O-Cha.com

Well it looks like I have a new personal favorite. This particular Sencha has that full-bodied/grassy taste that I’ve become fond of and visually it’s a cloudy dark green.

It can get a bit ‘iffy’ if steeped longer then one minute, though.

A lovely sencha! I just kept drinking it and wanting more. I drank two infusions, and they were both great.

around $8 for a little can makes this a fairly cheap matcha and the first i’ve bought in bulk. Decent, not great. Inexpensive, sure, but I only seem to enjoy it with added soymilk. Sweeten with honey or agave nectar.

On my Oregon adventure, I shared this tea as a special delicacy with my wonderful hosts and friends.
The emerald, graceful, silky infusions were like little keys, sip by sip turning the lock of the heart chakra open into acceptance of bliss. We smiled into our cups, and I felt the moss of the redwoods touch my lips…rain for days, spotted owls, elk antlers…
Deeply gentle, like the gestures of a fawn, but with the fortitude of the wild black bear.
Infusions after the first take only seconds: a breath of water, an exhale of flavor.
And the flavor will take you on your own journey into the soft green rain falling now within you.

The Final Sipdown: Day 14.1

Oh, brother. Only on tea 22 and I’m already using a save. [For those who haven’t read, I have allotted myself five saves so I don’t have to finish a sample I particularly like. You can probably guess where this log is going.]

It’s official, I’m a Japanese green fangirl. I can’t help it! And let me tell you, it’s funny to me because it isn’t even necessarily the taste of the actual tea that I am enamored with. Yes, the buttery, creamy quality that many of them [including this tea] encompass is absolutely deeee-LIGHT-ful. Especially my dear, sweet kukicha. [Would it be weird to name a dog Kukicha? It’s fun to say.] The vegetal, sweet grassy notes are ones I find quite tasty, especially in concert with the other flavors that Japanese greens tend to offer.

No, the thing that I most love about Japanese greens is the aftertaste. When I’m drinking a good one, it’s absolutely sensational. Sweet and refreshing, light and yet strong, it’s a study in distilled fullness.

I don’t think that I really have that much a sweet tooth, mainly because after those first few bites that’s usually enough for me; I get over saturated on sugar. But that moment right after swallowing a particularly good bite of cake? Oh, bliss. When all the little flavors linger and swirl into a sweet shadow of the essence of what used to be. It’s like a patronus of cake. [Sorry, I’ve got Harry Potter on the brain.] That is what the aftertaste of a good Japanese green is like to me.

This particular one has a distinct citrus note to me – specifically orange. The astringent note in it even reminds me of the bitterness in orange pith. All the regular players are present and accounted for – the grassy, vegetal notes are front and center. There is a light buttery, creamy component, though it is not anywhere near as noticeable as it is on kukicha. And I’m also getting a slightly nutty note. But it’s the citrusy note give it a refreshing lift. It’s making me think of the yuzu sencha I have, but the citrus note isn’t quite that pronounced. It’s much more subtle, and yet it has presence. Now that I’ve noticed it, I can’t stop paying attention to it.

Making this tea has not only led me to a second steep, but it’s made me break out my kyusu. Don’t you realize I don’t have time to dally about with second steeps right now, tea? And yet, I find myself not really wanting to hurry, and simply to breathe.

Breathe, and appreciate being home and having a day off tomorrow.

Breathe, and be thankful for the days I have left with my family.

Breathe, and marvel at the myriad of flavors that tea can provide while the sweetness rolls over my tongue.

And now, in the way that tea has of teaching me things I wasn’t necessarily planning on learning, I am beginning to realize something. Half of the beauty in Japanese greens for me might not even lie in the physical sensations it provides, but the natural inclination to slow down and ponder upon exhalation.

Teas Downed: 22
Saves Used: 1

Bog standard green tea here. Not much in the way of aroma, kind of sweet, but more astringency than what i’m use to. I often blend this up with matcha which lifts the flavor out of the doldrums a bit.

2010 Shincha Version – personally preferred the Sae Midori from the same vendor, but this was excellent too. Striking purity.

Buy Again: Probably

Yes. I said I would give Jackee Muntz a second try after taking care of the Yunnan-infestation. This was indeed my intention, but then I came over feeling all green-like. This one is also from Auggy and a reminder that I have yet to find the best green tea. But I think it must definitely be one of the japanese ones, although that bolivian one I had rather grew on me as well. I thought for the longest time that the green for me was the bi lou chun, but… I don’t know. These days it doesn’t feel like it.

That’s a feeling that sencha has brought me closer to. I rather like how they go all radioactive in colour and that grassy, almost salty seaweed-y flavour. It makes them taste outdoors-y and active, where the chinese ones have a more sort of inactiveness about them. The sencha is the one that goes to the beach on an autumn day to see how big the waves are, while the average chinese green seems happier with hiding inside just in case the rain might actually turn out be harmful after all.

(And I know someone is likely to come charging in at this point, screaming “MATCHA!!!!!!!” so I’ll just point that I’ve tried that and wasn’t convinced. Seems highly overrated to me with much the same flavour as a traditionally brewed sencha. In which case I prefer the traditional brew. Much easier to deal with in the end. So, no. I’ve lost all interest in matcha.)

So sencha. Seems to be the one I come back to time and time again. It doesn’t hurt that it seems to carry flavouring quite well also, for example with berries or with rhubarb, the latter of which I’m slowly becoming rather partial to. There’s just something about it.

ANYWAY! This one is a plain sencha. The leaves are lovely dark green colour, like that of a coniferous forest, but they are rather small resulting in a deep green porridge like substance in the strainer. Half of which then missed the pot when I tried to tip it back in…

It’s quite strong actually. It must be the small leaves that does it. I only gave it 30 seconds but it still feels a little bit over the top. And this is where I notice that Auggy suggested starting at instant pour… Tea brewing doesn’t really seem to be going well for me today! It doesn’t taste oversteeped though. Just rather on the strong side of things.

The flavour itself is familiar. Grassy and somewhat salty. It’s a flavour with substance again. Like the sticky rice pu-erh, this is something where I have to remind myself that I’m having tea. Not some sort of tea-soup. It’s not a meal, self.

I like this one. It’s an interesting flavour but also a straight-forward one. It doesn’t demand brain capacity of me that I don’t have and it forgives my initial unintended strength of brew. It tastes a bit, actually, like it might be rather difficult to ruin.

I should definitely start shopping around for the perfect Sencha (and possibly also familiarise myself a bit more with gyokuru which I’ve only tried once but found extremely pleasant). It’s quite a treasure hunt I’m setting out for myself here. I need to find the perfect sencha, the perfect keemun, the perfect yunnan and the perfect assam (I think I’m close on this one). That’s the rest of my life laid out right there.

Also, either I’ve been good at keeping up with the dashboard or you lot have all been very quiet for a while now. I think I’ll risk my neck and add some more interesting people to follow. Who are your favourite steepsterite to follow?

Okay, so this is some tasty tea. But I’ve got a lot of other sencha to go through so I’m looking forward to finishing this one off and opening up a new one. Because of that, I’ve been trying this with somewhat heavier leaf than O-cha.com suggests. This time I did 9g for my 12oz and I steeped it on the longer side of things.

OMG. So good. It’s really sweet and pungent and thick and yummy. Absolutely zero bitterness and only a tiny hint of astringency. I think this is one of those really quality senchas that give a great cup no matter how you treat it.

Hello all! In case anyone has noticed, I’ve been a bit MIA for a couple of weeks-ish. I’ve been in Hawaii! I got back earlier today and am finally all unpacked, including the massive amounts of tea I purchased while there. After all, there is a Lupicia in the Ala Moana mall. And Shirokiya, the Japanese department store also in Ala Moana Center, had a long row of tea. Oh yeah, and Don Quijote (the Japanese discount store) had some tea – including Maeda-en stuff. So yeah, I got 10 different teas in Hawaii, most of them sencha. And when I got home I had a delightful package from Chicago Tea Garden waiting for me with 4 more teas and my new yunomi that I ordered before I left. (I got this one – http://www.chicagoteagarden.com/buy/yunomi/yunomi-cup-03 – it’s awesome!)

Anyway, lots of Steepstering (and real-life things) to catch up on and that always goes better with tea. I cracked this one open before my trip for a swap but didn’t get a chance to try it. So I’m passing on my hordes of new tea to try a new-to-me tea (though it’s been sealed in my pantry for a while).

Tossing the dry leaf into a pre-heated pot smells sooooo tasty. Not buttery like some of my favorite senchas, but still sweet, vegetal and surprisingly fresh.

The taste is also fresh and very crisp and clean, also a bit thin? As it cools though, the taste thickens and it begins to taste like honeydew melon and a little fresh grass with some sort of not-quite-salty-but-somehow-oceanic lower note that’s really attractive. It still has this remarkable crisp/lightness to it even though it feels a little fuzzy/comforting. It’s not as thick and heavy of mouthfeel as my normal senchas but it is very nice. Oddly, the final sip gave me some white grape flavor, which I’ve honestly never gotten from any sencha before so maybe it was just a short circuit in my tastebud/brain connection.

Second steep, instant pour: This makes me think of apples even though, yeah, it doesn’t actually taste like apples. Perhaps my taste buds are jetlagged? Or, upon more consideration, perhaps it is because this steep has a crisp sweetness coupled with a little bit of texture which gives me apple-like feelings? Or both. Or something. I don’t know, it’s good.
5g/10oz/pour started at 40s

Trying a new-to-me green tea from o-cha.com. This kabusecha has a very, very light liquor and mild flavor, slightly sweet. Grassy, not bitter. 175 is a bit hotter than I usually steep my Japanese green tea at, but I decided to follow the suggested preparation parameters marked on the packaging. I’m extremely happy with the results!

Good for three steeps according to the label, but the last was pretty weak and so I usually let it go the full 2 minutes rather than the 1.5 suggested. I appreciated O-Cha putting the suggested steeping times right on the label which were 1.0, .5 and 1.5 minutes. Buttery aftertaste was especially enjoyable.

this is a great and cheap everyday Matcha. not the finest but definitly recommended.

This tea is really nice. I was a little weary of organic teas, as I heard they could be less flavorful, but this one definitely isn’t! First infusion is a nice yellow-green, with a sharp but sweet taste. Second infusion is cloudy, soupy and umami-packed, as it should be. The price is also cheaper than some other teas, while still having all the flavor.

The tea was packaged in the usual type of bag, however it seemed to be vacuum packed, as it was air tight and you could feel the tea packed together inside. On the packaging is a drawing of what I assume is the owner of the tea farm, along with her son. It’s nice to see the faces of the people who dedicated their time to making your tea.

Tried the 2010 Shincha version of this tea.

Vibrant colour. Fresh, lifted grass aromas and flavour. Great depth and texturally interesting. Beautiful tea, one of my favourite 2010 Shinchas.

Price paid: $25 USD for 100g
Buy again: Yes

An inspection of the dry leaf appeared to contain a higher proportion of relatively large “needles”. A later inspection of the steeped leaves proves these to be a large number of stems and veins, something which I would predict to lessen the quality of a tea’s flavor. Continuing to compare this tea to my last experience, I found the first steep of the Yutaka Midori (YM) still sweet, but not as viscous or deep as the Sae Midori (SM). The flavor profile was different, with an array of tropical fruits, pineapple, lychee, and rambutan, all of which were quite enjoyable! Brininess really picks up in the back of the throat with some clam liquor, seawater, and dried kelp. Some green melon rind peeks in. Overall, this flavor profile didn’t seem particularly deep or thorough.

The second and third steeps were markedly different, with noticeable coarse bitterness that accompanied a sulfurous or tidal flat mud character, clashing with the tea’s sweetness. It made me suspect harsh chemical use in the growth of this tea. The second steep was not my favorite. The third showed more resilience, but was not enough to warrant a fourth. I know that this is a very lauded tea, but I must admit that I found it less enamoring than other examples from this year’s harvest.

Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=86

In the warmed houhin, the leaves glowed in briny ocean and warmed green grasses. The first steep produced an achingly sweet cup, with intense theanine-infused juiciness. What a wonderful texture, supple, sweet, and silky, with a strong bouquet of honeydew melon rind, oyster shell, and grape leaf. Savory and sweet all at once. I was so impressed with the first steep that I decided to hold off on a second session this morning and save my remaining 4g for a re-visit after I’ve tasted the other samples in my lot.

The second and third steeps were appreciably different, with the second exuding a not-bitter astringency that left a parching sensation in the mouth, a quality that played well with continuing sweetness, amplified green melon flavors, and persisting ocean brine. The third, however, was fairly plain and empty, but I was okay with that considering the shining impression that the first two steeps left. In many ways, this tea set a new bar for my limited experience with shincha.

Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=74

Very nice quality Organic Asamushi. Nice mellow flavor. Low astringency. very enjoyable.

This tea was very good. Part of the fun of drinking this tea is knowing that it’s from the oldest continually running teashop in the world! It’s flavor is very similar to Kukicha, but with a touch of Sencha flavor too. You can kind of alter the flavor depending on how you brew it. A little hotter and you get more “twig” flavor (nutty and tart), a little cooler, and you get more sencha flavor.

This is a great tea! It’s from the yutaka midori breed, and has a very similar flavor to Yutaka Midori, only not as “bold”. But since this tea is also $8 cheaper than YM, it’s quite the bargain for a very good tea.

Yutaka Midori isn’t just the name of this tea, it’s also the breed, and this breed is known for it’s good flavor. O-Cha’s Yutaka Midori is great. Very green, vegetal, grassy and delicious. Multiple infusions with great flavor/color. Probably the best Sencha you can find.

Grassy but not bitter. Beautiful green color and a pleasant aroma.