Official Shincha 2015 Ordering and Review Topic

[jayinhk]

Kevin, TeadOff wants to know why some places sell shincha in different grades, e.g., Chiran shincha in five grades, but online vendors just offer one shincha from each town and type. Vendors like O Cha for example! Even if there is no formalized grading system, why don't online vendors use one (like the bigger stores)?

Not that there's anything at all wrong with your tea!

[Kevangogh]

Growers usually set aside a small part of their best tea harvested for shincha purposes, release enough to sell in 1-2 months (because the stuff only stays fresh so long under those conditions), and the rest goes into cold storage. If they put every tea they grown into shincha form, would it sell within a 1-2 month time frame? Mostly it wouldn't, and then it would be wasted. Why do they need to make so many different kinds of shincha? Shincha is supposed to be special, why would they bother making shincha with a lower grades of tea? It's not too hard for them to calculate what is going to move in 1-2 months, the rest goes into cold storage.

If you buy shincha and store it in your own refrigerator for more than say, 2 months, guess what? Although it will still be good, it's not really shincha anymore. In fact, it could and probably will taste better.

As far as coming up with some grading system, that would not be up to me or other online vendors to do, the current system of "good reputation" works pretty good. Some teas (and growers) in Japan are kind of famous and their teas sell out quickly year after year. As a prime example, you folks here all try different vendors teas, talk about it, and then some of these teas end up with a good reputation. That goes way farther than some grading system.

[gunbuster363]

I think a grading system is not needed because quality usually reflects on the price.

If you want to guess the quality of the tea before buying, there is a way if the seller is honest and he really loves drinking tea. When he have put up the description of the tea, the description really matters. If it said the tea has a lot of umami then you could expect it, however, if he did not mention the word "umami" there is a reason.

Let's take an example, following is the description of one of the sencha sell by Thes du Japon:

Indeed, the dry leaves already diffuse a strong, sweet, floral scent. Next, the liquor unfolds a delicate fragrance of flowers and hazelnuts. Yet it is in the mouth that the aromas express themselves more fully: the palate, nose and throat are filled with a complex floral bouquet enhanced with almonds and hazelnuts.
The liquor is light and has no astringency, but after a few minutes a strong sweet aftertaste appears in the mouth.

A very fine, rich, exceptional sencha with a unique character.

And this is the description of another tea, could you see he used different words:

The sweet, flowery aromas of this variety are quite present, especially in the aftertaste, but they express themselves in a very delicate manner. The flavours of raw vegetables can also be detected.
Similarly, the liquor itself is airy in the mouth, with just the right touch of sweetness to colour a very slightly astringent texture. Thus, this Japanese green tea is both refreshing and stimulating.
An excellent tea, very pleasant, with mellow, harmonious flavours, which makes it easy for everybody to enjoy the characteristic aromas of the Kôshun cultivar, but without being overpowered.

[jayinhk]

Thanks Kevan, I was just trying to explain what TeadOff meant. I for one am totally happy with the tea I get from you and you're the only online vendor I buy Japanese teas from!

[jpo1933]

In lieu of not being able to purchase any Koyamaen shincha(sold out pretty quickly I guess) decided to take a risk and order 3 bags of hachi ju hachi shincha from fukujen
Anyone have experience with their teas before? They seem to be offering teas around the same price/grade as koyamaen's shincha(2000 yen per 50 g bag).

[Tead Off]

In lieu of not being able to purchase any Koyamaen shincha(sold out pretty quickly I guess) decided to take a risk and order 3 bags of hachi ju hachi shincha from fukujen
Anyone have experience with their teas before? They seem to be offering teas around the same price/grade as koyamaen's shincha(2000 yen per 50 g bag).

I recently purchased their top grade Shincha in Kyoto store. Fukujuen is the best Shincha I've tasted, so far. Their Hojicha is very good, too. Not as roasted as Ippodo.

[jpo1933]

Looks like I made the right choice then
Don't even care now that I missed the koyamaen shincha boat

[theroots]

A few days ago my Shincha order finally arrived. I ordered from Marukyu-Koyamaen (Gold & Silver) and Ippodo, a small order from Fukujuen is on its way as well. Both (Koyamaen & Ippodo) are very promising so far but it's too early to tell more.

A lot of unboxing as you can see on the second picture. That's just one box!
Did order some Matcha (Tenju) and Gyokuro (Hisa Homare) as well (3rd picture).

[Tead Off]

Shincha from Hosuien. This tea was billed as something special by the seller and grown in Ise. When I opened the bag, I noticed right away that most of the leaves were broken like a fukamushi. The flavor wasn't bad, but the finish had that bitterness that reflected the quality of the leaves. I couldn't recommend this tea. My wife disliked it more than me, but it did give many brews.

[Tead Off]

Shincha from Hosuien. This tea was billed as something special by the seller and grown in Ise. When I opened the bag, I noticed right away that most of the leaves were broken like a fukamushi. The flavor wasn't bad, but the finish had that bitterness that reflected the quality of the leaves. I couldn't recommend this tea. My wife disliked it more than me, but it did give many brews.

After switching to a larger vessel, 130ml Banko kyusu, 5g at 1 minute, changed this tea into a sweeter drink. No bitterness in the finish. Soft and smooth.

[z_lamp]

O-cha order arrived. Been spending time with the Oku Yutaka first. Brewed at 77C, 45s/30s/1m30s, with 7g leaf to ~112g water. The flavor is clean and not too astringent, with a pleasant savory, marine quality -- reminds me a little of grilled freshwater fish of some kind, as odd a comparison as that may be. The bitterness ramps up very quickly with higher ratio or hotter water, but if the temp is lowered much past 75C, the savory quality seems to retreat as well. Ureshino Tamaryokucha and Sae Midori still to come...

[Tead Off]

Shincha from Ryuouen. This one, bought from Takashimaya, is right up there with the best I've tasted this season. Uji based, I switched up the parameters and brewed 3g in Hokujo Shiboridashi, 70ml, 40sec., 65c. Bingo for me. I've brewed this tea in 3 different vessels. This one was the sweet spot and also showing me once again, not to take anything for granted or get into a 'routine' for brewing genres of tea.

[pedant]

i got these from o-cha:

Kagoshima Sencha Sae Midori
Ureshino Tamaryokucha
Uji Asamushi Shincha Kirameki
Uji Gyokuro "Kamejirushi"

i tried the sae midori and thought it was good, but it didn't blow me away. i think my technique could use improvement.

i also just opened the Ureshino, and wow, what a delicious smell. unique. it smells like nori and fruit to me. it's delicious brewed up, and i found it easier to dial in than the sae midori.

[jpo1933]

Been enjoying some of the Fukujuen 88 day sencha for the best couple of days. Odd how different it is from the den's hashiri I had a week earlier
For those who've had the fukujuen, is the second brew generally pretty underwhelming compared to the first? I'm using about 3.5 grams in a 170 ml kyusu, and already by the second steep the flavors seemed to have "flattened" out. Leaving me with a generally pretty bland second and 3rd steeping. First is really, really good. Sweet, with a slight astringency, but I know I could be getting wayyy more out of it

[Tead Off]

Been enjoying some of the Fukujuen 88 day sencha for the best couple of days. Odd how different it is from the den's hashiri I had a week earlier
For those who've had the fukujuen, is the second brew generally pretty underwhelming compared to the first? I'm using about 3.5 grams in a 170 ml kyusu, and already by the second steep the flavors seemed to have "flattened" out. Leaving me with a generally pretty bland second and 3rd steeping. First is really, really good. Sweet, with a slight astringency, but I know I could be getting wayyy more out of it

For my taste, you are using too little leaf for such a large pot. If I were you, and you had nothing smaller to brew it in, I would try 5-7g, 60-65c, 45-60sec 1st brew. 2nd maybe 15 sec.

That 2nd brew is usually stronger than the first, hence the need for less time.

Water is a main concern. The difference can be profound. This is something you have to experiment with on your own. Mineral water is better for me than my filtered tap. I use a local mineral water and it won't help you much where you live.