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“Another one I could have sworn that I already sampled and logged…weird… anyways…here goes (again)… This one is buttery and vegetable-esque. Sweet and a little bitter. Good and Solid Green Tea.” Read full tasting note
“OK, I have to retract (a little) a previous statement I made. Out of curiosity, I tried the steeping parameters that Maeda-en suggested for this tea. I was sure it was going to be bitter, but I did...” Read full tasting note
“What an utterly delicious green tea. It’s brilliant green leaves have a fresh and vegetal aroma. The brewed tea (2 mins) is sensational: one of the best—if not the best—green I have had. It...” Read full tasting note
“This tea has a highly vegetative scent. Nice! The flavor is vegetative and sweet. It tastes incredibly fresh and light with a pleasant mouthfeel.” Read full tasting note
This tender, deep steamed tea has a very balanced flavor combination of sweet, bitter, and savory. Actually, this shin-cha is so tender that you can eat it like cooked spinach after your drink the brew!
Maeda-En has been in business for the last 25 years as an importer, manufacturer and wholesaler of green tea & green tea desserts. Our Japanese grown, fresh quality green teas are shipped directly from our production factory in Japan to the states and then world-wide.
OK, I have to retract (a little) a previous statement I made.
Out of curiosity, I tried the steeping parameters that Maeda-en suggested for this tea. I was sure it was going to be bitter, but I did it anyway.
In my pre-warmed teapot, I put a rounded tsp of leaf. I then poured nearly boiling water (190F) over it (I was planning on doing 2 oz water, but instead didn’t quite even cover the leaf, so it was just around 1 oz water). I waited 30 seconds and then poured into the cup.
(Maeda-en’s suggestion is 190F for 30-40 seconds or so).
The result was nothing less than green tea nectar! Pure, intensely sweet, and fresh cooked asparagus. It really surprised me, especially how very sweet it was. I wished I had used all 2oz of water, just so I’d have had more tea!
So again, my retractment is, don’t necessarily ignore the brewing suggestions given! Try it out once. The very first time I had this tea, I ignored their suggestions thinking it would be bitter; but if you’re careful, this tea works at a big range of temperatures. :-)
What an utterly delicious green tea. It’s brilliant green leaves have a fresh and vegetal aroma. The brewed tea (2 mins) is sensational: one of the best—if not the best—green I have had. It does have a very buttery vegetable taste with both elements of natural sweetness and a tinge of a bitterness that is not at all unpleasant.
This is like a really good liquid salad!
I love that—“…like a really good liquid salad!” lol! :)
You might want to also put your entry here:
http://steepster.com/teas/maeda-en/12617-shin-cha-select-2010-edition
It appears there is a duplication on this tea, as 5 other people have already rated it, but in this entry, you are the first. :)
Having brewed this the first time with probably too much leaf and maybe too much water temperature, I pulled out my bag of this tea and brewed it the way I brewed the other five shinchas in the tasting set. I found it much more palatable.
The aroma was light, but quite briny when it made it’s way through my nostrils. Flavors in the first steep were bright, clean and had strong doses of kelp, spinach, and watermelon rind. It wasn’t as sweet as most of the other samples I’ve had, but was up there. The best part of the first steep was that it a fantastic minty cooling sensation on the lips, tongue, and back of the throat that lingered long after the soup disappeared, making me want to return to my cup for more.
I even took this tea out to a fourth steep since it was my only session this morning and was amused to find that it looked much like the first steep, but tasted like thin tea-water. The second and third steeps gave full-flavored and rich cups, but they held the more classic profile of ocean vegetables, salty brine, and melon pith. I think this is an exemplary and clean example of the classic profile of flavors for a decent shincha.
Full blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=21
sooooo rich and soothing.
A company reviewing its own tea very highly. Nothing odd about that.
@the_skua, perhaps you should try some to see why we rate this tea so well ourselves.
It would be foolish of me to spend money on a tea with only one, entirely subjective, review by the vendor. Perhaps if a more objective, independent tea drinker had provided their experience, I would consider it, especially considering the fact that I’ve never had the opportunity to try super-fresh shin-cha.
If you’d like, I can send you a sample and clue you in on what the big deal is. PM and we’ll get you mosey’d along! :)
I’ll gladly be brought up to speed. PM sent.
Darnit I wanna try this so bad.
You did rate it already, here: http://steepster.com/teas/maeda-en/12617-shin-cha-select-2010-edition
This is a duplicate entry… maybe Jason can combine these notes with the other entry, which has a lot more notes? He did it before for another tea that was well known (Zealong).
I will ask him! Thanks!