May 10th, '08, 22:59
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May 12th, '08, 13:26
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O-Cha's (Tsuen) Kirameki
O-cha (Tsuen) Kirameki, limited edition Shincha. 2008 harvest from Uji. $37.95 per 100 grams. I rate it a perfect 5 stars.
I would designate this as asamushi cha, light steamed. As a result, it is much more tolerant to varying amounts of leaf. It is not a perfect needle form though...but it comes down to taste after all, right? The dry leaf is a deep forest green with a very fresh aroma.
I have had a lot of fun with this shincha...seems hard to mess it up leaf wise. I have gone light to pretty much. As long as you respect the temp...165ish*, 1.5 min. 5 steeps for this soggy leaf tea lover, increasing temp with each steep.
The fact that it is a limited time offering sold by Tsuen Tea House (through O-Cha), a tea house that has been operating in the same family for I think 29 generations and over 700 years just makes it that much more enjoyable...it is history in my cup!!!
This is a premium quality sencha that is priced at a pretty fair price.
This fine sencha is virtually devoid of astringency and roughness, some could argue too smooth...I would disagree. It is a great sencha to experience, even though the smoothness may bore me if I had this everyday for months. So far, I have had it everyday for almost a week...and I love it first thing in the morning.
I would designate this as asamushi cha, light steamed. As a result, it is much more tolerant to varying amounts of leaf. It is not a perfect needle form though...but it comes down to taste after all, right? The dry leaf is a deep forest green with a very fresh aroma.
I have had a lot of fun with this shincha...seems hard to mess it up leaf wise. I have gone light to pretty much. As long as you respect the temp...165ish*, 1.5 min. 5 steeps for this soggy leaf tea lover, increasing temp with each steep.
The fact that it is a limited time offering sold by Tsuen Tea House (through O-Cha), a tea house that has been operating in the same family for I think 29 generations and over 700 years just makes it that much more enjoyable...it is history in my cup!!!
This is a premium quality sencha that is priced at a pretty fair price.
This fine sencha is virtually devoid of astringency and roughness, some could argue too smooth...I would disagree. It is a great sencha to experience, even though the smoothness may bore me if I had this everyday for months. So far, I have had it everyday for almost a week...and I love it first thing in the morning.
Last edited by Chip on May 20th, '08, 21:52, edited 1 time in total.
May 12th, '08, 13:44
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Re: O-Cha's (Tsuen) Kirameki
Jimminy, I'm almost too excited to press the button!ShinCha wrote:O-cha (Tsuen) Kirameki ... a perfect 5 stars.
Just received my Midori from this year's harvest. It's the same I bought last year and a year ago was the last time I had Shincha so I forgot all about brewing. Could someone remind me? I know the times (1-1.5mins) and temperatures (160-170F) but am getting a wide variance for the amount of tea. Grams per oz would be helpful.
May 13th, '08, 02:07
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May 13th, '08, 02:29
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Hatsumi Shincha, 2008
Hatsumi Shincha 2008, O-Cha. Rating 4-4.5 stars out of 5. I am confident giving it a 4.25. If not for the difficulty in brewing, I would have given it a 4.5.
The dry leaf is fine, indicating it is possibly fukamushi, though possible in between chu and fuka. Leaf color is the same as past years. Green, but not in the order of Kirameki or Yutaka Midori. Leaf has a fresh aroma, refreshing.
This has been a challenge to brew. Hearing others experiencing similar problems at least assured me I was not alone. It is tempermental about parameters, more so than last year, IMO.
I played with all the variables til I finally seemed to have stroked it perfectly. Lighter than normal in virtually every aspect. 4 grams leaf per 6.8 ounces, a little low for me. 160*, this is not sooo unusual for finer shincha from Shizuoka prefecture, preheated kyusu. 75 sec for the first steep was the revelation that made this cup sing. 2nd steep was ONLY 10-15 seconds at around 175* or less. 3rd steep was 40 sec at 180*. 4th was 185-190 for 2-3 minutes. 5th was boiling water for at least 10 minutes.
The flavor profile when brewed this way is quite remarkable, sweet with low astringency (brewed any other way seemed too bitter or under brewed). It has a little grassy or veggie background, it is not assertive, but you notice it. The brew is yellow with some green to it.
The second and 3rd steeps are quite green and beautiful.
Every steep had a lovely character all its own. I enjoyed each steep.
It is hard to rate such a tea. The way I am enjoying it the last few days, I could approach a 5 star rating. Earlier attempts would not fair well. When brewed well...and I do not know how one could achieve the level of consistantly good results w/o a scale and thermometer, it is great sencha. It is a very nice variation to some of the other intensely veggie or grassy shincha I will be trying shortly.
The dry leaf is fine, indicating it is possibly fukamushi, though possible in between chu and fuka. Leaf color is the same as past years. Green, but not in the order of Kirameki or Yutaka Midori. Leaf has a fresh aroma, refreshing.
This has been a challenge to brew. Hearing others experiencing similar problems at least assured me I was not alone. It is tempermental about parameters, more so than last year, IMO.
I played with all the variables til I finally seemed to have stroked it perfectly. Lighter than normal in virtually every aspect. 4 grams leaf per 6.8 ounces, a little low for me. 160*, this is not sooo unusual for finer shincha from Shizuoka prefecture, preheated kyusu. 75 sec for the first steep was the revelation that made this cup sing. 2nd steep was ONLY 10-15 seconds at around 175* or less. 3rd steep was 40 sec at 180*. 4th was 185-190 for 2-3 minutes. 5th was boiling water for at least 10 minutes.
The flavor profile when brewed this way is quite remarkable, sweet with low astringency (brewed any other way seemed too bitter or under brewed). It has a little grassy or veggie background, it is not assertive, but you notice it. The brew is yellow with some green to it.
The second and 3rd steeps are quite green and beautiful.
Every steep had a lovely character all its own. I enjoyed each steep.
It is hard to rate such a tea. The way I am enjoying it the last few days, I could approach a 5 star rating. Earlier attempts would not fair well. When brewed well...and I do not know how one could achieve the level of consistantly good results w/o a scale and thermometer, it is great sencha. It is a very nice variation to some of the other intensely veggie or grassy shincha I will be trying shortly.
My review of Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori (2008).
Compared to last year, very bad. I have not been able to get a good brew. Very bitter. Not much astringincy or "taste of the ocean" like I had last year. I am not sure what's different. I have tried 160, 165. 170F. Today I did 4.5 grams for 9 oz or 1/2 g per oz as instructed by O-Cha.
The smell is the same (yummy) but it's a real bear to drink. Anyone else want to chime in?
Compared to last year, very bad. I have not been able to get a good brew. Very bitter. Not much astringincy or "taste of the ocean" like I had last year. I am not sure what's different. I have tried 160, 165. 170F. Today I did 4.5 grams for 9 oz or 1/2 g per oz as instructed by O-Cha.
The smell is the same (yummy) but it's a real bear to drink. Anyone else want to chime in?
May 13th, '08, 17:53
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Interesting... I think it is better than last year's! I think it is easy to overbrew sometimes, which results in bitterness, but mine has been smooth and sweet with lovely green color. If last year's YM had a fault, it was being too mild, and (if I remember correctly) this year's is a touch more intense.sygyzy wrote:My review of Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori (2008).
Compared to last year, very bad. I have not been able to get a good brew. Very bitter. Not much astringincy or "taste of the ocean" like I had last year. I am not sure what's different. I have tried 160, 165. 170F. Today I did 4.5 grams for 9 oz or 1/2 g per oz as instructed by O-Cha.
The smell is the same (yummy) but it's a real bear to drink. Anyone else want to chime in?
Have you tried doing a slower pour from the teapot? Sometimes I find that helps with sencha bitterness, *I think* because it allows the liquid to decant over instead of through the leaves. Just a thought, though; YMMV.
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May 13th, '08, 18:27
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I will definitely use more leaf than that...around .7 grams per ounce when I get mine shortly (enroute I think).sygyzy wrote:My review of Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori (2008).
Compared to last year, very bad. I have not been able to get a good brew. Very bitter. Not much astringincy or "taste of the ocean" like I had last year. I am not sure what's different. I have tried 160, 165. 170F. Today I did 4.5 grams for 9 oz or 1/2 g per oz as instructed by O-Cha.
The smell is the same (yummy) but it's a real bear to drink. Anyone else want to chime in?
YM is a perenial fav of mine. I cannot imagine this being a bad sencha, let alone a really bad one. How long are you brewing it? I would likely go with 168 in a preheated pot for 1.5 minutes and experiment from there.
YM is hard to find consistency in w/o a scale and thermometer, thus often those who do not, may find some difficulty brewing a good pot each time.
When a sencha gives me trouble, I do something that was taught to me by a Chinese green tea master. Pour the water into the kyusu, wait for the temp to be about 2* above your target temp...then gently pour the leaf into the water (yes, I know, the opposite of convention, but it has helped me through many troublesome teas). and brew for the prescribed time.
As Scruff mentioned, pour gently, especially fine particle tea such as YM, so, you want to start pouring before the timer sounds.
I am fishing here a bit, but have you checked the calibration of your thermometer??? Your scale???
Hi Chip,
Perfectly valid questions. My scale is accurate to 0.01 grams. I believe my thermometer is +/- 2 degrees F. I will bring in a digital one from home to see how it compares. I reduced the amount from yesterday (About 6 grams for 8oz) which made today's a bit more bearable. I am doing a second infusion of 168 for 1.5 mins. I am not expecting it to be good.
I really wish I could figure this out. Last year's was perfect.
Update: Ok, it's getting there but it's still missing something. This is the second infusion. 1.5 mins at roughly 160F. (I didn't pay attention so it cooled faster than expected). It's not bitter - big plus. But it's also missing any character. No hint of sourness that I got last year.
Perfectly valid questions. My scale is accurate to 0.01 grams. I believe my thermometer is +/- 2 degrees F. I will bring in a digital one from home to see how it compares. I reduced the amount from yesterday (About 6 grams for 8oz) which made today's a bit more bearable. I am doing a second infusion of 168 for 1.5 mins. I am not expecting it to be good.
I really wish I could figure this out. Last year's was perfect.
Update: Ok, it's getting there but it's still missing something. This is the second infusion. 1.5 mins at roughly 160F. (I didn't pay attention so it cooled faster than expected). It's not bitter - big plus. But it's also missing any character. No hint of sourness that I got last year.
May 13th, '08, 21:25
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Agreed...second steeps of sencha (say that 10 times fast) are very short, but hotter. 20-30 sec at 175* or so. 3rd steep hotter and a little longer, etc...devites wrote:I have not had the Yutaka Midori but 1.5 minutes is insane for a second infusion. I do 25 sec second infusions with my shinchas/senchas.