Right on the heels of my cheap-o experiment comes one that is not so cheap…
I was recommended to try this tea by the shop person in Japantown who assured me that the green tea I’ve been buying at the grocery store is complete crap. :) I’ve had a few senchas but never a kabuse-cha. I did not get the chance to try this out before I bought it (silly me, it was $22 for 90g).
This is probably the most greenish, young and fresh green tea I have ever tried. The leaves are emerald. I really think I will eat this leaf after I am done drinking it… Supposedly this is halfway between a sencha and a gyokuru.
I used about 1 tsp of leaf and steeped at 160 F for 2 minutes in about 6 oz of water (yes, I used a thermometer to double check temp). I drank this out of a glass mug and it brewed up to a nice Chartreuse color (it is neon green, I am not joking).
Second steep – 30 seconds with a slight loss of flavor. Third steep, getting kind of weak. Will probably get 3 steeps out of it.
This is a very mild, very vegetal and soft tea, very much more sweet than bitter. The aroma is a lot like spinach. This is 18,000 times better than the cheap stuff I was drinking. So sadly (for my wallet) the salesperson was right, my brain is practically vibrating now. I will definitely be saving the rest of it for a time when I need a mental boost. This tea is shade grown for two weeks prior to harvest which is supposed to increase the theanine content.
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
Yes, kabusecha is a shaded green, like gyokuru, but not for nearly as long, making it, in a sense, a halfway between that and a sencha.
If you make your first steep shorter, 60-90 seconds would be enough, you’ll get a better third steep.
Note: most of that mental vibration is caffeine. Semi-shaded and shaded green teas have some of the highest caffeine content of any tea. The act of shading puts the plants under stress and so they produce more caffeine to defend what few delicate, tender leaves they’re able to produce.
$22 for 90g is fairly price competitive. TG charges $36 for 100g and $55 for 100g of gyokuro.
If you have a slightly larger teapot you could use a little more tea amd decrease your first steep to about 1.5 min.then you may be able to do 45 sec. steeps for 2nd and 3rd steeps, while possibly only slightly increasing temp by 5 and 10 degrees. This will allow your later steeps to have more flavor. I don’t think bitterness will be an issue.
@ Jim – thanks for the comments. It is definitely a nice buzz. I will try the first steep for a shorter time with my next go around. The same place sold gyokuru that was a bit more pricey…
oh I didn’t see Jim’s post, but I agree with him.
Yup, “jade dew” is expensive. But worth it.
I’m glad you’re both in agreement.. :)
Curiosly…what cheap green tea were you drinking? That’s the good and the bad when you buy the quality stuff—-it is good, very good & you wont want to return to the cheap stuff. The bad is, it is usually harder on your wallet. Did you get a brothy cup. The best way I can describe it is that the liquer in the cup bubbles somewhat & develops a green sheen (like what a frother does to an espresso). The flavor just “pops” in your mouth. I love it when I get a cup like that.
yes I did see a few bubbles, actually!
For the cheap -the standard sencha by maeda-en
I like knowing people who talk about sencha as “cheap” tea.
My Bro in Law brought tea home from Japan when he was there for business about 6 yrs ago, and my Sis & he gave it to me for Christmas that year. I think it was an Ito En Sencha, and it was the first green tea that
“popped” for me.
At least it wasn’t that Gawds awful teabag green at your local supermarket.. You’re completely wasting money there-I’ve done that!
I meant the Japanese grocery store…. hee hee
And I don’t mind drinking cheap tea but sencha is a bit too bitter for me
Do you mean you don’t drink Sencha, or just the cheap Sencha?
In your review you said it was between a Sencha & Gyokuru…so it’s not a true Sencha…right??…thats why I asked the last question.
Generally I do not drink sencha
I’m gonna go eat and have a few cups of Nahorhabi Assam tonight, look for a review soon….:))
Last question…….Do you like Genmai Cha tea?
You are full of questions today, Sir! As for Genmai Cha, I like it ok, I can’t say it’s my favorite thing but I do enjoy it sometimes.
I know you didn’t ask me, @ScottTeaMan, but I love genmai cha! I ordered some on a whim from Adagio years ago, and it is one of my favourite green teas. :)
I like genmaicha with food, but generally not simply as a cup of tea.
“Cheap” sencha should not exist. Anything cheap claiming to be sencha should be considered suspect.
I recently purchased and sampled a Genmai Cha sample from H & S and liked it alot. Review coming soon!
PS: “brothy cup” sounds like when you make matcha properly. Getting a similar result with a leaf tea would suggest that the cutting and packaging process has left a lot of tea leaf dust present which is frothing/foaming during the steep.
Not a bad thing, of course. Matcha is highly prized stuff.
Yes, kabusecha is a shaded green, like gyokuru, but not for nearly as long, making it, in a sense, a halfway between that and a sencha.
If you make your first steep shorter, 60-90 seconds would be enough, you’ll get a better third steep.
Note: most of that mental vibration is caffeine. Semi-shaded and shaded green teas have some of the highest caffeine content of any tea. The act of shading puts the plants under stress and so they produce more caffeine to defend what few delicate, tender leaves they’re able to produce.
$22 for 90g is fairly price competitive. TG charges $36 for 100g and $55 for 100g of gyokuro.
If you have a slightly larger teapot you could use a little more tea amd decrease your first steep to about 1.5 min.then you may be able to do 45 sec. steeps for 2nd and 3rd steeps, while possibly only slightly increasing temp by 5 and 10 degrees. This will allow your later steeps to have more flavor. I don’t think bitterness will be an issue.
@ Jim – thanks for the comments. It is definitely a nice buzz. I will try the first steep for a shorter time with my next go around. The same place sold gyokuru that was a bit more pricey…
oh I didn’t see Jim’s post, but I agree with him.
Yup, “jade dew” is expensive. But worth it.
I’m glad you’re both in agreement.. :)
Curiosly…what cheap green tea were you drinking? That’s the good and the bad when you buy the quality stuff—-it is good, very good & you wont want to return to the cheap stuff. The bad is, it is usually harder on your wallet. Did you get a brothy cup. The best way I can describe it is that the liquer in the cup bubbles somewhat & develops a green sheen (like what a frother does to an espresso). The flavor just “pops” in your mouth. I love it when I get a cup like that.
yes I did see a few bubbles, actually!
For the cheap -the standard sencha by maeda-en
I like knowing people who talk about sencha as “cheap” tea.
My Bro in Law brought tea home from Japan when he was there for business about 6 yrs ago, and my Sis & he gave it to me for Christmas that year. I think it was an Ito En Sencha, and it was the first green tea that
“popped” for me.
At least it wasn’t that Gawds awful teabag green at your local supermarket.. You’re completely wasting money there-I’ve done that!
I meant the Japanese grocery store…. hee hee
And I don’t mind drinking cheap tea but sencha is a bit too bitter for me
Do you mean you don’t drink Sencha, or just the cheap Sencha?
In your review you said it was between a Sencha & Gyokuru…so it’s not a true Sencha…right??…thats why I asked the last question.
Generally I do not drink sencha
I’m gonna go eat and have a few cups of Nahorhabi Assam tonight, look for a review soon….:))
Last question…….Do you like Genmai Cha tea?
You are full of questions today, Sir! As for Genmai Cha, I like it ok, I can’t say it’s my favorite thing but I do enjoy it sometimes.
I know you didn’t ask me, @ScottTeaMan, but I love genmai cha! I ordered some on a whim from Adagio years ago, and it is one of my favourite green teas. :)
I like genmaicha with food, but generally not simply as a cup of tea.
“Cheap” sencha should not exist. Anything cheap claiming to be sencha should be considered suspect.
I recently purchased and sampled a Genmai Cha sample from H & S and liked it alot. Review coming soon!
PS: “brothy cup” sounds like when you make matcha properly. Getting a similar result with a leaf tea would suggest that the cutting and packaging process has left a lot of tea leaf dust present which is frothing/foaming during the steep.
Not a bad thing, of course. Matcha is highly prized stuff.