Over two years ago, I gave up coffee. What started as a lenten sacrifice, became a lifestyle choice. As I research the health benefits of drinking tea (tons of antioxidants), I strive to make it a part of my daily ritual. Now, I have at least one cup of tea a day. As for coffee, I've had 1/2 a cup since my fasting, and it made my heart race and my hands shake. I decided then and there: I was done with drinking coffee. I started out like many of you: I drank Celestial Seasonings herbal teas. As I delve deeper into tea culture, I've found an entire world of tea apart from herbal tea. If you would like more information about tea, visit these pages:
On Tuesday, I went to a Japanese sencha green tea tasting at Lupicia in Century City. There are three main types of green tea produced in Japan: sencha which is unshaded, gyokuro which is shaded, and matcha which is shaded and then powdered. A few things you should know about green tea are: temperature & steep time are very important. A bitter tea can be rendered if you don't prepare it correctly. Sencha is bright in color with a clean finish and a taste somewhat reminiscent of seaweed.
We started out with an Kawane Yuuki 2009, which is an organic tea, it was very light both in color and in taste. We then moved on to Miyazaki Sakimidori 2009, it was crisp and smooth. (I thought it was great for the price and the taste) The third tea was Uji Yabukita 2009, Uji is a region known for the tea. Charles, our tea master/brewer, told us Uji to tea is the same as Bordeaux to wine. The fourth steep was Omaezaki Yabukita 2009, I didn't take any notes on it. I guess that speaks for itself. The Chiran Yutakamirdori 2009, it's was also a light-flavored sencha out of the Chiran district in Japan. The last tea was a Yame Hoshino Himemidori 2009, out of the Yame tea district in Japan. Yame, Fukuoka is notable after Uji, Kyoto. It was the most expensive and full-bodied tea. I would highly recommend this tea if it's within your budget.
Now I'm still learning about tea. I hope that the information presented here is some what accurate.
