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cgyh
Brown Belt
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
Location: California, USA
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 Posted: Aug 06, 2007 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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| admin wrote: | ...
Then, there are Chinese companies selling tea. We have had this happen quite often. In your case, one of your very first posts included a link to another site and since I don't know you it looked rather suspicious. Now that you've been here awhile, I'll let you post other links, no problem. We just need some time to make sure you are real... |
Thank you for the graciousness. |
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cgyh
Brown Belt
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2007 12:38 am Post subject: |
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| Chip wrote: | Kukicha is a byproduct tea from either sencha or bancha. I have had 1st flush kukicha which was very good, and I have had lousy kukicha that I suspect is from bancha. But kukicha is certainly not sencha.
Karigani is a byproduct tea also. It is neither a sencha nor is it a gyokuro, though it may have actual sencha or gyokuro leaf added.
It is common for vendors to list these teas with sencha or gyokuro depending on the leaf used. |
So what's "byproduct tea"? Is that like "tea dust", that is whatever falls off the "conveyor belt" and gets swept up for re-packaging?
It's interesting that it seems among the health/organic type of persons (you know what I mean) that kukicha is so highly regarded. I wonder why. I've never tried kukicha before so I don't have an opinion on the taste etc. But, it seems that it is not too high quality tea. Anyhow, taste is a personal matter so who am I to judge  |
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Chip
Spam/Troll Killer
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 761
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji, purging looters
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2007 12:50 am Post subject: |
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...no, definately not tea dust. It is called a byproduct tea because, it is removed in the making of teas like fine sencha. Before it is removed, it is likely aracha. Aracha consists of leaf, stem and veins. Fine sencha has very little leaf stem or vein in it. Someone got smart and decided to make a tea out of this byproduct. And since it is byproduct, it is usually less expensive.
When you look at a picture of kukicha, you can see all the stems and veins and very little leaf.
| cgyh wrote: | | Chip wrote: | Kukicha is a byproduct tea from either sencha or bancha. I have had 1st flush kukicha which was very good, and I have had lousy kukicha that I suspect is from bancha. But kukicha is certainly not sencha.
Karigani is a byproduct tea also. It is neither a sencha nor is it a gyokuro, though it may have actual sencha or gyokuro leaf added.
It is common for vendors to list these teas with sencha or gyokuro depending on the leaf used. |
So what's "byproduct tea"? Is that like "tea dust", that is whatever falls off the "conveyor belt" and gets swept up for re-packaging?
It's interesting that it seems among the health/organic type of persons (you know what I mean) that kukicha is so highly regarded. I wonder why. I've never tried kukicha before so I don't have an opinion on the taste etc. But, it seems that it is not too high quality tea. Anyhow, taste is a personal matter so who am I to judge |
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cgyh
Brown Belt
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Posts: 62
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2007 12:54 am Post subject: |
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| Chip wrote: | | ...no, definately not tea dust. It is called a byproduct tea because, it is removed in the making of teas like fine sencha. Before it is removed, it is likely aracha. Aracha consists of leaf, stem and veins. Fine sencha has very little leaf stem or vein in it. Someone got smart and decided to make a tea out of this byproduct. And since it is byproduct, it is usually less expensive. |
AH HA! Now I am beginning to be able to conjecture why the health-foods/organic type are so fond of kukicha. The fact that it is the removed bits from better tea makes this somewhat like a "reusing of formerly un-used product" and that mentality is probably well-looked upon by the health-foods/organic types. Gotcha!
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Chip
Spam/Troll Killer
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 761
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji, purging looters
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2007 1:07 am Post subject: |
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| cgyh wrote: | | Chip wrote: | | ...no, definately not tea dust. It is called a byproduct tea because, it is removed in the making of teas like fine sencha. Before it is removed, it is likely aracha. Aracha consists of leaf, stem and veins. Fine sencha has very little leaf stem or vein in it. Someone got smart and decided to make a tea out of this byproduct. And since it is byproduct, it is usually less expensive. |
AH HA! Now I am beginning to be able to conjecture why the health-foods/organic type are so fond of kukicha. The fact that it is the removed bits from better tea makes this somewhat like a "reusing of formerly un-used product" and that mentality is probably well-looked upon by the health-foods/organic types. Gotcha!
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In addition, it is purported to contain only low levels of caffeine. So there too, it would appeal to the health food type. I suppose this would be relative to how much leaf is in the particular product. I have seen a broad range of levels of leaf in kukicha and karigani. So, the less leaf it has, the less caffeine it would have also. |
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spacesamurai
2nd Degree Black Belt
Joined: 02 Feb 2007
Posts: 204
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2007 5:44 am Post subject: |
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Its supposed to be very low in caffiene and very high in L-thianine, the amino acid in tea that causes the soothing effect.
Now I'm not a health nut, but good kukicha tastes great. It has an aroma and quality that is very unique, but since it is a by-product tea, I get the sense that is praised and looked down on at the same time, depending on who you ask. |
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Kevangogh
Forum God
Joined: 19 Jul 2005
Posts: 926
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2007 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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| If kukicha has a lot of theanine in it, which sounds about right, then karigane sencha or karigane gyokuro should have even more since it used gyokuro stems instead of sencha. |
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peachy
Uh, Can I Add Sugar?
Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Jan 23, 2008 8:14 am Post subject: |
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| I got some Kukicha from a Japanese grocer in NYC (sorry, can't remember the brand or the shop) and it's quite good. A nutty, smooth taste and very little caffeine. A tasty tea indeed. I suppose it has to do with the source ^^ |
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FataliTEA
2nd Degree Black Belt
Joined: 10 Sep 2007
Posts: 168
Location: Locked inside a deep-steamer.
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| Posted: Jan 23, 2008 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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| You're going to have to buy a whole bunch of it now, aren't ya! |
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maddawg
Uh, Can I Add Sugar?
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Apr 16, 2008 6:36 am Post subject: |
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| Kevangogh wrote: | | By the way, the main reason I don't carry kukicha because I don't think it's that great, there may be exceptions though. If you drink Uji Sencha Otsuusan, you won't want to mess with kukicha anymore I think. This is actually Tsuen's most popular green tea in Japan. |
100% agree with this statement. Just had my first cup of the Otsuusan and it was tons better than the kukicha i ordeded from one of your competitor. The aroma, taste,and color is just amazing. The Otsuusan and the Kabusecha are a nice change of pace from favorite- the Midori. |
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Chip
Spam/Troll Killer
Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 761
Location: Back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji, purging looters
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| Posted: Apr 16, 2008 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| maddawg wrote: | | 100% agree with this statement. Just had my first cup of the Otsuusan and it was tons better than the kukicha i ordeded from one of your competitor. The aroma, taste,and color is just amazing. The Otsuusan and the Kabusecha are a nice change of pace from favorite- the Midori. |
Those 3 also offer you a very broad variety of flavor profiles...
The Otsuusan is very flavorful in the realm of stem/vein byproduct Japanese tea. |
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Tea-Man
Uh, Can I Add Sugar?
Joined: 04 Jun 2008
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Aug 07, 2008 10:51 am Post subject: |
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Could someone please post an online source or two for good kukicha?
I'm interested in it as a low-caffeine alternative to houjicha, which doesn't seem to be my cup of tea (groan!).
Regarding the otsuusan tea, I'm sure it tastes great, but if it's like the Karigani Sencha tea-bags, then it's anything but low caffeine 
Thanks,
Tea-Man |
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