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Japanese green tea

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 1:33 am
by mbanu
Does anyone have any favorite styles or regions?

My knowledge of Japanese tea regions isn't very sophisticated, sadly. I have enjoyed most of the deep-steamed fukamushi sencha I've tried, though, and am impressed at the technological and financial investment that Japan has put into automating their tea industry in a way that doesn't destroy the quality. (Not many other tea-producing countries are doing this, and certainly not to the extent that Japan is.)

I like some of the interesting quirks that you'll only find with Japanese tea -- like kukicha. In most tea-producing countries tea stems and twigs are seen as a waste product and treated as such, since to call them tea is a bit of a stretch. However, Japan with its higher costs has come up with a way to prepare something drinkable. (^_^)

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 8:00 am
by DKop
Man, I can chug a 2L of Oolong straight out the bottle like it's nothing. Once I had cheap oolong tea when I was in Japan, that was all I wanted to drink all the time. I did find 4 or so bottles at a Hong Kong Supermarket in Myrtle Beach early in Jan., which I bought all 4 in one fell swoop, and they lasted roughly 2 weeks. There is a Grand Asian Market in Cary I hit up when I go up for Animazement, so i'll get my hook up there.

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 8:10 pm
by Akage
I drink a lot of Japanese tea, but I could not tell you anything about regional differences. I enjoy tea, but I'm not the type to buy rare varieties of tea.

I buy Japanese tea at the local Asian supers. It's all Ito-En brand. I prefer Genmaicha, which is brown rice and green tea. It has a nice, nutty taste to me, so it always puts me in a good mood whenever I drink it, hot or cold. I also prefer what Ito-En refers to as Dark Green Tea. The local Costcos around here all sell small bottles of Ito-En regular green tea, so I bring a couple of bottles of that to work. I usually pick up 2L bottles of Genmaicha, DGT & Oolong whenever I hit the Asian super, which, two weeks ago, was sadly tapped out due to Lunar New Year. The same store also carries Taiwanese bottled tea, which I'll sometimes buy since that's the only brewed Mugicha (barley tea) I can find. Taiwanese tea is almost as good as Japanese tea, and I'd say equal if you can find the Ten-Ren brand. I stay away from the bottled stuff from Mainland China. I really don't trust their quality standards after seeing a bottle labeled as 'Pure Water' with murky white liquid inside.

The only tea I won't drink is Hojicha, which is roasted green tea leaves. To me, it just tastes like overbarbequed food. I made the mistake of buying several bottles of Hojicha while in Japan because they had the missing tchotchkes from the set that I was trying to collect. Konbini drinks sometimes come with a special promotional item, and if I had to shell out 150 yen for a drink, I might as well get a bonus item. That actually is the deciding factor in what drink I buy. I had to drink Hojicha for days and, even though the prizes sweetened things a bit for me, it was still blechy Hojicha. That's what happens when you have a horrible habit of not throwing good food away.

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 10:15 am
by PinkAppleJam
I am also a fan of Genmaicha :) I like matcha when it's cheap enough from the Korean market but is unlikely to be "the real thing", but it's close enough for me.

I also like green tea icecream! <3

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 10:16 am
by PinkAppleJam
Oh also I used to like the sweetened ice tea from the bottle when I was living in Japan for a bit, but I tried it again in recent years and it was gross! I like the regular green tea now :)

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 5:47 pm
by Akage
Went to Trader Joe's this week and they're now carrying 500 mL bottles of Oolong Tea. I tried one, and while it's not Ito En Oolong, it's not terrible. Would recommend this as a good substitute for those who live closer to a TJ's than an Asian supermarket.

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 6:34 pm
by DKop
Akage, tell me what I gotta do to get the hookup!

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 1:59 pm
by Akage
There's no Trader Joe's in your neck of the woods? I thought they had expanded more or less nation-wide now.

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 6:54 am
by DKop
Akage wrote:There's no Trader Joe's in your neck of the woods? I thought they had expanded more or less nation-wide now.
Nothing close by, other than the nearest city an hour from here whenever I make a trip up there.

Re: Japanese green tea

Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2017 6:27 pm
by jdoll
sounds like I need to visit trader joes! I scored a bunch of matcha from costco ito en brand good stuff
I also enjoy oolong quite a bit

and don't forget barley tea