M@ND@Y TE@D@Y 4/07/08

[Salsero]

Maybe it it just my lack of experience but there gets to be a point where the increase in price no longer seems to match up with increased enjoyment in the cup.

Probably not so much your "lack of experience" as your sense of value and proportion in life! I think a number of us (me included ) tend to forget that this stuff is just tea!

While most tea is really not very expensive in modest amounts, a lot of us here can attest that it is easy to get caught up in fervor and spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on stuff that really provides little increase in potable joy and only a short term jolt of pleasure in the buying and fondling.

I would like to thank jogrebe and the small number of other sober chatters who occasionally (usually shyly and apologetically) mention the value/price quotient.

Aside from that little rant, I didn't know you drank Sencha, jogrebe. What Fuka do you have in that cup today?

I'm still working on this morning's Yunnan Simao black with a dash of stale Kenyan thrown in to add some bite (that experiment failed, BTW).

[olivierco]

So far I haven't ordered any Shincha, but i've been watching it very closely.

Sadly and interestingly today i'm having some 2007 shincha. I was organizing my tea yesterday and found that I had picked up some Yame Gyokuro Vil. Hoshino Shincha 2007 from Lupicia and forgotten about it. The stuff is almost a year old now, but it is downright delicious.

Gyokuro shincha? Weird name because shincha is sencha. I think they meant first flush.

Matcha Kaoru supreme to start the evening.

[auggy]

Maybe this time next year I'll be more into shincha, but as I'm still new to loose teas, I'm not all that concerned with shincha.

Darjeeling #22 this morning. Hanging out with some sencha premier this afternoon. Thinking jasmine oolong this evening, but not sure.

[Pentox]

So far I haven't ordered any Shincha, but i've been watching it very closely.

Sadly and interestingly today i'm having some 2007 shincha. I was organizing my tea yesterday and found that I had picked up some Yame Gyokuro Vil. Hoshino Shincha 2007 from Lupicia and forgotten about it. The stuff is almost a year old now, but it is downright delicious.

Gyokuro shincha? Weird name because shincha is sencha. I think they meant first flush.

Matcha Kaoru supreme to start the evening.

Technincally shincha is translated to new tea. O-cha refers to shincha as:

"The very first harvest occurs near the end of April to early May, and is known as shincha, or in english as the first harvest or first flush." "Shincha or "new tea" in Japanese, is that green tea which comes from the very first harvest of the of the growing season, and which also is not put into cold storage but instead is immediately packaged and released for sale. Shincha is only available from May ~ July or as supplies permit. It tends to be expensive, as it contains the highest vitamin and polyphenol contents."

So I don't think that Gyokuro Shincha is a misnomer at all. I believe it is being more specific than saying it is from the first pick/flush, aka Ichibancha.

[olivierco]

Quote from Kevin (O-cha)

Also - there is no "shincha" gyokuro as gyokuro is aged for a few months, and there is also really no "shincha matcha", just in case anyone is wondering. There is no "shincha bancha" since bancha is a later harvest tea. Shincha basically equals freshly harvested sencha.

[henley]

In the teapot this morning was vanilla mint. That's kind of my comfort food of tea. Will see what (if any) tea I'll have this evening.

Like some others, harvest dates aren't anything that I pay attention to. I buy what I like & when I'm running low on it. If I were to get too serious about this stuff, I think it would take away some of the enjoyment for me. Tea is my escape & one of few things around here that I can call my own.

[Chip]

Quote from Kevin (O-cha)

Also - there is no "shincha" gyokuro as gyokuro is aged for a few months, and there is also really no "shincha matcha", just in case anyone is wondering. There is no "shincha bancha" since bancha is a later harvest tea. Shincha basically equals freshly harvested sencha.

Indeed, shincha can be anything almost. There are shincha gyokuro out there, but I see no reason to jump on that since I like aged gyo anyway. Besides, Gyokuro is tradtionally aged a little anyway. Shincha karigane is really nice though.

I am doing serious looking right now, but have not yet committed. I will any day though.

New harvest tea is more critical with greens than any other tea...IMHO.

Darjeeling is a big deal with new harvest traditionally and is one of the few blacks that I worry about getting new harvest to a fanatical degree. Nothing more disappointing than a flat Darjeeling.

[Chip]

This morning I'm drinking fukamushi cha superior from hibiki-an. If prepared right, this is one awesome and inexpensive Japanese green tea.

In my cup as well....only a week to go and then I will be out of this incredible tea value. This is still sooooo fresh tasting. Amazing and cheap. It is worth trying teas to find something like this.

This time of year, when I open a new sencha, I am beginning to be able to tell their age. Maybe a small degradation, but it is there for some sencha and not others. This is one that was not affected.

[skywarrior]

well folks, I feel kind of out of it because I've been so busy with other things, that I really haven't had time to peruse the new harvest or even consider what I want to buy. While I was in Seattle, I managed to grab a first flush Darjeeling, and it's very good. But beyond that, I really haven't had time to do some tea shopping, which is a damn shame.

Last night, I had some of that wonderful second flush Assam. Today, yes, I'm back to chocolate tea. I truly have no life. Still, I enjoy tea, so I can't be blamed too badly. I will probably have some Genmaicha later.

[Victoria]

For me - I've ordered a couple of early Spring 2008 high mountain oolongs. I think that's as committed as I want or need to be. I have too much inventory to think otherwise. Being a rather anxious and impetuous newbie I have way overspent and overstocked. I need to sit this one out ... if I can.

My first brew of the morning - coffee.

Looking forward to settling into my first tea right now, off to brew!

[Salsero]

I need to sit this one out ... if I can.

Anyone care to make a modest wager?

[jogrebe]

Maybe it it just my lack of experience but there gets to be a point where the increase in price no longer seems to match up with increased enjoyment in the cup.

Probably not so much your "lack of experience" as your sense of value and proportion in life! I think a number of us (me included ) tend to forget that this stuff is just tea!

While most tea is really not very expensive in modest amounts, a lot of us here can attest that it is easy to get caught up in fervor and spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on stuff that really provides little increase in potable joy and only a short term jolt of pleasure in the buying and fondling.

I would like to thank jogrebe and the small number of other sober chatters who occasionally (usually shyly and apologetically) mention the value/price quotient.

Thanks yeah its good to know that I'm not a complete outcast around here for my unwillingness to spend very large amounts of money on tea when cheaper quality grades keep me happy.

Aside from that little rant, I didn't know you drank Sencha, jogrebe. What Fuka do you have in that cup today?

My Fukamushi Sencha came from Indigo. The Sencha got thrown in for some variety as a break from Chinese greens but I don't see myself giving up Chinese greens for good anytime soon.

[Chip]

Most tea really is cheap...especially when weighed against how much pleasrure one can derive from a mere 100 grams of dried up leaves..pretty amazing. Then how far 100 grams can go.

In my cup...Fukamushi from the land of Kago...nice...I sometime occasionally consider how much tea I get from 100 grams of even a medium range sencha as this. It works out to about a quarter a cup tops.

Tea is cheap.

We somehow make it expensive with all the never ending other stuff we buy to make it even better yet.

[Victoria]

Tea is cheap.

Tell that to my credit card that has seen 7 Hou De orders since February.
And that's one of the vendors.

It's a good thing I'm not all caught up in the teapot buying craze.

[jogrebe]

Tea is cheap.

Tell that to my credit card that has seen 7 Hou De orders since February.
And that's one of the vendors.

It's a good thing I'm not all caught up in the teapot buying craze.

I agree while one can argue that for an individual cup with multiple infusions that tea is cheap. The problem however is how quickly these cups add up when one is a tea drinker especially if they drink very high grades of tea.