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__Morgana__ drank 2010 New Crop Shin-Cha Green Tea by Maeda-en

2036 tasting notes

So yeah, this was a 2010 green tea and I’m just getting to it now. [Hangs head in shame.]

It was vacuum sealed and stored in my magical California climate, though, so when opened, an amazingly fresh, sweet fragrance wafted out of the packet. Like sweet, buttery spinach, where the sharpness of the spinach has been filed down and replaced with sweet pea.

The leaves are amazingly fine and hair-like. They remind me a bit of gyokuro leaves but not as dark in color. These are a light, grass green, and may even be a bit finer in texture than gyokuro, though I’m not comparing side by side.

The liquor is almost a chartreuse color, and the steeped tea smells very much like the dry leaves.

The flavor is sweet and mellow. Very drinkable, very flavorful. Makes me wonder what this would have been like when fresh. I’ve been taking this with me to work the past couple of days. It’s a nice morning tea but I’m also having some now, and it’s just as enjoyable in the evening.

There’s something bright and happy about this tea. It’s like optimism in a cup.

Flavors: Butter, Grass, Peas, Spinach

Preparation

175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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4 comments

Ubacat
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That’s just amazing that’s it still good. I have some green teas less than a year old that have gone stale.

__Morgana__
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There’s definitely a difference with the ones that have been opened a long time. I had some hojicha that I tried recently years after it was open and it tasted like almost nothing.

Liquid Proust
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send me some 6 year green tea :)

__Morgana__
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Surely you jest? No really, I can’t tell whether you’re joking, but I assume you are. ;-) In any case, I didn’t see this until I’d steeped the last so on the off chance you weren’t joking, I no longer have any…

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Comments

Ubacat
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That’s just amazing that’s it still good. I have some green teas less than a year old that have gone stale.

__Morgana__
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There’s definitely a difference with the ones that have been opened a long time. I had some hojicha that I tried recently years after it was open and it tasted like almost nothing.

Liquid Proust
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send me some 6 year green tea :)

__Morgana__
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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes