12.07.07
Posted in Green Tea in General, New Products at 5:22 pm by site admin
After much prodding by several members of our green tea forum, I recently went on a quest to find a higher grade of fukamushi-cha from what we currently offer. In case you are not familiar with the term “fukamushi-cha”, this refers to green tea that is steamed for a longer period of time than regular sencha green tea. It’s not simply a matter of a longer steam time, the tea itself must be suitable for the task - certain teas lend themselves towards it and others do not. Regardless, the results are a thicker green tea which can almost appear like pea green soup. Deep steamed green tea is rather bold and astringent and care must be made not to over brew or brew at too high of a temperature.
Our supplier gave us three medium grade samples. I tried the top quality and still didn’t find it to be quite as good as what we currently carry so I requested the best that they carry. Both the top and second from the top were quite excellent, but in the end we went with the highest quality that was available to us. I recommend you give our deep steamed fukamushi green tea it a try, when brewed correctly it turns out a very beautiful deep green color with an awesome taste to match.
Permalink
05.25.07
Posted in Green Tea in General, Brewing Green Tea, New Products at 4:48 pm by site admin
After much trouble and effort, I finally got these nifty new glass teapots in. I had many customers ask or tell me that it was somewhat of a pain to brew green tea at work so when I spotted this item it seemed perfect for the job. Since it is a food related item, Japanese authorities got involved and held the shipment up, said it needed to be inspected first. I got lucky - this item had already been inspected by another Japanese company and they were gracious enough to let me use their paperwork. It turns out that the inspection fee is around U.S. $1,000, whew! The paperwork however was a real pain in the neck, let me tell you. Anyway, more on the teapot…
The top part holds 215cc of liquid, or about 7 ounces. This is the perfect size for one teaspoon of sencha. All you have to do is add hot water to the top, cover with the lid, wait 2 minutes, and then push the little button on top and the brewed tea pours into the lower chamber. If you want to double up, simply redo it again. The lid also can serve as a coaster for the wet leaf upper chamber. I like how you are able to see it brew and watch the leaves unfold.
While this will never replace my tokoname teapot, if you are looking for something easy to brew with at work this will be hard to beat.
Permalink
05.16.07
Posted in Green Tea in General, New Products at 1:19 pm by site admin
I found these nifty little glass teapots when I was at a tea show in Hong Kong last year, perfect for brewing at work. The tea brews in a top chamber and after the brew, you push a little button and the tea drains into the bottom cup, minus the leaves. They’re actually made in Taiwan. So I contact the company, buy a case of 36 and try to have it shipped here. The Japanese authorities are holding it unfortunately, needs to be “inspected” for food safetly. Jeez, it’s glass and plastic. Looks like this will involve a trip to Tokyo, money, etc - what a pain.
Permalink
05.09.07
Posted in Green Tea in General, New Products at 5:21 pm by site admin
I wasn’t going to add anymore shincha to the lineup but after receiving a sample from the good folks at the Tsuen tea shop in Uji I have changed my mind. We carry hand picked gyokuro but this is the first time I’ve carried a hand picked Uji shincha. The loose leaf in dark green, shiny, and has a very nice grassy aroma.
Upon brewing, it also has a wonderful emerald green color which starts off clear and ends up slightly cloudy in a good way.
Yes, it’s a tad expensive, which is to be expected of anything hand picked in Japan. That said, no machine can pick select leaves the way a human can so if you are looking for the best green tea Japan has to offer, you may want to consider this.
Permalink
« Previous entries ·
RSS
