Kukicha (Bancha Twig ) Tea and Calcium?

[edkrueger]

Water, rice and koji would not make sake, yeast is needed. Also, I can't see why adding refined alcohol to the brewing process would lead to hangovers.

[Kunkali]

Safe to give to children? Kukicha gave me such a buzz one night it kept me up until 6 in the morning. Some of those claims they make I definitely question.

[edkrueger]

Really? You must be extremely sensitive to caffeine or, maybe, there is a placebo effect.

[Chip]

There is usually some leaf in the mix, depending on how much ... I too have been caffeinated by kuki.

Of course, add matcha and weeeeeeeee .... weeeeeeee ....

[rdl]

There is usually some leaf in the mix, depending on how much ... I too have been caffeinated by kuki.

the quote i used is from a macrobiotic company. they are careful to use twigs from older plants (and 2nd or 3rd harvest i think) that conforms to their non-caffeine standards. kukicha is made in many ways by different producers so like most discussions there can exist many dimensions to one's experiences. fortunately so!

[togei]

Regarding the cost of bancha.
I just finished a 9 day firing of my large kiln. During the firing I noticed my neighbors were cutting tea in the fields around my house. This is the final cutting for this year. I mosied on over and asked if they would sell me some and how much it would be.
Free.
They gave me 4 kilos with the comment, 'It's bancha'.
I assume I get a 50% discount since I am a local so to get a good feel of how expensive it is multiply free by 200% to get an idea on price.
I would be happy to send 500 gram packages to 8 people for the yen price of shipping. Tea = free.
I am a little backed up on other projects but could get it in the mail by next week.
Dave

[edkrueger]

That is very generous! Do you know what type of Bancha its it? Is it green?

[togei]

Hello Ed,
It is green.
What kind is it?? I wasn't aware there were different types other than 1st cut, 2nd. cut, etc. This is a 2nd or 3rd cut of the tea. If you mean what species of plant, no, I don't know. Japanese green tea species perhaps?
It is interesting that even -free- bancha doesn't have a line waiting to take it.
If you would like some shipping is 780 yen by SAL, 2,200 yen by EMS. SAL takes between 2-5 weeks, EMS between 3 days and about a week. Please send me a message and I will give you details through that.
Dave

[rdl]

Hello Ed,
It is green.
What kind is it?? I wasn't aware there were different types other than 1st cut, 2nd. cut, etc. This is a 2nd or 3rd cut of the tea. If you mean what species of plant, no, I don't know. Japanese green tea species perhaps?
It is interesting that even -free- bancha doesn't have a line waiting to take it.
If you would like some shipping is 780 yen by SAL, 2,200 yen by EMS. SAL takes between 2-5 weeks, EMS between 3 days and about a week. Please send me a message and I will give you details through that.
Dave

dave,
1) how would you accept payment?
2) have you had a cup? how would you describe the tea and flavor? i am as interested in knowing how your neighbors make their local bancha as i am possibly trying some myself.
thanks for your generous offer!

[togei]

Hello rdl,
They make it by cutting it and then taking it back to their processing building at their house. I guess that is what you mean by how. The tea has to be processed on the day it is cut or it will start to ferment I suppose. In my area there were 3 families that grew and processed the tea. About 3 years ago through the death of one of the family members everyone quit. The tea sat fallow for about 1 year and then last year a tea growing family from about 1 km. down the road was given permission to harvest all the fields in this area. It is interesting because there has been a general move over the last 20 years or so to form cooperatives of 3-4 families. The problem is if one of the members has to quit through whatever reason usually the whole co-op quits. The guy cutting it now has never co-oped and has what used to be numerous in this area, i.e., a family run tea processing building.
As I typed this I brewed a cup for about 1-2 minutes. It has a less robust taste than the first cut of bancha but that might be a function of the brewing/amount of tea. I think it has a slightly different taste to first cut. I really like first cut bancha and drink it throughout the year. I should say I don't consider my palette highly refined.
The reason I asked the guy for the price on this tea was more out of curiosity. I didn't expect him to give me it but after he told me he would it wasn't really possible to refuse so I have this large bag of tea here.
I would like payment to my Paypal account in yen. If you would like some please contact me through the message feature and I will send you details. I will of course need your address.

Brewed for about 1-2 minutes.

Tea 002.jpg (29.11 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

The tea.

Tea 001.jpg (68.16 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

First cut bancha from this year, same plants.

First cut bancha.jpg (66.49 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

[togei]

First cut Gyokuro cha.

First cut gyokuro cha.jpg (65.78 KiB) Viewed 1289 times

[edkrueger]

I'd love to try some. By what kind I just meant was it stems or leaves, roasted or not, but I can see now. Please send me a PM about how to get the money to you. I really appreciate this, I've never gotten to try anything quite like that.

[Chip]

Great deal Togei. Thanks for offering this to TCers!

[beforewisdom]

I just bought my second bag of bancha twig tea.

I've been drinking about a quart of day of the tea, so I appreciate that it is lower in caffiene. I also like the taste. Even from the bulk bin at the local co-op, it still has some .

[Chip]

Togei, you could also post this under TeaSwap!