My first green tea purchase outside of the Adagio sampler was from an asian market... I found some Maeda-En 2008 Shincha and brought it home... and well, I just couldn't get it right. It was bitter, and I tried and tried with different parameters and it just didn't come out as anything better than "marginally drinkable".I left that tea at my mom's and almost forgot about it. Since then, I've ordered from O-Cha and had some fun with Fukamushi Supreme, Yutaka Midori, and Shou-en Gyokuro... and have learned a bit more about brewing.
I came to my mom's yesterday to spend the night, and I stumbled upon the Maeda-En Shincha in her pantry. My first thought was, "I thought I threw that crap away 3 months ago!"
Before I discarded it permanently, I decided to smell of it and see how the smell compared with my o-cha stuff, and to see how much it had deteriorated over the last several weeks of being open. I was surprised that the color and fragrance were pretty vibrant. And so... of course... I decided to give it one last chance on the brew... and it was actualy very good! Not on the level of my nicer greens, but not bitter, very smooth, and highly drinkable.
So, I can stop blaming the tea and blame the brewer for why it was so bad in the beginning... and maybe I can also assume I have developed a better palate for the taste of green tea over the last few months. In any event, the tea has been pardoned and granted a stay of execution, and now I will be drinking it!
Sarah
