The 2007 new teas (shin-cha in Japanese or xin1 cha2 in Chinese) are becoming available in the US now. This is my first new tea of the year. It is one of several shin-cha's offered by Ito-En. I decided to try the more expense superior grade ($40 for 3 oz.). They sell a Kagoshima premium grade for $30 for 3 oz. According to the salesperson I spoke with at Ito-En, this year's shin-cha is more flavorful than last year's crop. For those of you not familiar with shin-cha, it is minimally processed. That is, it undergoes less steaming than sencha.
On to the tea. While I didn't measure the temperature of the water, it was well below boiling and I steeped it for about a minute and a half. The taste was rather different from a typical sencha or gyokuro. The rather interesting flavor was more like a very light matcha but with no hint of bitterness. Nor did it contain any of the sweetness that some sencha's and most gyokuro's contain. Overall I really enjoyed the flavor, while it was not too strong, I would also not say it was too light. The second steeping (about 2 min.) was also very good but the flavor was not as deep. The third steeping (over 2 min.) was much less flavorful although suprisingly, still not the least bit bitter. It seems to me the caffeine content was lower than a typical sencha and was also a bit less acidic. Those who enjoy Japanese green teas should enjoy this shin-cha.
Taste rating: 4.0/5
Value rating: 3.0/5
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1 comment:
Thanks for the review! Japanese tea has always been something that I have found interesting but don't have very much experience with... Keep it up!
tb.
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