04.25.07
Enka Hits #3 - Revised
From now on I’ll include the player. Our third podcast consists of 8 songs, enjoy!
04.23.07
2007 Shincha Status….
Since we buy our green tea from numerous growers located in different areas of Japan, the release date can be quite different for various reasons. One of our suppliers in Shizuoka, for example, was going to harvest today but it is raining and he is waiting for “the right” moment before harvesting. Here is a status check on our 2007 first harvest green teas.
Shizuoka Sencha “Hatsumi” - Was to be harvested today but due to rain the harvest will be delayed for a few days. We expect to be shipping it by the weekend, or around April 28th.
Uji Sencha “Miyabi” - Around May 10th. This tea always seems to come out late for some reason, but for this tea the wait is worthwhile.
Kagoshima “Yutaka Midori” - We expect to be shipping it at the very end of April.
Kabuesecha - Since this green tea is covered by shade for 2 weeks prior to harvest, this item will not be available as shincha until around May 10th.
We have also made a new category in our store just for shincha, watch for new releases there. You can order both 2006 harvest green teas in our regular sencha category or pre-order 2007 harvest teas in the shincha section of our store.
**UPDATE***
Shizuoka Shincha “Hatsumi” was harvested and packaged today. We expect to start shipping on either Tuesday May 1st or Wednesday the 2nd. I’ve already seen shincha in some tea stores for sale so if it seems a little late, keep in mind that each grower we deal with will release their tea when they feel best.
04.06.07
New Gyokuro
While we only carry above average quality products, numerous customers asked for even higher grades of gyokuro than what we currently carry. We carry two gyokuros of comparable quality, gyokuro gyoku-hou and the outstanding gyokuro fujitsubo from Tsuen tea company. That said, higher grades of gyokuro are available, they just get harder to obtain depending on the time of the year and other factors. Nevertheless, we recently decided to go a grade higher from the gyoku-hou and added gyokuro Kamegirushi in 50 gram packages. This green tea is from Uji, near Kyoto and is hand picked. 
We also plan to add one other higher level of gyokuro from Tsuen in the very near future so if you are a gyokuro connoussier, stay tuned…
02.23.07
When does shincha come out?
I’m starting to get this question a lot lately. For those new to green tea, one word you may want to become familiar with is the word “shincha”, which basically translates in English to “new tea.” The plant our green tea comes from, Camellia sinensis, is an evergreen bushy type of plant that grows year after year. In Japan, the tea plants are planted into long, rounded, hedge-like rows one after the other in vast fields. Typically there are 3-4 harvests per year and it is the first harvest from which the best Japanese green tea comes from. In each successive harvest, the quality goes down. Being that the first harvest is the best and thus most expensive product, it’s also where most of the year’s revenue will be generated. Growers put most of their time and energy into this first harvest (aka first flush.)
The first harvest usually occurs near the end of April or in early May, depending on the weather. Last year the winter was a bit long and cold so the harvest was about a week later than usual. This year so far the winter has been rather warm so it’s expected that this year’s new tea will come out a bit earlier. One way growers gauge when the harvest will come to base it on when cherry trees blossom.
Back to shincha. Even though the first harvest occurs around the end of April, first harvest green teas are available throughout the year as the bulk of these teas are put into cold storage for release throughout the year as needed. These green teas are referred to as “kura-dashi” sencha, or sencha pulled from store houses known as “kura.” However, a small portion of the first harvested green teas are immediately packaged and this is what is known as “shincha.” A first harvest green tea might be “shincha”, all shincha’s are first harvested teas, but not all first harvested green teas are “shincha”, if that makes any sense. Shincha is only available from around May through July at the latest, as supplies last.
Shincha has a somewhat bolder taste characteristic. Whereas you might brew your typical sencha for 2 minutes, when brewing shincha it’s better to brew it for a shorter period of time, say 1.5 minutes. One thing is for sure, shincha is the freshest green tea one can purchase.
So for those eagerly waiting for the 2007 shincha, we’ve still got some waiting to do.
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