I recently received an order of O-Cha's Chiran after trying their Fukamushi Supreme and Daily Sencha before. The YM leaf has been well regarded here on TeaChat, so I figured I'd give the Chiran a try. Unfortunately, I think I need some help brewing these leaves -- I haven't been too excited thus far.
For reference, I really enjoyed the Fukamushi Supreme.
I tried brewing the Chiran yesterday with a 0.75 g/oz ratio (6oz) at 160 in a pre-heated kyusu for 60 secs and wasn't impressed on the first steep. I figured the ratio was somewhat low, so I dropped to around 5.2 oz (~0.86 ratio) for the second through third steeps (170@20s, 190@60s) but wasn't much impressed either. I tried today going with 0.8 starting and again dropping the water on the second steep to hit around 0.95, but again not highly impressed. Thinking of going with 1g/oz tomorrow and/or playing with time/temp. Any recommendations?
Also, what's the expected taste profile of YM leaf? Maybe it's just not for me. My brews have had both very little astringency as well as been lacking in sweetness/umami. They certainly don't have a bad taste at all, but nothing to excite or make me crave a cup. Even my experimental 1:1 blend of Fukamushi Supreme/Daily Sencha that I tried for a week tended to be more pleasing. Thoughts?
(Been a lurker for awhile, but this is my first teachat post!)
Nov 6th, '09, 16:05
Posts: 20891
Joined: Apr 22nd, '06, 20:52
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji
Re: OCha's Chiran
Hey thou, welcome to the forum.
I have had a lot of success with the Chiran (Yutaka Midori's lil bro), but have not had this year's. Last year's worked for me as I approached a gram per ounce water. I also did NOT preheat, instead poured 175* water over the leaves in a NON preheated kyusu. Unfortunately, I do not recall the brew time. But the higher temp seems to shock the leaves a bit.
Give it a smell at 40ish seconds, but be prepared to go up to a minute.
One thing that also helps coax flavor out ... well two things. Either a gentle swirling of the leaves in the kyusu. And/or a gentle rocking back and forth as you pour. I do not recall having to do this however ... but maybe I did. I do this for most sencha for the 3rd steep on anyway, but it can help with earlier steeps.
Let us know how you make out.
I have had a lot of success with the Chiran (Yutaka Midori's lil bro), but have not had this year's. Last year's worked for me as I approached a gram per ounce water. I also did NOT preheat, instead poured 175* water over the leaves in a NON preheated kyusu. Unfortunately, I do not recall the brew time. But the higher temp seems to shock the leaves a bit.
Give it a smell at 40ish seconds, but be prepared to go up to a minute.
One thing that also helps coax flavor out ... well two things. Either a gentle swirling of the leaves in the kyusu. And/or a gentle rocking back and forth as you pour. I do not recall having to do this however ... but maybe I did. I do this for most sencha for the 3rd steep on anyway, but it can help with earlier steeps.
Let us know how you make out.
Re: OCha's Chiran
I've had four Chiran sessions since my last post, and have tired numerous different parameters. I went with Chip's suggestion and had a 1g/oz session that started with 175F (non-preheated) for ~55s for the first infusion, followed by my standard re-steeps (~170F@20s, 180F@60s, 195@3min, etc). The astringency definitely showed in this session and the flavor was nice and bold. Unfortunaly, none of the infusions were all that balanced -- they were certainly heavy on astringency and quite bitter the last half oz of each cup.
I've also noticed that this Chiran tends to have a nutty/chestnut like aftertaste at times, somewhat reminiscent of the aftertaste I've seen with some kukicha. Reading around, I've seen an old post on Wesli's blog that used the word "foody" for what I imagine is the same taste, and Den's write up for their Fukamushi Yame (a YM breed) references chestnuts as well. This taste was must pronounced in this Chip inspired session.
So far, my favorite session started with 0.75g/oz at 160F (pre-heated) for 90s (pouring at 85s). This was quite different than everything else I've tried, seems like parameters I'd usually use for an asamushi. Nonetheless, they seem to work well and were inspired by O-Cha's recommended parameters for the YM "classic" (0.6g/oz for 90s). The first infusion was both moderately sweet and astringent, being as close to balanced as I've seen with these leaves. The rest of the session used my standard times and wasn't bad, although I imagine modifications are in order.
Now, the challenge is to figure out how to move from a moderate balanced cup to a bold balanced cup.
I've also noticed that this Chiran tends to have a nutty/chestnut like aftertaste at times, somewhat reminiscent of the aftertaste I've seen with some kukicha. Reading around, I've seen an old post on Wesli's blog that used the word "foody" for what I imagine is the same taste, and Den's write up for their Fukamushi Yame (a YM breed) references chestnuts as well. This taste was must pronounced in this Chip inspired session.
So far, my favorite session started with 0.75g/oz at 160F (pre-heated) for 90s (pouring at 85s). This was quite different than everything else I've tried, seems like parameters I'd usually use for an asamushi. Nonetheless, they seem to work well and were inspired by O-Cha's recommended parameters for the YM "classic" (0.6g/oz for 90s). The first infusion was both moderately sweet and astringent, being as close to balanced as I've seen with these leaves. The rest of the session used my standard times and wasn't bad, although I imagine modifications are in order.
Now, the challenge is to figure out how to move from a moderate balanced cup to a bold balanced cup.