Is it Spring yet?

Nothing like being in the throws of the worst stretch of days days I remember in west Michigan since I have been here, to really wish that it is Spring.  Those bright sunny days, the slow and steady rains,  and air temperatures that allow for shorts and short sleeves with comfort.  Oh wait, did I forget something?  Yes, Shincha, and other fresh spring harvest teas.

Oddly while I have come to believe that Shincha is no better ( though no worse), than its counterpart the rest of the year.  I am not so sure I can say the same about the Chinese or Japanese counterparts.  Every year I say I am going to try more and more, but this year, I have decided I do not want to run into the situation where I am finishing off my last Shincha order in January.

In fact 2012 was  a rather odd year compared to the previous year.  I had rebounded a little from going hog wild over Japanese teas, as such while I have had a decent bit of Japanese tea to try through swaps and tastings set up on Teachat, I haven't placed a Japanese tea order since last Shincha season.  This actually messed things up quite a bit, it means I've gone quite a long time without both Matcha, and have been rationing Gyokuro like I am stranded on an island.

What are my readers plans when it comes to fresh green teas this spring?

I say this every year but this year I honestly hope to place an order for several small packets of Chinese Green Teas.

While I also hope to place a single order for Shincha (the hard part is picking the vendor).

GTC: 2011 Kim Shin Ho Oojeon

Another Korean candidate for the green tea challenge, and one for which I had high hopes. Sadly I did not take my camera out for either of the two sessions I had with this tea. As such this post is going to be lacking photos. If you are ever looking for Korean teas, and you want something special, I will always suggest an Oojeon. Supposedly they are higher grades of Korean green teas, but Oojeon is priced high enough in most instances, and quite nice.

So getting to this tea, Kim Shin Ho is one of the tea masters whose tea is sold at Dao Tea in Canada, and part of the reason I was really looking forward to this tea, is the fact that I have quite liked the Kim Shin Ho teas I have tried, and I think he is a credit to his profession. So when I had the chance to try 10 grams of his Oojeon I was ecstatic. Before you read too much into what I am saying let me say the tea was a good, well put together and well crafted tea, but after trying the Cho Yun Seok Oojeon, I was a little let down.

This very well could all boil down to taste preferences. So if I were to compare the two, Kim Shin Ho's Oojeon, was a little bit too ethereal for me. In the sense that there was stuff going on, but it always seemed impossible to identify, sort of like light wisps of fog/ smoke in the wind. You can tell they are there, but they never seem to make a shape. In my opinion all good Oojeons have that quality to it, but why I preferred Cho Yun Seok's is that in addition to that it had an incredibly strong and profound root taste, something that you knew was definitely there.

But then again this is something that boils down to taste. I like how green tea can have that almost shape shifting taste wave to it, but at the same time perhaps why I am more fond of Sencha that certain Chinese teas, is I also like there to be a dominant flavor wave. For example in my last post, I was talking about a tea that preformed so much better when it was brewed in a teabowl, as opposed to in a pot. Part of that might have been that in a teabowl I expose it to warmer water, and it steeps for extended lengths of time. That tea was actually a Korean Daejak, which when brewed in a teapot came off as to light and ethereal, but when brewed in the teabowl asserted its presence while still having that other amazing quality to it.

Shincha, how do I always still have some in August?

So granted my tea drinking habits have been a bit random lately, in part because I am painting my room in my parents house, something which sorely needed to be done if the house is ever going to be resold. Lets just say I was exploring my artistic side when I last painted my room, and while I like it, its something a bit so personalized it sorely needed to be painted as its questionable as to whether anyone else would like that room. So as the room is being redone, I am left moving tea items around to set up shop where ever I wish to have tea, and no where is ever quite as peaceful as when I have a room all to myself.

The real surprise, is while it is the second year I have ever ordered Shincha, somehow once again it is August and my Shincha supply is only at half gone. Thankfully it does not seem so tragic this year, as I only ordered 3 bags of Shincha, and part of the delay in finishing it seems to come from the fact that I placed an order from O-Cha when they were doing their blow out sale of teas from the previous year. Combine that with a wonderful order of Korean greens, and a rekindling of my interest in Roasted oolongs, and the Shincha is not going anywhere near as fast as I would have thought.

At least this year I am well underway in making plans of how to use up Shincha faster, I am about to make some cold brew Shincha, and open my final unopened bag. Being as my tea sessions have been a bit hap-hazard I haven't had much opportunity to take photo's. So I give you pictures of Yosemite National Park.

GTC: 2011 Cho Yun Seok Oojeon

This is the first contender, and inspiration for this "challange" of sorts. It is the first of hopefully many posts that start with "GTC" standing for Green Tea Challenge, in which I will be discussing a green tea I have either chosen to look into. I am also looking for suggestions in the previous post.

As the tea that inspired this challenge, it should give you some idea of how special this tea is. I recieved this tea along with an order from Dao Tea, and it is one of the teas Pedro (owner of Dao Tea) is looking at adding to his line up of teas, boosting his Korean Tea selection into an incredibly solid state, as these Jukro offerings from the tea master Cho Yun Seok, will hopefully include more than just the oojeon, Daejak, JungJak, and a Uricha .

From the very beginning I knew this tea was going to be special. First of all it is an Oojeon, which the only one I have tried previously was in contention for my favorite tea. The dry leaves had an aroma of dark chocolate and lavender, a theme which stuck around through the first few infusions. Even more amazing is the first infusion honestly reminded me of the best matcha I have ever had, but without the chalky mouth feel, and with so much more to it, with hints of a breath in the middle of a deep pine forest, and lavender.

This is the tea that gave me the absolutely incredible session outlined in the "Sessions that make you..." post.

Searching for Amazing Green teas

I am issuing a challenge to myself, to seek out amazing green teas. As it is already well into July I may need to wait almost an entire year to seek out some very high quality and fresh Chinese greens. I would like to solicit some recommendations as to where I can find and order (online) some of the best green teas from the following categories: Gyokuro, Sencha, Matcha, Long Jing, Bi Lo Chun, and a few other Chinese Green Teas.

I will say I am a bit clueless as where to find some very high quality Chinese greens. I do want to try a Japanese Temomicha (hand made tea). I will also be trying some Korean Green teas also, but there are very few places online that those are available and I have already started sourcing some.

In a couple of days I will post my first contender, for the title of the best green tea. I will say that this one is a doozy, and based on some of the great green teas I have tried already, this will be incredibly hard to beat.

Teas I feel should be on the list to try:

Matcha:

Wakamatsu-no-mukashi (ippodo)

Gyokuro:

Tenka-iichi (ippodo)

Yume no Ukihashi (O-Cha)

Sencha:

Ujibashi San no Ma (O-Cha)

Kaboku (Ippodo)

(Need suggestions for Fukamushi and Chumushi suggestions).

Long Jing: (Some or all of the following)

Lion Xi Hu Long Jing (Teaspring)

Emperor Long Jing (Teaspring)

Shi Feng Long Jing (Jing Tea Shop)

Wang Jia Shan Long Jing (Jing Tea Shop)

Again I am looking for suggestions, so if you have had an absolutely amazing green tea please let me know.

Shincha Vs. Sencha

It is a common misconception that Shincha is "First flush" and sencha comes from later flushes. I am far a fluent Japanese speaker, so I will not even dare to quote direct translations, and what they mean. Shincha most certainly is unique, some view it as a celebration of the new harvest, and others view it as a bit of a gimmick. In that sense it is quite like the Beaujolais Nouveau of the Japanese tea world.

But Shincha and Sencha both come from the first pickings of tea in Japan. Though both are processed differently, which lead to their different tastes. I personally am a bit more fond of Sencha, as Shincha in my opinion has always been a bit of a kick in the mouth. I liken Sencha to eating lightly cooked vegetables, and raw baby carrots, sweet with lots of other nice flavors. Shincha to me is like eating raw broccoli (without any sort of dip). Some people enjoy it, for others its a bitter mess that must be enjoyed in moderation.

For me to reduce the strong flavor profile of Shincha to one I find more enjoyable I often brew cooler than I would for Sencha, and much shorter especially after the first infusion. Its something like this that makes me like tea so much, with most other beverages their taste profiles can not be customized to taste without actually putting in some sort of other ingredient, with tea you can just brew it slightly differently, to tune it to your tastes.

Yuuki-cha Kanayamidori

This concludes a tasting of many of Yuuki-cha's Asamushi Sencha's. I thought they were all rather good though one of them was a bit of an odd ball (The Oku Yutaka). Though I will say I just can not go through sencha like some people, though that could be in part due to the start of my interest in Korean Teas. Because before I got into them, I was actually having Sencha about 5-6 times a week, then after those, and when my schedule got busy again, it went down to about once or twice.

I honestly think that my view on asamushi sencha is to start with cooler steeps staring at 150-160 degrees fahrenheit and slightly longer infusions, while raising the temps slightly from then on. I feel it offers a better tasting infusion and extends the longevity of the leaf a bit more (as the steeps are not extended by that much, but the lower temps pull less out initially).

My experiments with this tea tend to point to that as with cooler steeps it is more broth like and rather soothing, but when brewed with temps closer to 180 from the get go it gets the bitterness Asamushi can be known to have when brewed to hot.

Anyway like I said at the beginning I think yuuki-cha does a good job sourcing their asamushi's and I hope to try them again.

2010 Kim Shin Ho Sejak

This I believe is the last tea I have yet to try from the tasting organized by Matt over atMattcha's blog. Also many thanks goes out to Pedro of Dao Tea, who provided the teas for this tasting.

This tea seems to be toying with my mind a little bit, while it has a wonderful outward appearance, the dry leaf aroma places me right around Christmas time. I know I have said this several ties but some of these Korean Green teas honestly smell a quite like a pine tree, and even more so this one has a nice layer of lavender right on top of that.

If I could use a quote to describe my first tastes with this tea, I might have to be "Talk softly and carry a big stick" which I believe is attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, but I was never really that into history. What I mean by that quote, is while it has a nice subtle aroma, and pleasing though ever so soft color, when it hits the palate it uses its big stick. Or rather shows you the big stick, as it is never painful or over powering, but from a tea that was so incredibly mellow previously to all of a sudden show so much power it is rather surprising.

That being said the taste was a bit more of a resinous taste, with a good bit of pine and herbs, but it really made me take note. While this tea seems to be providing more of a jump start than I usually get from any tea, call it qi or caffeine, but the rest of the day does not seem like that much of a challenge right now.

Well the eventual has happened, the surplus of posts I had have finally run out, as was inevitable as every time I added a new one I was dating it less into the future than I did with the previous ones. That being said the every three days thing might start to fall apart though I am really going to try and keep it a reality.

Dao Tea 2010 Kim Jong Yeol Sejak

Thank you once more, to Matt and Pedro of Dao tea for arranging this set of samples, and I am sure I will thank you at least once more as I still have the 2010 Kim Shin Ho Sejak to sample.

When smelling the dry leaf, I want to make a comparison that will not sound all that nice at all, but it actually really works. To me the dry leaf smells like a softer more rounded version of a little pine tree air freshener some people hang in their cars. Let me explain its slightly pine like, slightly minty, but its much nicer than those air fresheners as it smells completely natural and it toys with your senses instead of being an all out assault.

I may have cut the first infusion a little short, as while the tea has an amazing mouth feel, I feel it is lacking in the taste and aroma component, subtle hints of vegetation, with a hearty umami like quality to it. But right now its stuck in the area between incredibly smooth and mellow, and having a wealth of strong flavors.

Later infusions offer a little more, but somehow I feel I was expecting too much of this tea, or perhaps it is just that the seasons are just completely off now that its not even 60 degrees Fahrenheit outside at noon today. But I will say I am feeling a good bit of chaqi from this tea.

2009 Kim Jong Yeol Sejak

This tea is from Dao tea, and was acquired as part of the Sampler arranged by Matt over at Mattchas blog. I am trying to decide if my Korean tea drinking habits will be changing a great deal as we head into fall. As Korean greens are certainly unique in the sense that they have heartier flavors than most Chinese green teas, but they still have the cooling effect green teas are known for.

The dry leaf aromas of this this tea are lavender and several other aromatic aromas.

The first infusion had a nice light and fresh aroma, with a taste of hearty vegetables, but actually comes across as slightly over powering with a mildly bitter and drying finish.

The second infusion was so much better with hints of melon in both aroma and taste. A rather notable occurrence is a lemon like flavor and a citrus rind finish.

The tea remained incredibly drinkable and enjoyable for many more infusions.

Summer reminder

Tea, weather, and shining sun

Soon just memories.

--Adam Yusko

2009 Kim Shin Ho Jungjak

Granted I still am a bit of a neophyte when it comes to Korean tea's, but I believe it was Matt from Mattcha's blog that said you should not compare Ujeon to Sejak to Jungjak, even though they are all green teas, and often picked from similar areas if not the same plants (still not sure on that). Simply because they are vastly different, and while I have only tried 1 Ujeon, and a few Sejaks and a few Jungjaks, it seems almost like comparing a Long Jing to a Bi Lou Chun to a Tai Ping Hou Kui, as while they are all green teas, they can very well offer vastly different flavors.

This tea made it 5 infusions which is somewhat typical for Japanese and Korean Green teas for me, though I feel I could usually push the Korean greens more infusions ( I often do for premium teas).

The color is nice and robust, and it certainly offers a flavor profile to match.

Early infusions start out with a wealth of beans on the aroma and tastebuds, mixed with hints of leafy vegetables, finishing off with a nice sweetness.

As the infusions go on the beans fade, and I started to notice what I could only describe as Bok Choi and lettuce.

Quite a nice tea, and though sadly I'm going to have to be putting away the green teas soon as the weather is starting to get a lot cooler.

Tea Trekker Jungjak

So the real excitement of today was new Korean teaware, from the truly unique and wonderful artist Seong-il. I was so excited I decided to open up a bag of Korean tea, that being the Tea Trekkers Jungjak. I must say these teas are quite a treat. I am writing this review from memory because I really wished to be taken into the tea experience today, especially with my new teaware.

I have been told by Toki at The Mandarins Tea that if you quickly rinse the green tea with near boiling water it will improve the tea experience by better allowing the tea oils to be released. I must say upon pouring off that "rinse" while waiting for the water to cool to proper temp for the first steep, the aroma pouring out of the little teapot from these leaves was absolutely unbelievable. It was rather pine like and incredibly potent. It served to both relax me and make me uneasy, uneasy due to a combination of wanting to drink the tea and an empty stomach.

So here is the wood fired teapot, that I got today. Cut off in the bottom right corner is a little bit of a lid rest, something that I'm already unsure how I got by without as it is so enjoyable just to have there and add a bit of distinction to the set up.

These are Shino cups and are rather smaller than I thought they would be, but I am starting to become a bit of a Shino fan, or perhaps I am a fan of nearly all teaware!

Somehow I found the aroma of the actual infusion lacking, sure it was incredibly clean and fresh, but no major forthright and robust aroma. But the flavor comes across with a decent bit of pine and if I hadn't been reading so many reviews by Matt, I do not think I would have noticed this, but there is a decent bean type of flavor in there also. In the later infusions it becomes almost minty and quite cooling.

Dao Tea 2009 Kim Shin Ho Sejak

This was receieved as a sample as part of a wonderful tea tasting opportunity hosted by Matt over at Mattcha's Blog. I had been very curious to Try Dao Tea's offerings as they seem to offer the largest selection of Korean teas sold by a Western vendor outside of Hankook (really stretching the definition of Western vendor, but they have an Office/warehouse/distribution center in California). I must say that this tea was a surprise, as I was not sure how well a Green tea could store for over a year, and I must say if this was the 2009 Version I eagerly await the 2010 version which I believe was included in the generous number of samples.

The Dry leaf appearance is small twisted leaves with a good amount of what I believe to be buds, with its aroma fresh and pine like with hints of grass and unidentifiable flowers.

Quick rinse with boiling water (don't even bother to fill the pot up all the way just cover the leaves) and immediately pour off. The rinse had wonderful aromas of Pine, corn and an unidentifiable berry (goose berry, red current,...).

The infusions in general have a rather light but incredibly pleasant aroma which just teases the senses. The first infusions taste was rather potent, though in no way over powering or overbearing, though I had a really hard time identifying the taste, I might have to go with a bean like taste (now that Matt has me looking for it in teas, I am noticing it more and more and more). But possibly slight hints of a chocolate and hazelnuts?

The second infusion was significantly lighter on the taste profile, and reminded me of nice fresh leafy vegetables. In the third infusion somehow I was getting a citrus profile.

This tea had a powerful Mellowing/ Depressing Qi that struck me after the 3rd infusion, and in general was incredibly cooling and refreshing. I went for 8 infusions with this tea before I had to give up, it probably could have went a bit more, but after 8 infusions I had a stomach about to burst with tea.

Admire the teaware,

sniff the venerable leaf,

drink up its goodness.

--Adam Yusko

Yuuki-cha OkuYutaka

So classes start today, and I hope now that I develop a routine. As I am writing this Thursday before I think the fact that I am moved in with no real routine, has been somewhat detrimental to my tea drinking habits. It does not really make much sense but it seems with so much time available to me to have tea, I find myself always putting it off for later. So my tea drinking habits have been pushed further and further into the evening.

The dry leaf has an amazingly pine like aroma, which when infused somehow comes across as incredibly cereal like. Alright I have been known to give some wacky tasting notes in the past, but somehow the aroma of this tea reminds me of the aroma of Lucky Charms. But basically breaking it down, its a sweet aroma with a nice grainy cereal undertone.

The taste is remarkably clean and only slightly vegetal.

Tea Trekker Ujeon

In someways I wish this sample was not included with my order of the other two Korean Greens offered by Tea Trekker. I wish that because this tea was phenomenal, and now I am going to have to figure out if I should order some.

When I read Matts blog, I could sense there was something special about Korean tea's and he is part of what influenced me to take the leap. And it has been an almost Alice in wonderland sort of thing. As I feel that Korean teas offer something so incredibly different that you can not help but wonder if you are in an alternate reality. Just by looking at the dry leaves I knew this was going to be good.

And yes the infusion was basically a slightly tinted water, as in this shot the cups are full of tea.

If I could describe the taste of this tea, I almost feel I would say walk out into a dense temperate forest right after it rained, and simply breath in and out through your mouth. This might sound a bit cheesy but to me this tea tasted like as much of part of life as breathing fresh air and drinking fresh water.

What could we call peace?

The calm from a cup of tea,

seems quite suitable.

--Adam Yusko

Teuk Seon Korean Green Tea

So I have developed some sort of love affair with Korean tea, and I think it is here to stay. Since my very first package arrived with Korean teas, about a week and a half ago, I do not think I have gone more than one day without having a Korean green tea.

As such I am still amazed at how little of the packages I have seemed to go through, though that seems to be the fact that the teapot is rather small compared to my Japanese Kyusu's and the cups are definitely smaller, though a hair larger than I prefer for Gyokuro.

I will admit I am still playing around with how to brew, occasionally I rinse, usually I do not, as at least with the Organic tea I seem to get a lot of dust particles either way. But I do love the resulting brew with the first infusion a lot cooler, where the cooling bowl is slightly more than just warm to the touch, for a longer infusion. This time I feel like the first infusion was perfect with this tea, the best I have made with it yet. It is incredibly creamy with a nice almond taste to it. It has a fair bit of sweetness in there also.

So my best estimates on this infusion would be water close to 50C with a steep a little over a minute, but probably not more than a minute and a half.

The second infusion was also good I went a little long on the infusion it probably should have been closer to or less than 30 seconds, but it only came out in a rather bitter almond character with a bit extra astringency. Other than that it was still a delightful brew.

Something about Korean teas just entrance me and draw me into them completely, I do not know what it is but I surely do enjoy it.

Two 2010 Long Jing teas

Sometimes I feel certain things are contagious, as Brandon over at Wrong fu Cha introduced this double brew method for Long Jing. And having learned a lot from Brandon over the years even meeting him in person once, this sounded so interesting I thought I should give it a try.

These two 2010 Long Jings are both Pre-ming and were provided as samples from Chinese Cha dao on ebay.

Special Grade:

From Chinese Tea

The leaves of the special grade are a bit larger and as such they emphasize the somewhat irregular shapes I heard were common this year due to abnormal weather conditions.

I must say this is quite unique, I have never had a Chinese green that was that smooth, yet so full of flavor. Perhaps its just the condition of my palate right now, but it was loaded with melon flavors, such as honey due, and cantaloupe. Coming from a pale green brew that looks more like I collected the due off of blades of grass.

What is rather interesting is in the third infusion it developed a bit of a sour taste, like that often found in a cherry.

1st grade:

From Chinese Tea

The first grade tea when prepared this way, has a much stronger apple, and malt taste. In fact it reminds me quite a bit of some Belgian style beers I have had. Most noticably in how sweet this tea comes across.

From Chinese Tea

Hankook Organic Doo Mool Green tea

So I decided to make the leap into Korean tea's in part to go along with a Korean Tea book club sponsored by Mattcha that will be hosted on his blog. I figured I would be reading these books on Korean tea, I might as well try some of the tea that comes from the same country.

I have only had this tea from Hankook so far, and I did cave and order a korean tea set, while I a thrilled with everything I've gotten from them so far, I only wish they could post much better pictures of their products, as I was hesitant to order just about anything from them, though I know of know better place to get Korean tea.

The dry leaves have an almost nutty aroma, and look like a green twisted oolong, definitely processed in a completely different way than is normal for Chinese or Japanese teas.

The infusion is a beautiful color, and smells borderline grassy, nutty and grain like. It is odd how much this smells and tastes like a genmaicha, but it is also so incredibly creamy when brewing the initial infusions with lower temperature water.

This tea rather intrigues me but still completely baffles me. From the categories I know of Chinese and Japanese tea's, this tea seems to really fit into none of them especially neither called green. It seems to be a hybrid of Japanese and Chinese greens and Chinese Green oolongs.

A new Nation

provides a different taste

letting history unravel itself

in a cup of tea

just sip and listen,

admiring its beauty.

--Adam yusko

Yuuki-cha Honyama Shincha

Yuuki-cha has recieved a lot of bad press on Teachat lately, and I honestly hope the situation can be resolved as Yuuki-cha seems to offer a great deal of very appealing Japanese tea and teaware.

I really must say the dry leaves both look and smell great. As this was only a sample of their tea that I got, I'm brewing it in my Hohin to cause the sample to last a bit longer.

The color is an amazingly clear yellowish green, with an amazingly fresh clean semi sweet aroma. For an organic tea, this is quite nice, mellow but complex, and presents itself quite well.

If you love teas that are a bit more subdued and not in your face, this tea is great. It also seems to have a very wide range of brewing parameters which still produce a very good brew.

It lasts as many infusions as you can expect to get out of a Sencha / Shincha, and while its never really in your face in longer infusions it does develop a bit more of a presence on your palate.

Its Here Kagoshima Sae Midori Shincha

This Shincha is from O-Cha. It was the first one released by them this year, and I had made a preorder prior of ones I knew I wanted to have, but upon hearing this was to be the first released, I quickly pre-ordered some, and it came out and got to my door rather quickly.



I am actually amazed at how vibrant the dry leaf smells. I know its been awhile since I have had Sencha, but I do not think I ever remembered the leaves having this much of an aroma.


From the first sniff I know its the aroma I have been missing since I finished the last of my sencha. All I can say is it is beautiful, and I can see how this is the most welcome thing after a long winter. Its very essence goes to my core and warms from the inside, it is decidedly fresh, but yet somehow soup like. The soup effect is incredibly comforting, while the freshness invigorating. It surely is wonderful.