Summer of Sencha 2010, etc.

[Chip]

So, Shincha came and went, so did Summer and we are well into Fall.

Time to take stock of your personal 2010 Sencha journey! Share your highlights and even your low-lights of the 2010 Sencha, heck any sencha you had from the 2010 harvest ... to date.

No rules, can be straight sencha, kuki, gyo, whatever! I wonder how many different teas we have cumulatively tried this harvest?

[TwoPynts]

Not much actually. A little recently from Den's and some mixed in with herbal tea. I focused mainly on Chinese and Taiwanese teas this summer. Matcha was the exception.

[AdamMY]

I bought too much Shincha, so I never got around to buying Sencha.... May have to try and remedy that in the next month or so.

[entropyembrace]

definitely was a summer of sencha!

I´m counting 12 different senchas tried this summer...started with my first taste of sencha with OTTI #1 I was hooked from the first cup of Yutaka Midori Supreme

Other standout would be the Fuga Super Premium which soared to it´s place as #1 sencha for me.

low point would be "organic sencha" from local shop...could never get much flavour out of it.

Sencha tasting is not over yet...Oku Yutaka and Chiran sencha are on the way.

[Chip]

definitely was a summer of sencha!

I´m counting 12 different senchas tried this summer...started with my first taste of sencha with OTTI #1 I was hooked from the first cup of Yutaka Midori Supreme

Kool. And that is what OTTI is all about!

Details BTW!!!

(I am not sayin' yet )

[JRS22]

I bought 2 packages of sencha shincha on my own, and then sampled 5 (or was it 10?) via OTTIs. I found it all too bitter for me, and yet I know much of it was good to excellent tea. First, because of the sources, and second, I served it to people with a higher tolerance for that bitter taste, and they loved it. I moved on to chinese teas, but I'm looking forward to sencha and gyokuro OTTIs.

[Chip]

I moved on to chinese teas, but I'm looking forward to sencha and gyokuro OTTIs.

... coming to an OTTI near you!

OK, I have tried 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, or 103 this 2010 Japanese harvest. So which is it?

A free generously sized Japanese green tea sample to someone who guesses correctly! In the event of a tie, I will pull a name out of a TeaPot! So guess by posting by Monday at noon.

[debunix]

I have tried the 5 shinchas from the OTTI; 6 (!) shinchas from yuuki-cha, four that I ordered and two from a tasting in another forum; and bought sencha versions of two of the yuuki-cha senchas that I enjoyed most from my first purchase. The highlight was realizing how much I can manipulate and bias the flavors of even the deeper shincha/senchas to find a way to brew them that I enjoy, and realizing that the world of sencha need not be as intimidating as it seemed at first. Light steamed sencha for me!

I drink sencha first thing in the day several days per week, and it might take me well into next year to finish what I have, so my deeper explorations into some of other vendors' offerings will have to wait until next year. So many people really praise O-cha but I did not get one of their teas in the tasting....hmmm.....

[Chip]

So many people really praise O-cha but I did not get one of their teas in the tasting....hmmm.....

Ummm, this was actually directly per your request/preferences at the time based on types you wanted to try, and ones you did not. OTTI 1 ShinCHAAA was the only OTTI that featured choices ... a concept that was then scrapped. So now everyone receives the same teas in each OTTI.

O-Cha will be featured in an upcoming OTTI, hope you can join us!

[iannon]

I tried..oh..perhaps a dozen shinchas/senchas or so..i think this year my fav was the Maiko Kinari. the light teamed teas have risen above in my choices lately.

[nickE]

I tried..oh..perhaps a dozen shinchas/senchas or so..i think this year my fav was the Maiko Kinari. the light teamed teas have risen above in my choices lately.

I also loved Maiko Kinari. Actually, I loved almost everything from both Shincha OTTIs!

Haven't tried much else, there was Yame & Shin-Ryoku from Den's. I liked both very much, and both are long gone now...

Definitely looking forward to a future Sencha OTTI, my Sencha stores are depleted!

Also! My guess is 43.

[debunix]

was actually directly per your request/preferences at the time based on types you wanted to try, and ones you did not.

I was not intending to complain, just noting that there are many sources of sencha yet to explore, and now that I have a better sense of what I like best, it is on the list, along with Maiko, the source of the tea I liked best.....and more. And now I know that I can make pleasant tea even from leaves that are not my faves, I can be bolder in exploring them.

It's been a great summer of shincha and sencha!

[Kunkali]

So new to tea.....but anyway I had dens kukicha which was a shincha harvest (my next order of it was non shincha and a definite lack of umami ) a yutaka midori diamond leaf fukamushi shincha from umami chaya, a bunch of gyos in my freezer with no idea what they are as they're all in Japanese, kabusecha from yuuki...and a few more on their way in the mail. Oh yah had the sencha fuka that's offered in dens green sampler also.

[Mrs. Chip]

OK, I have tried 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, or 103 this 2010 Japanese harvest. So which is it?

A free generously sized Japanese green tea sample to someone who guesses correctly! In the event of a tie, I will pull a name out of a TeaPot! So guess by posting by Monday at noon.

Since there is only 1 guess so far, does my guess count???

Thanks everyone for sharing, it is interesting learning what senchas everyone has tried or would like to try.

We had Sencha Premier ala Adagio this morning, while Shincha decided to play in the sink instead of eat treats at the TeaTable!

[Kunkali]

I haven't guessed because I'm not sure I understand the question or the options