2010 Official Shincha Review Topic!

[Chip]

Thanks for the reviews brlarson and Iannon! I will be cupping both of these Shincha.

[Ed]

so I upped the leaf to water ratio as per Ed's gongfu shincha parameters..of course it did change the taste quite a bit. Much more umami/oceanic/astringent.. different than my first which was less oceanic and more refreshing mellow less astringent. I liked both ways TBH.

Yeah, I really like the umami I get from Kinari. The subsequent steeps are not particularly spectacular but that first steep really hits the spot.

[Oni]

Shincha Kirameki from o-cha is a classic Uji asamushi, with enough intensity to make it interesting, a good tea for those who like light steamed Uji sencha.

[Kevangogh]

Oni, curious as to how you brew this - proportions, temps, etc.

[Oni]

I tried the normal 10 grams to 220 - 240 (max capacity of my teapot, but I measure it by eye, but the weight of the tea I measure by scale), I brew it in my banko ceramic teapot at 74 C and 1 minute brewing time, second infusion 20 seconds, 3`rd 1m min.
I also recently tried 5 grams to 60 - 80 ml water, 70 C, 1 minute, in a houhin, this method is only for the highest grade Uji tea, I learned this from Horaido`s instructions, the tea becomes intense, I liked it very much this way.

[Chip]

I tried the normal 10 grams to 220 - 240 (max capacity of my teapot, but I measure it by eye, but the weight of the tea I measure by scale), I brew it in my banko ceramic teapot at 74 C and 1 minute brewing time, second infusion 20 seconds, 3`rd 1m min.
I also recently tried 5 grams to 60 - 80 ml water, 70 C, 1 minute, in a houhin, this method is only for the highest grade Uji tea, I learned this from Horaido`s instructions, the tea becomes intense, I liked it very much this way.

Whoa ... high test!!!

[tmorten]

Okay, so here is my modest review of O-Cha's 2010 "Classic" Yutaka Midori shincha. I received my Yutaka Midori last week and decided to give it a test run today.

The smell upon opening the bag was absolutely wonderful!
The dry aroma of the leaves was very grassy and sweet smelling. As you can see, the Yutaka Midori is a deep steamed tea.



Now, lets get down to the brewing!
All steeps were done in a Tokoname kyusu with a sasame filter.

Steep 1: For the first steep I preheated my kyusu and cups with water just off boil. When the water cooled down to 158 F, I poured the water over the leaves and steeped for 1 min.
The first steep yielded a very light and refreshing brew. The tea had a light sweet taste with a mild vegetal flavor in the background.



Steep 2: Hold on to your seats! Full-throttle intensity!
For steep 2 I used 167 F water and brewed for 20 seconds. The resulting brew was very thick and brothy. The umami and vegetal flavor was very prominent in this steep. The flavor was still sweet, but the taste of asparagus was now dominating the cup. This is my favorite steep!



Steep 3: For steep 3 I used 176 F water and let brew for 45 seconds. This steep yielded a brew that was a wonderful mixture of sweetness and vegetal flavor. The consistency of the tea was not as thick as steep 2, but still exhibited a strong flavor profile. This steep also had a bit of grassiness in the flavor. Really tasty!



Here is another photo of steep 3 with camera flash on. This photo really lets you see the awesome emerald green color of the tea!



I have yet to go beyond steep 3, but will continue to experiment with this tea in the future. This is my first time trying O-Cha's Yutaka Midori and I am very impressed! After tasting it I now can see why everyone loves this tea! I would definitely recommend this tea to anyone who wants to taste what real Japanese green tea tastes like. I would also be interested to hear feedback from others on how this year's Yutaka Midori compares to other years in the past.

[iannon]

Ok..no pics yet I will try to add some next session with this tea, Which is the O-Cha Organic Warashina Supreme Asa.
Sweet looking needles of dry leaf. Nice aroma.
Went ahead and followed the O-Cha instructions on steeps.

1st steep 175F for 1.5min 5g of leaf 6 oz of water. (they had more water and leaf listed I just adjusted down a bit there) Beautiful clear yellow/lime infusion. Slightly more nutty sweet than Oceanic which somewhat surprised me for this Asa, but pleasantly so.

2nd infusion at 30 seconds. Still pretty clear no cloudiness. probbaly due to the nice Asa leaf size which I must say has been the largest intact pieces of leaf of the Asa's I have had so far.

went thru infusions 3 and 4 at 2 minutes a piece and bumped temp up JUST slightly,

This tea stayed very mellow sweetish and nutty. Almost seemed to me more like a kabusecha/Gyo flavor profile if that makes sense?
maybe its just me

[Jack_teachat]

Ok..no pics yet I will try to add some next session with this tea, Which is the O-Cha Organic Warashina Supreme Asa.

Same tea here for me... Just a few reflections following a couple of sessions.

These are roughly the paramenters I've been using...

5g leaf
160ml water
Starting at 72 degrees C.
1 min, 20 to 25 secs, 1 min, 1 min 45s to 2mins.

I'm a little bit wary of the 80 degree temperature suggested by O-cha, however over subsequent sessions I'm gradually going to edge it up to see what effect it has.

Dry leaf is beautifully formed, plenty of pine like needles (more than I remember from last years Ichibancha) Brew is slightly yellowy green, sweet buttery citrusy notes dominate, very little in the way of astringency or bitterness.

The taste and sensations of this tea just strike me as being so natural and pure, and while drinking it I can almost picture myself on a little Japanese tea farm, staring out across the rolling hills surrounding the Warashina river, even though I've never been there!

An absolute pleasure to drink...

Jack

[blairswhitaker]

My yuuki-cha order of three of their asa's is finally on it's way, very excited been drinking a lot of chinese 2010 greens lately, their version of shincha. also been drinking a shincha that is a chumushi steam from a local shop in SD. it's been fantastic. If you never have I highly recommend making a shinobi-cha with shincha, supper refreshing in the heat and a real blast of ummami. I am stuck in Tucson for a while, been hitting up seven cups. anybody know of anything Japanese in this town?

[iannon]

Couple new Asa's arrived courtesy of Yoshiaki Hiruma

first 2 smaller bags of the Sayama ..I cant read it but I know its two of these three.."Kirabiyaka "&" Hanayaka "&" Tuyayaka" this order had been quite adventurous for me language wise..but thats half the fun too!

look at the pretty dried needles..

after the first infusion. the closest thing I can compare the taste to something more known would be a slightly more oceanic version of O-cha's Warashina. I used about 5g to 6oz of water at 160f for 1 min

[Dresden]

If you never have I highly recommend making a shinobi-cha with shincha, supper refreshing in the heat and a real blast of ummami.

I recently did this with some Uji Miyabi from O-Cha. Filled my kyusu with ice and let it sit until all the ice was melted... Very intense!!!

[iannon]

Ok..so 3 new Asa's actually..Another from Hiruma.
this one is Taisyou "Grand Prix" Asamushicha

once again..nice intact needles here!

Lots of Umami here! not extremely astrungent but nicely balanced. look at the wet leaf after the first infusion..nice large pieces showing already. After the 4th infusion they were huge

[Mikael]

I really dig the cup. Where'd you find it? A secret cave somewhere? Do tell!

[Tead Off]

iannon, how do you order this tea? The website is impossible for me to understand.