Summer of Sencha 2010, etc.

[iannon]

Thanks Entropy and Iannon. Great to see more details!

Entropy, so kewl to see the direct impact of an OTTI and to see your enjoyment of new teas as a direct result. Sure beats that crapper sencha you had before.

BTW, the next OTTI will feature non shin sencha.

well I didnt grade mine..but I think of all of them, my top two were the Maiko Kinari and the O-cha Warashina!

[Chip]

well I didnt grade mine..but I think of all of them, my top two were the Maiko Kinari and the O-cha Warashina!

Actually I knew that already from what you had said elsewhere, but thanks for posting it here as well!!!

[The]

Ok great reviews here. will see if my wallet allow me to try the hihgest graded from O-cha and Zencha....thats if they're ecological of course thanks for the post

[shinobicha]

O-CHA
1. Sae Midori Shincha/Kagoshima Fukamushi 4.5
2. Yutaka Midori Shincha/Kagoshima Fukamushi 4.75
3. Ujibashi San no Ma (Kirameki)Shincha/Uji Asamushi 5
4. Yutaka Midori Kaoru Supreme LE Shincha/Kagoshima Fukamushi 5
5. Warashina Supreme Organic Shincha/Shizuoka Asamushi 4.75

NON SHINCHA!

MAIKO
1. Shuppin 5
2. Hachiju-hachiya 4.75
3. Maruyama 4.5

O-CHA
1. Miyabi 5
2. Hatsumi 4.5
3. YM Kaoro Supreme 5
4. Gyo Kame 5

Hey Cliff,

If you could only choose 2 Shinchas from O-cha, which would they be?
Is the difference of about $1 between YM Shincha and YM Shincha Kaoru Supreme LE noticeable?

For non-shinchas,
You rated the Uji Miyabi a 5, which was higher than you rated the YM Shincha... would it be better to get the Uji Miyabi and 1 other Shincha? I am planning on buying shincha from O-cha later this year, but I've never bought from them before. I have 2-3 other vendors I'm also thinking of getting shincha from too, so I can't just get everything that looks appealing, which is why I'm limiting myself, at least for now, to 2.

Also, for Maiko, out of those 3 senchas, which would you choose if you could only pick 1?

[Chip]

I will answer for "Cliffy" who is where everybody knows your name.

You ask very difficult questions. Choices are floating in an ever ending sea of change. Seriously, I do not pick this far in advance for shincha, I will ponder this for weeks prior to new harvest. Inevitably though, I will choose a YM shincha!!! Final YM choice might be based on "leaked info" from the vendor. The price was not an issue since there was only a buck difference. Interestingly, I liked the LE shincha more than the regular YM shincha. Then flipped back to the regular YM during non shincha.

Miyabi shincha comes out a bit later, so i will skip that for my first shincha order. I almost always get Kirameki as shincha, this gives you one fuka and one asa.
But I never stop at two.

Maiko, I liked all three for different reasons. I would not hesitate to order any of them.

[shinobicha]

I'm so sorry I wrote 'Cliff!' I meant Chip of course and my mind wasn't working properly... I'm a bit embarrassed about that.

Thanks for the advice!

I guess in the end, the best answer is 'all of them' because you did, in the end, have all of them.
I am sure I will try at least 2, if not more of O-chas, when shincha rolls around...

On the Maiko tea vendor page, someone posted yesterday about their big sale, and so today I ordered their 5 gyokuro sampler, a small shiawase, and the Maruyama.... yes it's not shincha time, but I wanted to try it after reading so much about it here, and on Steepster...