Friday, May 22, 2009

2009 Takumi Shincha

Class: Green
Origin: Yame prefecture, Japan
Year: 2009
Vendor: Zencha.net (Product page)
Price: $31.00 (100g)

Takumi liquor
This sencha has a lovely color. It's not quite as green as O-Cha's Yukata Midori, but what is?

I've been enjoying this shincha (wondering what "shincha" is?) for a couple weeks now. Mmmm. It has been a long time since I've had any Japanese greens, but this tea fills my springtime sencha craving nicely.

It's a lot like O-Cha's Miyabi, if I remember it right. It is just a little grassy the way I brew, though you can pretty much eliminate it with cooler brewing if that doesn't sound appealing.

Takumi leaf
There are some long leaves with a good helping of small bits, so I would guess that this tea is chumushi (mid-steamed).

There is also a sweet depth to this tea, more like O-Cha's Yukata Midori than Miyabi (Yes, I know, I always refer back to these two teas. I don't drink a whole lot of different sencha, okay?). Takumi sencha is made from the Gokoh/Gokou tea varietal, which is normally used in gyokuro production, so this may explain the tea's uncommonly "round" and sweet flavor. Whatever the reason, mmm. Expensive, yes, but oh so worth it.

[I know, sencha reviews are boring and not very helpful. To be honest, I mostly wrote this so I don't have to stare at MacGyver's mug while I continue to procrastinate on the next teaware guide. To push that mullet even further down the page here are two photos of Bryce Canyon, from my recent drive through the American Southwest.]

Tree at Bryce
A tree just off the Navajo Loop trail, with some classic Bryce Canyon hoodoos in the background.

Bryce Canyon
One of the many gorgeous vistas along the canyon rim. (Both photos taken on Fomapan 100 @ EI 80, developed in Rodinal 1:50.)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

New layout... again

Hey all, I finally gave in and updated to the newer Blogger layout system. Sure, it looks like every other blog out there now (I may tweak it to be a bit more unique later), but there are some nice features I couldn't use on the old system.

Let me know if anything looks weird or is broken!

And yes, I am still working on the fourth teaware guide. Sorry for the delay.