On Jun 15, 9:04*am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> Ive been working of my senchas recently. *As dry leaf the color of the
> steamed green leaf is striking. *However infused it is an ugly
> mascerated abomination. How do they pick these leaves with a gingsu
> columbine. *I can see why they invented the tea ceremony to hide the
> leaves. Is there any Japanese tea that is bigger in size than crushed
> BOP.
>
> Jim
>
> PS *I really like the Japanese Kona I got earlier this year in SD. *A
> very tasty thick cloudy brew. *Its enough to make me want to try
> sushi. *Any tea recommendations for Lost Wages.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have found quite a number
of senchas and gyokuros that are very nice leaves, also some variants
of sencha like the wiry "spider leg" type end as a nicer leaf. I
actually really like the slim broken blade-like look of the brewed
leaf, I find it interesting and a bit more interesting than just a
full round leaf or bud. I will say when all the liquor is gone though
and it is just a mass of flat green mush-like sludge with no
definition it loses some beauty. It is a pretty shade of green though.

Bancha and most cheaper sencha is pretty poor. There is one
inexpensive sencha that comes in a long plastic bag/tube thing and
that one often has very nice long flat pieces... but outside of the
few exceptions you need to get into the higher-end before you start
getting away from the "ginsu combine" look and even then there are no
guarantees. The taste is telling enough.

- Dominic