Green Tea Forum

thirtysixbelow · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 14 Aug 2008 Posts: 2

I'm pretty new to green tea. It all started out by me trying a bottle of tazo organic iced green tea at a gas station one day. I really liked it and decided to try their hot tea as well. The hot tea was ok, but I wasn't satisfied. I got online and found out that loose leaf was the way to go. I was at the mall a week or two ago and saw a teavana. I decided to give loose leaf a go. I bought this: http://www.teavana.com/The-Teas/Flavored-Scented-Green-Teas/Lemon-Green-Flavored-Green-Tea.axd
I got it because it was cheap and I didn't want to buy an expensive tea if I wasn't going to like loose leaf, and it was lemon flavored like the tazo so I figured it would be a good comparison.
I got this to brew with: http://www.teavana.com/Featured-Products/Teavana-Perfect-Tea-Maker-16oz.axd

I have a thermometer and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of brewing. I then did some more looking and found this site. It feels like this is sort of the pinnacle of green tea (you have a green tea that is like $70 for 100 grams shock

). I'm pretty obsessive when it comes to trying new things, so naturally I want to see what some "real" green tea has to offer. I'm just curious if the daily sencha (recommended for beginners) is going to be noticeably better than what I have or if I should go a little higher quality? It seems like the natural first choice, but I just wanted some opinions from others? I'm assuming the teavana brewer is fine because it allows for expansion, but let me know otherwise. Smile

sleepyredmoo · Posted: Aug 14, 2008 2:46 am Post subject:

well seeing as what you have is lemon flavored, and that almost defiantly means it's really bad quality, i think the daily sencha will be very noticeably different. if you're new to green tea, i would recommend the daily sencha, as i believe it is the easiest to brew, some of the other teas can be a little bit fussy, which would make it harder for someone who is new to japanese green tea to brew properly. anyway i think the daily sencha should be good fore starters.

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

Take one step at a time. Try lower grades, get acustomed to the brewing and the diffrent tastes and then move on to higher grades, do not rush, the world of teas is larger than one persons life span, so go on hunting for great teas, and wines, sampaigns... and so on.

okimasa · Posted: Aug 14, 2008 6:19 am Post subject:

I went to the link you posted and it made me chuckle. Laughing

Green tea is supposed to be green! The cups of tea there showing are yellowish-brown gag

Anyway, based on the price and the fact lemon was added, this was probably a Chinese green tea.

That teapot is quite an interesting contraption! Yes, that should be fine to brew Japanese green teas in too. (Well, assuming its made of glass and not hard plastic).

I haven't tried the daily sencha, but from what I've read about it, its a really good quality for that price.

Oni's right, take your time! It may be a good idea to try some of the lower grades while you get used to making and brewing Japanese green tea. (You wouldn't want to screw up a lot with a $70 tea, would you?!)

thirtysixbelow · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 14 Aug 2008 Posts: 2

okimasa · Posted: Aug 14, 2008 11:07 am Post subject:

okimasa · Posted: Aug 14, 2008 11:17 am Post subject:

Actually, water temperature wont drop too much when brewing if you "pre-heat" your pot and cups.

Read all about making sencha and preheating here: http://www.o-cha.com/brew.htm

Enthrall · Uh, Can I Add Sugar? Joined: 12 Apr 2008 Posts: 18

You'll notice a difference for sure. However their are subtle differences in tea that you will not notice untill you've developed your palate. Eventually you'll be able to tell which is high quality and which is not.

Oni · 2nd Degree Black Belt Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 213

Just remeber that with tea you are the alchemist, the taste will be diffrent each time you change your methods of brewing or teaware, you are mixing your beverage, if you are experienced and you know your tea and teaware well you can brew tasty tea, as wine is bottled and the taste is controlled and the same, when you buy 100 grams of tea that tea can taste diffrent each time you brew it, and there are no 2 persons that can brew the very same tea to taste the same.