Newbie needs help with Green tea - PLEASE!

OK, I guess I don;t get it.

I just received my sampler pack from Specialteas.com. The first one I tried was the Japanese Sencha. I am getting nothing from this stuff. Yes it is indeed grassy, and thats about it!

What am I missing here? I am a big coffee fan. I don;t expect green tea to have the flavor punch of coffee. But this is really stretch, extremely weak, grassy, no hint of anything else, let alone a natural sweetness (something I have read).

Am I missing something? Albeit this is the first one I have tried.

Cheers.

Well, we live in a tiny Manhattan apartment, and our refrigerator's pretty small. Thanks for the info!

/Lew

No, I'm talking of white or brown rice that was put in condition to germ slightly (about 2 days) so you don't perceive the germ yet, but you're supposed to get the health wonder effect of eating germs.

I don't see which one you're talking about. For me, regular rice has the germ portion intact.

Kuri

Abouna,

What parameters were you using, i.e., amounts of water and leaf, water temp, and brewing time? Your statement that it came out really weak makes me think you need an adjustment in onr or more of the above parameters.

Joe

Ah, I had a suspicion you were referring to sprouted/"germinated" rice. You eat this?

Not regular, polished white rice. Here's a link for the Tamaki Haiga sold here in the US:

--crymad

Like Joe mentioned, Japanese greens are a bit more tricky to brew than most black teas. Try altering time and temp, but do try to keep brew time to less than 2 minutes.

Also, if you're jumping into tea headfirst with greens, it might take some time before you really start tasting what they have to offer. And if you're still drinking coffee regularly, this time may never come. It's like smokers who give up their habit and realize how the flavors in food had been shrouded.

--crymad

Teas in general and green teas in particular are not as "bombastic" as coffee. May be it will be easier for you to drink strong black Ceylon teas for a while. Russians (most of whom smoke and therefore drink stronger teas and coffees that Americans) have a way to brew black tea that makes it a strong rival to coffee.

Take a small (0.33-0.5litre) porcelain teapot, make fresh "just boiling" water and do the following:

1. Heat the teapot by washing it twice with hot water.
2. Put good Ceylon black tea there - say two-three tablespoons.

3 Pour 'almost-boiled" water in it and

1. Put on your stove on a very slow heat.
2. CRITICAL! Monitor it at all times. At some point when the temperature of your teapot will approach boiling the tealeaves will start to roll up and down. Take it off the stove and cover it (wrap it) with a clean thick cloth (say towel).
3. 10 - 15 min later you can drink this tea by pouring the liquid (Zavarka!) into a glass and adding some 1/3 to 2/3 boiling water (zavarka on its own is VERY strong). Color is your guide. Some people add lemon. Some people add sugar. I think good tea does not need either (especially sugar). Never brew it the second time.

If you miss the 5 moment and allow it to boil (even for a mere second) - throw it away. The tea will have the smell that we call the smell of "venik" - a straw mop. The hotter the water you use to wash the teapot and the closer the 'almost boiling" water - the less time it will take to monitor the pot. This method requires accuracy and attention. Turn your back on the teapot and it boils even if you spend full 15 min watching it. Anyone who thinks he or she has ADD, forget it and go brew your coffee.

Sasha.

Sasha, have *I* missed something here? Are you suggesting below that I should place one of my teapots over fire or electric heat coil on the stove? I don't think so. In Iran, where drank numerous samavar/zavarka glasses of tea, I *never* saw anyone put a teapot over fire. Kettles, yes; teapots, no.

Further, despite your suggestion that poor Abouna drink black Ceylon instead of green, I think further experiments with green would be well worth Abouna's time and effort, as Joe and Crymad said earlier. Just my opinion.

Alex Chaihorskyh8Hdd.8399$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com10/21/04

00: snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.com

Yes, teapot on very slow fire. Sorry, this is how it is done. May be Iranians do it a little bit different.

Sasha..

First, Sasha,

thank you for your comprehensive reply. Unfortunately I am not interested in black teas. I do like them cold but have never been able to like them hot. Coffe is much better to me.

Second, Joe,

Thank you also. I used one heaping teaspoon of Sencha for each 6 oz. of water. Steeped at 180 for exactly 2 mins.

I'll try one of the other samplers today.

Sure. You may want to try my method and then drink it cold. This way of brewing tea makes it distinctively different.

Cheers,

Sasha.

I think that's much too hot for sencha. The temperature I'd recommend as a starting point is 150. And make the second steep, which *might* be better than the first, much shorter, probably no more than 30 seconds. But remember what Alex said about the taste of coffee being more "bombastic". Tea, especially a delicate green like sencha, operates at different levels of taste and aroma than coffee: think of it as being acoustic music vs. amplified. So you may find it necessary at first to work consciously to wrap your attention around the enjoyable sensations tea can give you.

/Lew

Abouna,

I would second the recommendations for temperature and time (for sencha) that Lew Perin gave you in his post. And also his caution against expectations vis-a-vis coffee.

Depending on the specific tea, I *might* use a little more dry leaf than a heaping tsp. for 6 oz. water. But try Lew's suggestions first, and give yourself a chance to understand what the tea is all about.

Joe

I find that for me there are three types of sencha's those I like with 1 tsp. per 6oz. cup for around 1:30-2:00 minutes and those I like with 2 tsp. per 6oz. cup for approximately 45 seconds to one minute, and those I just don't like. For me the better, more expensive sencha's usually fall into the 2 tsp, 1 min. catagory. Water usually around 140-160 degrees F. Usually around 150.

Blues

I am glad you were able to get your diabetic father to try green tea. I wish i could get mine to. Green tea is definitely the national drink of Japan and for many years was not exactly thought of as something you go out and pay money for, but was always around. It is a very healthy beverage because of it's lack of sugar and simplicity. How perfect, a leaf and boiling water.

Here in Japan Sencha makes up about 80% of the green tea that Japanese people consume. Every region has their own famous teas. It is better to think of each as a regional specialty, with the flavor of the very soil in each cup, like Idaho potatoes or Wisconsin cheese have regional flavor.

It is said in Japanese that Sayama tea (from Saitama prefecture, just north of Tokyo) has the best flavor, Uji tea (from southern Kyoto) has the best color, and Shizuoka tea has the best fragrance. Shizuoka (south west of Mt. Fuji and Tokyo) is by far the largest tea producing region in Japan. There are many other famous area from southern Kyushu all the way to Tohoku. Each has their own characteristics.

The tricky part is every region has its own characteristics. On top of that, every region has several kinds of tea, for example, Kyoto is famous for Uji tea (tea from the Uji region). These leaves are made into sencha, bancha, matcha, etc. The list goes on, although those are probably the 3 most popular kyoto Uji-cha varieties. Each is to be made with a different type of pot and under different steeping times, etc. It's best to buy a book, but most are not in English I would guess. Maybe I should translate one or two. That might be fun, actually, and enlightening for me.

The health benefits go without saying, no medical study required to know that Japanese people have basically breathed tea for several hundred years and that they have had some of the longest lifespans of all humans.

Drinking tea from an appropriate cup makes the experience that much more fun and probably makes it taste better (some psychosematic sort of thing).

Enough rambling. If you ever get the chance come here and check out the tea. It's everywhere.

Rufus T. Firefly

Well, I am not sure where you live, but you can buy green tea online at Hal mari tea

They are a premium tea brand with superior quality tea sourced from the tea estates of Assam. You will also get it at a very affordable rate, much che aper than your local vendor. 2-3 cups of green tea on a regular basis can a ctually lead to a lot of health benefits, including keeping diabetes in con trol.

Cheers!

I live in Japan and I can hardly find any Japanese with diabetics, obesity, over-weight, etc. I I believe Japanese tea is very effective tea as it can also help reduce weight and reduce the aging process. You can read the benefits of drinking green tea here:

Good luck!

I would suggest you to go for loose tea leaves rather than tea bags if you are concerned about health benefits. This is because the polyphenols get lost during processing of the leaves. Chai and mighty delivers fresh tea leaves to you within a week no matter where you are located in the globe.

There are many flavoured green teas also, hence, no need to worry about the taste. Grab your sample now at

?No need to worry about the taste.?

/Lew