the Ureshino from OCha as well, wondering if the ThesDuJapon has the same qualities.

Thanks for the info I'm the type of person who typically sticks to the bigger online vendors, but lately I've been wanting to get into searching for more obscure teas like this. I guess I have to really keep my eyes peeled to be able to find hidden treasures like Hatsu Karasu from Kanbayashi.