Maybe it's too early to post notes, but ...
Sen cha
Hoji cha
Kuki cha
Kou cha
Kabuse cha
Guri cha
… and now TEN cha ! Will it never end! My Pen cha arrived in today’s mail. At first I was quite convinced that someone had substituted dried parsley flakes for the tea: I have never seen a tea so light and fluffy. It makes me feel like I am drowning a puppy, ‘cause it just won’t go under by itself.
I got right to work reading Pen’s blog post about it. Mmmm, I designed a couple spreadsheets, a chart or two, and consulted an astrological projection, but I could make neither head nor tail of his elaborate experiments, so I just followed my heart and brewed 5 grams of leaf in 4 oz of 140° F water for 1 minute, then 40 seconds, then 30 seconds, 1:15 m, 2:40 m, 5 m, 10 m.
There is nothing about this stuff that I expected. I would never have guessed that this is matcha’s (the tea's not the bird's) antecedent. The texture is so different from any tea I have had … pure chicken broth … no not chicken broth, broth made from a fine, savory old hen. Well, maybe I have had that thick, umami feel before, but always with a nasty metallic taste … this time it is just sweet and benevolent. In the chicken broth there must be some vegetables and grass because the aftertaste – which lasts quite some time – is rich in grassy and vegetal flavors. Mmm, maybe it is parsley after all!
Thanks so much for this opportunity, Pen, I am even more curious to try the O-Cha gyo I just ordered to see how that compares to this. Also, thanks for the exotic and enticing South Asian samples from Lupicia. I am almost as excited about those as about the Tencha. This handy sample size must be available only in the store, because I don’t find them on the website.
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Yikes, just looked up the price at the Harney site! 47¢ per gram. Jumpin' catfish. That's some 'spensive tea! Double thanks, Pen.
Sep 2nd, '08, 21:48
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scruffmcgruff
Heh, I don't think I would have ever likened the flavor to chicken broth. Mostly due to the lack of saltiness I guess. I'm glad you liked it, and I'm glad that this way everyone gets to try some tencha and we all don't have to buy freaking huge 4oz tins of this stuff. (The tin by the way is about 5" tall).Salsero wrote: I got right to work reading Pen’s blog post about it. Mmmm, I designed a couple spreadsheets, a chart or two, and consulted an astrological projection, but I could make neither head nor tail of his elaborate experiments, so I just followed my heart and brewed 5 grams of leaf in 4 oz of 140° F water for 1 minute, then 40 seconds, then 30 sec
Which samples from Lupicia did I send your way out of curiosity?
ha!
This stuff smells more delicious than I ever would have imagined. It mostly smells like matcha, but there's something deeper to savor... some gyokuro.
And the other samples... Very cool! Thanks!
What did I get? A yerba mate (very cool, never tried one before), KILAMANJARO - A CTC Black African, and "鐵觀音" -
(TGY 
)
This stuff smells more delicious than I ever would have imagined. It mostly smells like matcha, but there's something deeper to savor... some gyokuro.
And the other samples... Very cool! Thanks!
What did I get? A yerba mate (very cool, never tried one before), KILAMANJARO - A CTC Black African, and "鐵觀音" -
(TGY )
Sep 3rd, '08, 07:08
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Sep 3rd, '08, 16:21
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TENCHA, first attempt today. THANX, Pentox for this unique and very eye opening experience. I can see the kinship to gyokuro and matcha very clearly.
I went with a 2.5 grams/2 ounce steep in my tiny gyo pot with teeth at the protruding lip. This leaf is clearly designed and manufactured for grinding, not for brewing. This pot is clearly designed to brew a more rolled leaf and not flaked tencha.
Like Sal said, it floats like crazy. The pour looked like chicken broth with lots of parsley, the result of a lot of floating leaf.
The first steep could have been my Yame gyo I am enjoying lately. Very full and thick and deep and RICH. Further steeps showed once again that this is best for matcha grinding as it lacked the staying power of rolled gyokuro leaf. Most of the flavor came out in the first steep.
I will have a bunch more tries if I continue with the small steeps. My first impression is that it is a Japanese leaf that is best suited for making into matcha, but like many teas, we can force it adapt. It is really tasty, and I will adjust my brewing to try to give it more staying power. It is probably as tasty and good as the vast majority of the gyokuro I have tried.
I went with a 2.5 grams/2 ounce steep in my tiny gyo pot with teeth at the protruding lip. This leaf is clearly designed and manufactured for grinding, not for brewing. This pot is clearly designed to brew a more rolled leaf and not flaked tencha.
Like Sal said, it floats like crazy. The pour looked like chicken broth with lots of parsley, the result of a lot of floating leaf.
The first steep could have been my Yame gyo I am enjoying lately. Very full and thick and deep and RICH. Further steeps showed once again that this is best for matcha grinding as it lacked the staying power of rolled gyokuro leaf. Most of the flavor came out in the first steep.
I will have a bunch more tries if I continue with the small steeps. My first impression is that it is a Japanese leaf that is best suited for making into matcha, but like many teas, we can force it adapt. It is really tasty, and I will adjust my brewing to try to give it more staying power. It is probably as tasty and good as the vast majority of the gyokuro I have tried.
blah blah blah SENCHA blah blah blah!!!
Sep 3rd, '08, 20:31
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tried it myself, first try.
2g/2oz/130deg/90s
Man, the first steep really kicks you in the teeth! I didn't quite get the chicken, but I'll give you broth, a thick veggie broth. It gives the impression of being overwhelmingly salty, although when you really pay attention to the taste, it's not exactly salt, but reminiscent of some general flavoring.
Second steep was a shadow of the first, and much more resembled sencha in flavor, except very weak, like a 5-6 steep of sencha.
Third steep wasn't really worth attempting, at 140deg start, and 2.5minutes in that ultra thin-walled gaiwan, it was not only unpleasantly lukewarm (which I usually like!) but essentially like colored water.
I'm going to try grinding some of it and making iced tea. I know I won't get anywhere near matcha, but it could be interesting. Also, I'm going to try ice brewing.
p.s. Also, the second I drank it, I started craving pizza, fwiw.
2g/2oz/130deg/90s
Man, the first steep really kicks you in the teeth! I didn't quite get the chicken, but I'll give you broth, a thick veggie broth. It gives the impression of being overwhelmingly salty, although when you really pay attention to the taste, it's not exactly salt, but reminiscent of some general flavoring.
Second steep was a shadow of the first, and much more resembled sencha in flavor, except very weak, like a 5-6 steep of sencha.
Third steep wasn't really worth attempting, at 140deg start, and 2.5minutes in that ultra thin-walled gaiwan, it was not only unpleasantly lukewarm (which I usually like!) but essentially like colored water.
I'm going to try grinding some of it and making iced tea. I know I won't get anywhere near matcha, but it could be interesting. Also, I'm going to try ice brewing.
p.s. Also, the second I drank it, I started craving pizza, fwiw.
Sep 3rd, '08, 21:01
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Another taste/touch set, geekgirl? 
Good job capturing the color, it looks exactly like mine did.
Good job capturing the color, it looks exactly like mine did.Tea Nerd - www.teanerd.com
Sep 3rd, '08, 21:22
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I think that's the famous umami or MSG taste.GeekgirlUnveiled wrote: It gives the impression of being overwhelmingly salty, although when you really pay attention to the taste, it's not exactly salt, but reminiscent of some general flavoring.
There's been some fine commentary in TeaChat on this somewhat controversial taste.
Sep 3rd, '08, 21:28
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Thanks! Heh. When I'm getting the tea, I can't resist photographing the cup edges on the handmade stuff. It's a huge part of the reason I buy it.scruffmcgruff wrote:Another taste/touch set, geekgirl?
Hmm... well, it's interesting, and certainly distinctive, but I'm not sure I care for it in tea, ykwim? And it does taste quite a bit like MSG, or noodle soup flavoring.Salsero wrote: I think that's the famous umami or MSG taste.