Help me find the perfect tea

[Iria]

Hello, I'm Gloria from Italy
I've been looking for a nice tea community for a long time, now I really think I'm the right place

I love green tea, but it seems I can't find the one I'm looking for.
Let me explain.
There's a fairly expensive japanese restaurant in Milan that serves a really good green tea (good from my point of view), I asked several times what kind of tea that was but they always replyed "It's common green tea".

I tried 4-5 different kind of green teas including chinese oolong and various types of sencha but I never found a tea that tasted like the one they make at that restaurant..
At first I thought it was my fault for not brewing it right, but after some research I equipped myself with the right stuff and the outcome was nearly the same as before:
light green-yellowish tea, extremely watery taste with scent of cut grass..
this is not what I'm looking for (and I'm sure the brewing procedure was right).

I'm looking for a tea that is darker, has a stronger taste and looks really green, like this one

The taste resembles the one that "green tea flavoured" packaged food have, like biscuits, daifuku, yokan jelly or ice cream.

I'm really lost

Excuse my poor english, I may sound confusing

[Proinsias]

I think that picture may be exactly what are looking for. Some sencha or gyokuro from O-Cha would, I suspect, hit the nail on the head.

Pedant edit: oolong tea isn't green tea, it's oxidized.

[silverneedles]

extremely watery?! how you make it ?

strong green taste and color: sencha, fukamushi, ... matcha
also try some of that (sencha with matcha) tea

i havent tried any chinese green teas that come out green in color like japanese do, always seem to be yellowish/a mix of green-yellow...

[TaiPing Hou Kui]

Could you describe the taste of the tea you had at the restuarant a bit more? Most japanese restaurants serve a type of tea called genmai-cha which is lowergrade green tea mixed with toasted brown rice but it really doesnt have a vibrant green color. You could have a had a high quality sencha and if you are looking for a really nice all around green that has a sweet, vegetal flavor, I would recommend Yutaka Midor from O-cha.com.....here is the link
http://www.o-cha.com/green-tea/kagoshim ... utaka.html

anyway, I hope this helps, and I certainly think that even if this wasnt the exact tea you had at the restaurant, that you would be very happy with it.....I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesent like Yutaka Midori from o-cha!

-Nick

[Salsero]

Since they describe it as common, it could be a Bancha. Den's describes bancha as

• • "produced from a bottom part of tea leaves that are big and thick. Compared to Sencha,
    Bancha is slightly less aromatic and somewhat more astringent. Nevertheless, it
    is appreciated in Japan for its robust flavor."

[/size] I find the Den's Bancha Suruga to have a profile similar to the one you describe and still qualify as "common." Most sencha tea probably counts as a cut or two above "common" tea.

One of the problems with any of these broad categories ... like bancha, sencha, gyokuro ... is that there is enormous room for confusion.

[Pentox]

My money would be on a genmai dusted w/ matcha. Common enough that it would be described as a common green tea. It would also produce the distinctive green hue due to the matcha, inexpensive enough for a restaurant to use, and difficult to pin down without a fair amount of experience.

Without further description though it would be hard to guess.

[Iria]

Wow I didn't expect so many replies, thanks!

It's a bit hard for me to describe the taste since english is not my native language..
by the way it really tasted like the green tea flavoured yokan (if you ever tasted it)

The only thing I could add is that it didn't really taste of cut grass like the senchas I tried.

Thanks for all your suggestions!
I'm really tempted to try the sencha with matcha added...

My money would be on a genmai dusted w/ matcha.

Could you link an online shop where to buy this one too?

[Salsero]

Here is a genmaicha dusted with matcha that I enjoy a lot, but it does have a slight roasted tasted from the popped rice.

http://www.hibiki-an.com/product_info.p ... cts_id/407

[Tead Off]

Here is a genmaicha dusted with matcha that I enjoy a lot, but it does have a slight roasted tasted from the popped rice.

http://www.hibiki-an.com/product_info.p ... cts_id/407

Looks like the same kind of thing that Samovar Tea Lounge sells called Ryokucha. My wife brought some home from San Francisco and it is very nice. Brothy.

[Iria]

Here is a genmaicha dusted with matcha that I enjoy a lot, but it does have a slight roasted tasted from the popped rice.

http://www.hibiki-an.com/product_info.p ... cts_id/407

Looks like the same kind of thing that Samovar Tea Lounge sells called Ryokucha. My wife brought some home from San Francisco and it is very nice. Brothy.

I've been using this recently, behind the package the import label says "Ryokucha" (10€ for 150g, it was the most expensive in the shop.. I guess they don't have any real quality bags there ^^')
(click to enlarge)
It's indeed greener than the senchas I have, but I don't really like it.
It carries an unpleasant metallic taste :\
(looking around on google I found that "ryokucha" it's the extended way to say "ocha", so it could be translated as "green tea".. I'm a bit more confused now xD)

[Chip]

Hiya Gloria, welcome to TeaChat.

The leaves on the package look like green bancha, more flat in appearance versus rolled into needles.

Bancha can have have unusual flavors depending on the source and grade, though all bancha is lower grade than sencha. It can be mild to harsh, slightly sweet or veggie to smokey or bitter. I guess metallic even.

[TEAcipes]

Wow I didn't expect so many replies, thanks!

It's a bit hard for me to describe the taste since english is not my native language..
by the way it really tasted like the green tea flavoured yokan (if you ever tasted it)

Well if it tastes like green tea yokan, it must be some sort of matcha tossed green, non? And when I mean matcha, not real matcha made from tencha, but food grade matcha.

[scruffmcgruff]

Iria,

Japanese greens can be somewhat difficult to brew, and when overbrewed can give an off taste sort of like what you are describing. How are you brewing this tea?

[Iria]

How are you brewing this tea?

Every tea had different brewing instructions written on the back of the package.
However..

I use an electric kettle that allows me to select the wanted temperature to warm the water (always bottled water for tea)
then I pour the water into the cups
and pour it back to the teapot with the tea leaves
letting it brew for the time written on the specific tea instructions

For example, for cheap sencha it was 80° for 60 seconds, 1 wooden spoon (4-5g) of leaves for 250ml

Am I doing anything wrong? :\

I already tried a lot of combinations.. the outcome is always the same (or worst)

Maybe I just don't like it : P

[Chip]

Some sencha or Japanese tea is just badddd. This was generally the case in the USA for years, now much better teas are available.

You could try cold brewing it for iced tea ... or just move on.