Shincha

Hey Mike: In view of your mention of a kg, I think it would be nice if you said something about the lengths you go to in guarding the freshness of this extremely perishable tea.

/Lew

I'd also be interested in how you keep it fresh. The last bit of mine is usually pretty stale before I can drink it all.

I usually get Shincha from

. I've always been happy with it, but to be honest, I don't have experience with other vendors Shincha. I've just had good results with Den's Japanese teas.

Blues

The first sencha I got several years ago was from House of Hezikiah, now defunct, but they sold Frontier tea, which is online. I liked it better than any sencha I've had since- very fresh and grassy. I haven't had any for a while, though. Toci

The nest tasting I ever had was from Holy Mountain, Sencha Supreme. It is always fresh and runs about $60.oo per #. Shen

Good Point Lew!

I actually focus on the flip side of the freshness coin, ie I prefer to think of it as retarding deterioration. It is my understanding that oxygen, heat, and light (in that order) are the largest contributors to deterioration.

I nitrogen flush and heat seal the shincha into smaller portions using quality barrier bags, about a weeks worth of tea in each, and then keep the portion controlled packages in the refrigerator. The nitrogen flushing displaces and for all intensive purposes eliminates the oxygen, refrigeration eliminates heat concerns, and the barrier bags protect against oxygen, water, and light contamination.

You can see my process here

Most of the equipment is not too expensive, and only needs to be purchased once.

Small nitro bottle with regulator - ~$100 Occasional nitro refill (every 2-3 years) - ~$15 Industrial heat sealer - ~$70 Good barrier bags - 25-50 cents each Drinking well preserved Shincha in February - priceless....

___________ Mike Petro

I've had great shincha from gray seddon teas and also from hibiki-an. Zencha.net also seems reputable, although I haven't ordered from them, however their pottery is first class so it makes me think that the teas will be good too.