Japanese Green: Buying for Beginner: Hibiki-an Superior

[TaiPing Hou Kui]

I have to agree with the consensus about Hibiki-an........I recently placed an order with them and got some gyokuro superior and some gyokuro karigane along with some Fukamashi Sup........I thought teh Fuk. sup. was decent for the price, but I did not enjoy the Gyo. much at all and the Gyo. karigane is lacking as well, esp. for the price. My vote goes to O-cha or Itoen.....I have never been unhappy with O-cha and 95% of the things I have gotten from Itoen have been pretty good....the one time I got some tea and I could tell that it was from the previous years harvest and they were just trying to get rid of it before sending out the new harvest, I contacted the company, they applogized, sent me more tea than I could shake a stick at, a few Itoen teashirts, about 100 Itoen pens, and a bunch of info on tea processing in Japan....so in my mind, that certainly made up for it. But, even with that being said, I still order mostly from O-cha or get my tea from other "people" in Japan.

-Nick

[snafu]

Lone voice in the wilderness here - I love Hibiki-an's high end stuff. My favourite place for asamushi styles. Hibiki-an has silly names ('superior' is their lowest quality), but some great teas.

I'm with Chip on gyokuro superior. There's something wrong with it.

To be fair, Hibiki-an state that Gyokuro Superior is not true Gokou-based gyokuro (it's a Yabukita and Okumidori blend) which might explain why it tastes strange compared to others (and I agree, it does). It's obviously their attempt to offer something "gyokuro-like" at a price more reasonable to non-Gyokuro heads (it's $30 for 200 grams - that's unheard of for real gyokuro). Maybe it should be called tencha or something, it might be what they use to make their matcha - don't know, just speculating.
Gyokuro is just one of those things in life that you should buy the best of and skip trying to save a buck on.

[devites]

This is what I recommend to all newcomers to the Nippon leaf...

http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_p ... th=174_173

I don't recommend Hibiki-an because some people just don't like their tea (I'm one of them), however some people enjoy it.

Definitely how I started in Japanese teas. Hibiki-an is average, but the prices are also average and the shipping is wicked fast. Dens is a great introduction, O-cha for the premo stuff.

[joelbct]

And Den's is probably the only stateside Japanese tea vendor that carries premo leaf.

ahem

http://www.itoen.com/leaf/

[Salsero]

And Den's is probably the only stateside Japanese tea vendor that carries premo leaf.

ahem

http://www.itoen.com/leaf/

Yeh, Wesli already caught me out in this vicious lie.

Don't forget Itoen!

So I guess that means we have at least three serious contenders for premo, fresh Japanese leaf stateside: Den's, Lupicia, and Itoen. I think Rishi may rank up there, but there has been some concern about the freshness ... that is, they were offering shincha last year way after everyone else.

[Oni]

To save the honor of hibiki-an, first of all they are not average priced, their prices are high, but their super premium and pinnacle grade teas are really among the best quality on the market, I know they lack in the low and middle quality section, but for middle quality for the right price you should look elsewhere, try japanese shops (Horaido, Maiko, Ippodo, Marukyu-Koyamaen).

[joelbct]

Yeh, Wesli already caught me out in this vicious lie.

Don't forget Itoen!

So I guess that means we have at least three serious contenders for premo, fresh Japanese leaf stateside: Den's, Lupicia, and Itoen. I think Rishi may rank up there, but there has been some concern about the freshness ... that is, they were offering shincha last year way after everyone else.

I haven't been much at all impressed by Rishi, but I've mainly tried their stuff that gets carried in whole foods, not their online selection.

And my main qualm with itoen is that they don't put their entire in-store selection up online... i could deal with the 3oz online minimum though... ah actually, I bet if I call them, they'll send me whatever- made friends with some of the in-store staff.

[tea goober]

I happen to like Hibiki-an. You have to keep in mind, this is all so very subjective. I think the Sencha Superior is an exellent value. Its a good quality, fresh Sencha. I was always looking for a good value in Sencha and I think this tea fits the bill quite nicely. I think the best and only way to find out is to try it for yourself. Your opinion is the one that matters. The internet is full of "experts" and people that say things like (theres something wrong with this one) should be taken with a grain of salt. Also Hibiki-an is the only Japanese Tea Co. that I know of that once the fresh teas are ready for sell the remainder of last years teas are destroyed.

[Oni]

They make houjicha when their tea gets old, houjicha karigane. And I haven`t tried their lower grade products, but their high grade teas are really among the best.

[devites]

Yeh, Wesli already caught me out in this vicious lie.

Don't forget Itoen!

So I guess that means we have at least three serious contenders for premo, fresh Japanese leaf stateside: Den's, Lupicia, and Itoen. I think Rishi may rank up there, but there has been some concern about the freshness ... that is, they were offering shincha last year way after everyone else.

I haven't been much at all impressed by Rishi, but I've mainly tried their stuff that gets carried in whole foods, not their online selection.

And my main qualm with itoen is that they don't put their entire in-store selection up online... i could deal with the 3oz online minimum though... ah actually, I bet if I call them, they'll send me whatever- made friends with some of the in-store staff.

I found out I am going to NYC for Spring Break and I am super excited to finally get to go to the ito-en store!!

The stuff at whole foods sits on the shelves forever. Online I have never been dissapointed by Rishi.

[joelbct]

I found out I am going to NYC for Spring Break and I am super excited to finally get to go to the ito-en store!!

Rock on, tea spring break! I'm prob going back to visit in June or July, should be prime time for shincha... their shinch is pretty dope

[Chip]

I happen to like Hibiki-an. You have to keep in mind, this is all so very subjective. I think the Sencha Superior is an exellent value. Its a good quality, fresh Sencha. I was always looking for a good value in Sencha and I think this tea fits the bill quite nicely. I think the best and only way to find out is to try it for yourself. Your opinion is the one that matters. The internet is full of "experts" and people that say things like (theres something wrong with this one) should be taken with a grain of salt. Also Hibiki-an is the only Japanese Tea Co. that I know of that once the fresh teas are ready for sell the remainder of last years teas are destroyed.

Welcome Tea Goober to TeaChat. This is what we do, we discuss tea. People ask for opinions, and we readily offer them. It is up to the reader to glean usable info from the posts prior to ordering.

If they did not want our "expert" opinions, they would not ask.

Having said that, the Fukamushi Superior is a great everyday fuka for anyone price conscious ... or just wanting an inexpensive go to sencha.

[olivierco]

I happen to like Hibiki-an. You have to keep in mind, this is all so very subjective. I think the Sencha Superior is an exellent value. Its a good quality, fresh Sencha. I was always looking for a good value in Sencha and I think this tea fits the bill quite nicely. I think the best and only way to find out is to try it for yourself. Your opinion is the one that matters. The internet is full of "experts" and people that say things like (theres something wrong with this one) should be taken with a grain of salt. Also Hibiki-an is the only Japanese Tea Co. that I know of that once the fresh teas are ready for sell the remainder of last years teas are destroyed.

I also like hibiki-an. I guess I bought more than twenty packages from them last year. But their superior grade teas didn't convinced me. Especially the gyokuro superior: by the way, I emailed them about it and they admitted the superior grade wasn't suitable for gyokuro brewing at 2g for 30 ml, which is the way I like to drink my gyokuro.
I usually buy their SP and P grades that have a much better quality vs price ratio in my humble opinion.

[silvermage2000]

Perhaps you could try some from rishi tea.

[Oni]

If you would like really good quality tea, try Horaido teashop, they sell classic Uji tea, sofar it is my favourite teashop for japanese tea, I tried sencha Seiryu, that was a unique taste that you may not find anywhere else, it tasted like salted seaweed with peaches, and I tried Shuppin sencha HG, that was the absolute best sencha I have ever had, intensive sweet lasting aftertaste, very well balanced, and I tried Kame no Yowai gyokuro, that was like gyokuro Super Premium from hibiki, and gyokuro Fuuki, that is samidori breed at it`s greatest shape, it is like walking in a bakery when they pull out fresh bread, and their koicha matchas are great too, so I say Horaido is the shop that made me fall in love with japanese green tea.