2016 Shincha discusions

[ryan]

Where did everyone go? Appears no one ordered any this year?

[daidokorocha]

Where did everyone go? Appears no one ordered any this year?

I think Chip just said the other day he got his first in. I think this year I will be Shincha-less. Amazing seeing as I just put in two huge orders from Japan.

[ryan]

Where did everyone go? Appears no one ordered any this year?

I think Chip just said the other day he got his first in. I think this year I will be Shincha-less. Amazing seeing as I just put in two huge orders from Japan.

I have a bunch on the way! Ill share once I get them in.

[daidokorocha]

Where did everyone go? Appears no one ordered any this year?

I think Chip just said the other day he got his first in. I think this year I will be Shincha-less. Amazing seeing as I just put in two huge orders from Japan.

I have a bunch on the way! Ill share once I get them in.

Would it be too much to ask for a preview? Could you share your purchases with the curious members (or, I suppose just me at this point)?

[ryan]

Where did everyone go? Appears no one ordered any this year?

I think Chip just said the other day he got his first in. I think this year I will be Shincha-less. Amazing seeing as I just put in two huge orders from Japan.

I have a bunch on the way! Ill share once I get them in.

Would it be too much to ask for a preview? Could you share your purchases with the curious members (or, I suppose just me at this point)?

Sure! Ordered from thes du japon this year:

http://www.thes-du-japon.com/index.php? ... cPath=1_24

Sencha from Kagoshima, Asatsuyu cultivar
Sencha from Kagoshima, Saemidori cultivar (light firing)
Sencha from Mariko, Kondo-wase cultivar
Sencha from Fuji, Kôshun cultivar
Sencha from Uji, Wazuka, Yabukita cultivar
Sencha from Mariko, Kanaya-midori cultivar

[Griff]

Really glad to see this thread

This is my current shincha stash. (All from O-Cha)

Kagoshima Sae Midori
Kagoshima Yutaka Midori
Kirameki
Fukamushi Sencha Kaoru

So far I've tried the Sae Midori. Definitely a good year for it. According to the vendor, their Yutaka Midori is having an amazing year as well.

I'm still new to TeaChat, but I've noticed several people speaking highly of Thes-du-Japon. While I've been aware of them for some time, I've never ordered from them. Does anyone have a recommendation for their shincha? 2016 may be the year I give Thes-du-Japon a try.

[chingwa]

I'm still new to TeaChat, but I've noticed several people speaking highly of Thes-du-Japon. While I've been aware of them for some time, I've never ordered from them. Does anyone have a recommendation for their shincha? 2016 may be the year I give Thes-du-Japon a try.

I have been skipping Shincha the past few years, finding that I much rather like the flavor of tea after it's had time to age slightly. But as far as Thes Du Japon, you should definitely give them a try... be warned that you might not go back to other vendors afterward

[Chip]

Yes, I did order and receive what I have ordered ... so far.

O-Cha
Yutaka Midori
Sae Midori
Aoi

Maiko
Kinari

So far, I opened Kinari and YM. I will open SM and Aoi pretty soon.

[Teaarch]

So far I've had Kondo-wase from Mariko by way of Thesdujapon. Didn't really enjoy it so much. Had a very light fragrance, and each brew varied wildly, but was never anything less than astringent. There was much more to the aftertaste, but that's the only good thing I can say about it. This may just be typical shincha stubbornness, so I'm not writing it off completely -- it may just need time to mellow. If anyone else has this one, I'd suggest starting at lower temps, and work your way up. Unfortunately, I started at the recommended temps and it didn't really do it any favors.

I've ordered several more from Thes that I've yet to try. Will report back once I've dialed them in.

[ryan]

I like both Thes-du-Japon and O-cha. I tend to alternate my orders between those two.

Really glad to see this thread

This is my current shincha stash. (All from O-Cha)

Kagoshima Sae Midori
Kagoshima Yutaka Midori
Kirameki
Fukamushi Sencha Kaoru

So far I've tried the Sae Midori. Definitely a good year for it. According to the vendor, their Yutaka Midori is having an amazing year as well.

I'm still new to TeaChat, but I've noticed several people speaking highly of Thes-du-Japon. While I've been aware of them for some time, I've never ordered from them. Does anyone have a recommendation for their shincha? 2016 may be the year I give Thes-du-Japon a try.

[victoria3]

Coming out of the woodwork since my last post on teachat. I was traveling and found my beloved senchas too difficult, because of the water, so to simplify things I switched to oolongs for sometime. Because off this interruption I still have great sinchas in my refrigerator from 2013 stored in air tight Loksak's Opsak bags. They have done surprisingly well and are still fresh when I open one occasionally. But I did notice the opened tea needs to be used within 3 weeks, after which it gets dull pretty fast. I'm going to test 2016 vs 2013 from O-Cha since I have a Yutaka Midori in the refrigerator. I'm crossing my fingers but expect 2016 to be far superior in freshness. We'll see.

2016 O-Cha:
Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori
Kagoshima Sencha Sae Midori
Yame Gyokuro

[entropyembrace]

I went with Yutaka Midori and Sae Midori both from O-cha for my shincha this year.

I've only opened the YM and I'm really enjoying it. It has a deep umami and sweetness that's really satisfying

[Teaarch]

Opened saemidori from Makizono (Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture) by way of Thes-du-japon. Upon opening it, I was disappointed -- not because of the light fragrance, which it had, but because I thought when ordering it that it was the same saemidori I ordered last year from Yuuki-cha. Both of them come from Nishi's farms, from what I gather, but this one was definitely fukamushi rather than the chumushi from Yuuki-cha that I had last year (that one was closer to light steamed than deep). Definitely my fault for assuming that it might be the same, but Thes tends to label anything not light steamed as deep, so I took a chance hoping it was the same (I really loved that tea).

As I mentioned, the fragrance was rather light, and while I don't judge teas by their fragrance, I usually take it as an initial indicator of how things may go. Turns out, I either didn't use enough leaf (I used 1.25 : 1 leaf to water ratio) or the temps were too low, because the taste was just as light as the smell. Though I did enjoy the taste it had -- no aftertaste really, but a nice vegetal taste with umami underneath and a bit of sweetness as well offset by a bit of astringency. Will have to experiment with this one further as I'm sure there's more to it.

The second shincha I opened was much more promising. The polar opposite of the first tea -- a light steamed tea of the sofu cultivar from Hon.yama (Tamakawa Area, Shizuoka city, Shizuoka Prefecture). The fragrance was intoxicating and I couldn't wait to brew it up. As expected, it didn't disappoint. Sweet with subtle umami, floral with a powerful and lasting aftertaste. No astringency until the third brew, and then only barely. Reminded me of another sofu I had from Thes a few months back (from Fuji City in Shizuoka), but this one may be even better. I also have a few other shincha's from Thes but it will be a bit before I get to them -- or not; I may just drink these quite fast.

[Griff]

I went with Yutaka Midori and Sae Midori both from O-cha for my shincha this year.

I've only opened the YM and I'm really enjoying it. It has a deep umami and sweetness that's really satisfying

Have you settled upon any brewing parameters for your Yutaka Midori? I have a bag of YM waiting in the wings, and I'm curious to know how everyone is brewing it

[Teaarch]

I've refined my parameters for the saemidori and sofu. For the saemidori, about 1.2 : 1 leaf to water ratio, brew times all at 170f, 55 sec 1st, 25 2nd, 3:10 for third. Using too much leaf with this gives too much of a vegetal taste without the sweetness, but it's still rather hard to get the balance right. Overall, a pretty good fuka, though I think the saemidori shincha I had from o-cha last year was better (I don't drink a lot of fukamushi-cha, so perhaps I'm not the best judge on this).

For the sofu, I've settled on a 1.3 : 1 leaf/water ratio. I brew at 150f for all (increasing the temp only seems to let out more astringency). 1st brew for 105 seconds, 2nd for 42 seconds, 3rd at 3 minutes 50 seconds, 4th at 7 minutes. A very lovely tea all around, though expensive -- as all Thes's teas are.

I've also tried the koshun cultivar from mariko by way of Thesdujapon. I'm not sure which tea I loved more, this or the sofu. This is also the second time I've had this cultivar, and it may be even better than the previous one (that one from the Tenryu ward), which is a pleasant surprise since, as I mentioned in my first post, the first shincha I had from mariko disappointed (the kondo-wase). I'd describe the taste as a bit sweet, but not too much, floral, and over all of it there's a spice-like taste that one might call astringent, though this is pleasant and adds to the taste. The spicy notes disappear in the aftertaste, which is lasting but not too powerful. For the 3rd brew, the astringency comes out rather strongly, but all but disappeared for the 4th brew.

For the parameters for the koshun, I went 1.25 : 1 leaf/water ratio, and brewed a bit higher at 171 f. 1st brew at 60 seconds, 2nd at 25 seconds (2nd might have been even better than the 1st brew, oddly enough), 3rd at 2 minutes and 50 seconds, 4th at 6 minutes and 20 seconds.

I'd definitely recommend the koshun from mariko and sofu from Honyama. Very good futsumushi-cha.