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Kevangogh
Forum God
Joined: 19 Jul 2005
Posts: 916
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Apr 28, 2007 9:59 am Post subject: |
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I mostly go by the aroma, taste and color after brewing. I try it and if it I like it, then I buy it. I've tried many and most are the same old thing.
I'm not against competitions, but entering my green tea in a European food contest where there are no experts so they can get $2000 in exchange for a gold medal is not really what I call honest in my opinion. If I entered some of my green teas into it they would probably win but it wouldn't have much meaning. The real contest is with the consumers.
The guidelines for quality shown above are not really that accurate. For example, fukamushi sencha is rather cloudy but that doesn't mean its low grade. Those standards might apply to gyokuro but not necessarily sencha. We have Uji Karigane Gyokuro "Asa-Giri" which is gyokuro with stems - the stems are there on purpose. I almost prefer it over regular gyokuro, it has a nice taste. |
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Photiou
Black Belt
Joined: 25 Apr 2007
Posts: 125
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Nov 07, 2007 5:40 am Post subject: |
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I was searching more material about sencha quality and found this good description from one Malaysian-Japanese merchant page. As they do not cater to english speaking audience (no english webshop) I also included reference. This description is nice as it also gives reasons for visual cues.
| wrote: | The leaves: the slimmer each leaf the better the quality. It reflects the tenderness of the tea leaf. During the process, old tea leaves will crack if intensive rolling process is attempted. Usually, tea leaves could not be rolled into fine needle shape and it becomes a flat shape or gets broken.
Using the early spring tea, thanks to the tenderness of the tea leaf, which is very elastic and can withstand the rolling procedure until a fine needle shape is formed.
The color of tea leaves must be dark green and glossy. Tea processed from the late harvest leaves tend to be grayish and light green in color with a dull appearance. This is because it contains less substances and moisture after undergoing the rolling process. Usually this tea gives a thin taste and cannot last for many brewings.
Japanese green tea does not maintain the whole leaf shape as cutting is part of the process after the final rolling.
Brewed tea leaves should be yellowish green in colour that indicates the young leaves are plucked. (Old leaves are green). When you hold the brewed tea leaf, it should be tender and soft.
The high end Japanese green tea gives a transparent and light yellowish green color.
Good tea leaves processed from the young leaves is tender and does not crack during the process. Therefore, it contains very little tea dust and gives a transparent liquor. On the contrary, the tea leaves produced from the late harvest leaves contain a lot of tea dust and that gives a greenish and clouded liquor. |
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Ed
Black Belt
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
Posts: 140
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Nov 10, 2007 4:00 am Post subject: |
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I like that description of the liquor color. The best sencha I've had matches that description (like the Miyabi).
Judging fukamushi is harder I think because the leaves break down into smaller bits and you get a cloudy brew sometimes... |
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