Rishi's Organic Sencha

[Love4TheLeaf]

Hello all.

I'm on my second tin of Rishi's organic sencha purchased from my local Vitamin Shoppe. I really like it but I was wondering how it compares to sencha from other companies? I have been debating on whether or not it's really worth ordering when the prices seem to be pretty consistent and I am relatively pleased with what I'm getting.

Having said that, I'm a tea newbie and I'm sure there is much I don't know. Most of the Rishi teas I've tried have been pleasant but I do not know how their quality really compares to other companies at similar price levels.

I would be interested in reading all opinions about how this sencha compares to others.

Thanks. Brian.

[devites]

Rishi is an excellent source for all teas and I order very regularly from them. If you are looking for some good Sencha O-cha.com is the way to go. Rishi is good, but O-cha IMO is better. It is for serious japanese tea drinkers unlike Rishi who caters more to the masses. Fair trade/organic tea is something I like to support so I get all my blacks and whites from Rishi and there teaware selection is sweet too.

As far as teas I would reccomend starting with their daily sencha then Yutaka Midori which is the best tea I have ever tasted. $25 (plus shipping) may seem steep, but high quality tea deserves high prices.

[Space Samurai]

I am with devites. Rishi is good, and I do purchase several of my staple teas from them consistantly, but with Japanese tea you can do better than them.

[Love4TheLeaf]

What aspect of their Sencha is sub par? I ask so that I'll know if it is something that is important to me.

[greenisgood]

well compared to vendors such as o-cha.com and den's its not going to be as fresh, which from personal experience and as i understand from other sources, is especially important in sencha and other japanese greens. you can definitely tell the difference between a really fresh sencha and and old/stale one (hence all the fuss about "shincha," sencha that has just been harvested in the spring and is packaged and shipped without going into cold-storage like most sencha you can get all year round)

also for some reason organic japanese greens tend to be of lesser quality than conventionally grown counterparts. this is a mystery to me as its one of the only things, in my opinion, that doesn't taste better organic (i.e. fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc.). i'm all for doing whatever we can to stop using toxic s--t to grow tea but i haven't found an organic sencha that tastes as good as the best conventionally made ones.

[Pentox]

also for some reason organic japanese greens tend to be of lesser quality than conventionally grown counterparts. this is a mystery to me as its one of the only things, in my opinion, that doesn't taste better organic (i.e. fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc.). i'm all for doing whatever we can to stop using toxic s--t to grow tea but i haven't found an organic sencha that tastes as good as the best conventionally made ones.

My understanding of this is that when a farm converts to organic their product is not as good for a few years until the plants establish as an organic farm. Tea is still sold then because they simply market it as being organic and some people will buy it regardless. As organic products are gaining in popularity I imagine that a lot of farms are switching over. And on some level I wonder about a product that can only label itself as organic sencha. It says nothing of the breed, source, processing, etc.

[Ed]

I'm sipping an organic fukamushi sencha right now. It is not quite as potent and flavorful as those grown with chemicals but it's still very good. I definitely would not say it is lesser quality. You just have to keep in mind that it is going to have a more natural flavor. Chemical fertilizers are like steroids to these plants.

Speaking of Rishi, their fukamushi was pretty tasty but they seem to have trouble getting it to the U.S. within the same harvest year.

[Chip]

I recently received Rishi Organic as a "gift" and was pleasantly surprised. I have had organic sencha only one time before and was not overly impressed (Hibiki-an). This one is from Kagoshima, a prefecture that has always managed to capture my attention. I suspect that there could be some Yutaka Midori in there.

I will be trying some from a newer vendor as part of a tasting, thejapanesgreenteashop.com One from Kagoshima and one from Yabe I think. Interestingly, I am also trying the Yame Organic Matcha, I expect that to be VERY different.

Always something different to try in the myriad of offerings. But I always have my B&B's that I order over and over.

[Love4TheLeaf]

Yes. Kagoshima. That is where the one I have is from.

[Oni]

Read the the production of high quality matcha, and gyokuro at hibiki-an`s description, it says in order for the plant to develop that deep taste for great gyokuro and matcha, those plants need to be old (and healthy), so a new tea without chemical fertilization will develop decent tasting tea aftert at least 5 years old, so that is not very cost effective so they need the fertilization, but those above 40 years old tea trees are unbeatable, so that is why those enherited trees are so cherished and beloved, and that is why those gyokuros have prices above 50$, and this goes to all teas, that is why those original Da Hong Pao trees are so treasured, and those original 800 years old Long Jing trees are so expencieve, so organic farming takes a lot of time and effort, and some trees enherited.

[Love4TheLeaf]

Well, it's been quite some time since I created this thread. I've had a couple more tins of this sencha and I like it quite a bit.

I have had wandering eyes for a while. I've been eying a lot of sencha online but what I've noticed was in many cases, I wouldn't save much money (if any) by buying another brand online.

So for those of you who have tried this sencha from Rishi, could I expect to get a much better sencha online for about the same price as I'm paying at the Vitamin Shoppe for this sencha (about $10 - $12)? Is it worth the trouble? I really hate to order stuff.

[Chip]

Generally online tea from a reputable vendor such as Rishi is going to be fresher than store bought. That is very important with Japanese teas, and even more so with organics I would think.

[Love4TheLeaf]

Thank you for that reply, Chip.

Let me put this another way. A few months ago, I bought two tins of Rishi's Sencha at the Vitamin Shoppe. I drank about half of the first tin but left the second unopened for several months. I got distracted from drinking tea and had other things going on.

When I came back to tea, I found the open container was still kind of OK but had lost most of that kick that I love so much about this sencha. However, when I opened the other container (Rishi packages it in this great, sealed foil package), I found that it had lost nothing that I could really detect.

I think the place where I buy it will be about as fresh as I need. I was mostly asking if I'm going to find a much better brand online for about the same price? Or should I just be happy that I'm pleased with this one and keep buying it until I can't find it anymore? It's extremely convenient to be able to buy something of this quality five minutes down the road.

[Chip]

If you are happy, then great. I personally would still seek out a bit more variety, but that is just me.

You can also store unopened bags in the fridge, but away from odors and moisture.

[bigmonstertruck]

This is a somewhat old post, but I am going to reply anyway. I have been a big fan of Rishi Tea. They were the first quality tea (non-grocery store tea) that I drank, and it was a great intro to so many teas. They cater to a wide market, and their selection is nice across the board. You can count on them for good quality and consistency. But if you want to experience something really special in green teas, you have to give a specialty vendor, one that has a niche in green teas, a try. There simply is no comparison. O-cha, Yuuki-cha, Den's, etc. There are lots of recommendations on this group, but give one a try if you want to see what we are talking about.

Ed