> Hi all,
>
> I am not a knowledgeable sencha person and I know others on here are so
> I will ask you. I recently went to a local better-quality Asian store
> and bought a paper packet of sencha. The English on the stick-on label
> reads "Japanese green tea (Minamien sencha kanbai" Exported by Central
> Trading Co Ltd. and the URL on the front of the package which is the
> only English on the front says "http://www.minamien.jp". There's also a
> phone number but that's not important. This sencha is the first more
> expensive sencha I have bought, I think it was around $18 or something
> for 100 gms. It's much more finely shredded than any sencha I've had
> before, when I steep it it's not a powder but does make a rather thick
> soup before I strain it, and the liquor is a really intense almost neon
> green. I'm used to the regular sencha in the stores that is more dry,
> more large pieces, more like the Upton's basic sencha. More like what
> they mix in genmaicha. My basic question is: Is this more like what
> sencha "should" be like in terms of higher quality? Does anyone have any
> comments as to the character of a finer-textured sencha like this? The
> first thing that really struck me about this was the finer texture of
> the dry leaves. It's not a powder by any means but it does leave a lot
> of residue in the bottom of the glass after straining. The flavor is
> certainly stronger and richer (more brothy in texture, not sweet in
> taste but not too much seaweed either, it's vegetal but not in the same
> way as a Chinese green might be..it's more mossy or something).
>
> Anyhow. Is this an example of what I should look for in a higher quality
> sencha? Thanks in advance.
>
> Melinda