hello everybody welcome to the tea page
Future plans:
□ Takaokaya Shizuoka sencha bags
□ Marufuji genmaicha
□ Uji no Tsuyu genmaicha
□ Yamamotoyama genmaicha bags
□ strawberry bags from... I think H-Mart??
□ some strawberry thing I found at the natural foods store here
□ blueberry pie black tea my sister gave me yom yommy
(when there's no instructions):
2 tsp leaves in 14 oz water (3 tsp if the leaves are really old)
Green and white: 194°F for 1 minute
Black: 208°F for 3 minutes
Rooibos/red, chamomile, other herbal: 208°F for 5 minutes
After the first cup is over, I reuse the leaves using the same water temperature, steeped forever. It's milder than the first steep
I use an electric water heater like this:
For my own reference: Cup pictures are taken on my phone, desk lamp + cool ring light all the way up, LINE Camera filter "Blue Hawaii" or "Tropical" at 60%, do not auto-level, adjust in Photoshop as needed
maybe use this thing (from 33 Books)
Harney & Sons
Lapsang Souchong
★★★☆☆
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1 tsp, 208°F, 8 oz of water, for 5 minutes. it's WEAK tbh. like yeah there's the smoky smell but it's a weak flavor. |
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1 Tbsp, 208°F, 8 oz of water, for 5 minutes. That's more like it!!!!! |
Twinings
Lemon & Ginger
★★★☆☆ • It's fine
Warming & Zesty to Help Soothe Digestion
Ingredients: ginger root, natural lemon and ginger flavours with other natural flavours, lemongrass, blackberry leaves, lemon peels.
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1 bag, 194°F, 8 oz of water, for 4 minutes. It's fine. it's ok. pleasant, even. |
Bigelow
Jasmine green tea
★★☆☆☆ • Is the jasmine in the room with us right now?
A light aromatic experience with the gentle hint of fresh-picked jasmine flowers.
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1 bag, 194°F, 8 oz of water, for 3 minutes. They were right about "light" and "gentle hint" tbh. This is like, hot jasmine La Croix. You can taste more jasmine by reading the word "jasmine" than from drinking this. AND... there's absolutely no green tea taste at all. This might be good if you like to drink plain hot water but want a little extra somethin' when you smell it really hard |
Maeda-en
Sen-cha
★★★★☆ • inoffensive
Package text:
| SEN-CHA | |
| Sen-cha is the most popular type of tea in Japan. Immediately after the leaves are picked, they are steamed, rolled and dried resulting in shiny needle-like sleaves. Maeda-en's Sen-cha makes a splendid tea with a mixture of subtle sweetness, bitterness, and fresh green aroma. Steep 1tbsp of Sen-cha in 12oz of hot water (165-190°F) for 1 minute, then enjoy! | |
| 煎茶はもっとも代表的な日本茶で、江戸中期から一般に広まったと言われています。煎茶は蒸した後しっかり揉む事で、深い緑色の針の様な面に光沢のある美しい状態に仕上がります。前田園の煎茶はほのかな甘さと苦味、旨渋み、そして若芽香がほどよく調和した上品な味に仕上げております。１２オンスお湯に１テーブルスプーンの茶葉を目安に、１分ほど茶葉をお湯に泳がせて下さい。ほっとひと息のゆったりとしたお茶タイムをお楽しみ下さい。 | |
| SEN-CHA | |
| □ Taste️ | Well Balanced |
| □ Aroma | Mild |
| □ Color | Golden Yellow |
| Best For️ | Any Occasion |
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This is 2 tsp, 194°F, 10 oz of water, for 1 minute. I was getting to the end of my bag so there's some nice leaf smithereens in that image. The package is definitely right that this is golden yellow. Why is it so yellow? Hello? I don't even really taste bitterness here at all. On a scale of 1-10, this is like, a 1 for bitterness. I can't really smell anything from it either, but the package did say the aroma was mild. There's definitely a subtle sweetness to it, though. Is it mild/weak because I'm making my review at like, the very end of the bag, when it's been open for months? Perchance. I don't remember what it's like when it's just opened. I keep buying this all the time because I'm like "oh yeah, I buy this one all the time, but I don't remember if it's good or not," and this has happened like, over 3 times now. I think if you're a green tea hater and green tea is gross and bitter to you... try this one maybe. Maybe this one is different. |
Uji no Tsusu
Ujicha Maroyaka Shitate
★★★★☆ • Pretty good.
Ujicha is grown near the city of Uji in Kyoto Prefecture.
「まるやかな甘味と奥深い味わい。煎茶｜まるやか仕立て」
"Round sweetness and deep flavor. Sencha | Maruyaka shitate"
| Package instructions: | |
| 茶葉４g（大さじ１杯） | Place 4g (1 Tbsp)* of tealeaves into the pot. |
| ７０°Cにさましたお湯９０mlを注ぎます。 | Pour 90ml (3 oz) of hot water (70°C (158°F)). |
| 約１分半おいて最後の一滴まで残さず注ぎきってください。 | Steep it for 1.5 min. Then pour the tea to the last drop. |
| ※お好みにより茶葉の量・進出時間を調整してください。お湯は一度沸騰したものをお使いください。熱湯の取り扱いには充分ご注意ください。️ | Adjust the amount of tea leaves/infusion time according to your preference. Use hot water that has already been boiled. Be careful when handling boiling water. |
| The lowest tempterature on my water heater is 176°F so I can't follow this exactly how it suggests.
*4 grams = 1 Tbsp, as said in the instructions, did NOT seem right so I weighed it myself. For the second cup below I weighed 4 tsp (or 1 1/3 Tbsp) of leaves, which came out to 9 grams. 4g of leaves would actually be a little less than 2 tsp. Specifically, it's 1.777... |
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This is 2 Tbsp, 176°F, 8 oz of water, for 1 minute 30 seconds. My first impression was that there's a little bit of a roasty, honey flavor to it? It's a little bitter but that's on me for not adjusting the time or the amount of leaves to compensate for the hotter temperature. More floral than grassy. |
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4 tsp, 10 oz 176°F water, 1 minute 30 seconds. The bitterness definitely wasn't there anymore. |
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2 tsp, 10 oz 194°F water, 1 minute. Look how good the color is!!!!!!!!! |
Donki Jonetz
Deep Steamed Shizuoka Kakegawa Tea
★★★☆☆ • It's ok.
This is the store brand of Don Quijote/Don Kihote/Don Don Donki, or Marukai Market/Tokyo Central in the USA.
Kakegawa is a city in the prefecture Shizuoka.
「まるやかで深い味わい」
"Round and deep taste"
| Package instructions: | |
| ティースプーン軽く２杯（５〜６g）のお茶を急須に入れる。 | Put 2 lightly packed teaspoons (5-6 grams) of tea into teapot. |
| 一度沸騰したお湯を少しまして使用してください。（８０〜９０°C） | Once it is boiled, use a little bit of hot water. (176-194°F) |
| 急須に注いで３０〜５０秒いてください。 | Pour into teapot and steep for 30-50 seconds. |
| ゆっくり湯のみに交互に注ぎ急須にお湯が残らないように注ぎきってください。 | Pour the hot water slowly into teacups, taking turns, until none remains in the teapot. |
| A Japanese teapot (kyusu) holds about 200-300 mL, or 6.8-10 fl oz. So... 2 teapoons per cup of water, for 30-50 seconds. | |
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This is 194°F, 8 oz of water, for 50 seconds. Dark yellow, a little too bitter, and slightly astringent. Smells kind of seaweedy |
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This one is 194°F, 8 oz of water, for 30 seconds. Good yellow-green color :) Not bitter, not astringent. No seaweed smell. I would say that it's "deep" like the package says but idk what "round" tastes like. Kind of grassy. |
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176°F, 8 oz of water, for 50 seconds. About the same taste as 194°F for 30 seconds, but milder |
Joy Luck
Green Tea
★★☆☆☆ • I like the container but this stuff tastes like how horses smell
copyright (c) 1996 by me, rachel