Hi, i recently heard of a green tea called 'ama cha' or 'Buddha ama cha'
does anyone know about this green tea and where i could find out more
information please? many thanks

>Hi, i recently heard of a green tea called 'ama cha' or 'Buddha ama cha'

Are you sure it's not "fo shou" or "ma zhu"...could you give us more
information on where you got it or something? Many green teas from
around China just give it a name relative to the area it came from or
to make the tea have a more interesting name, but in fact it's just a
common green tea. Ma Zhu is an example of that.

"Mydnight" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> >Hi, i recently heard of a green tea called 'ama cha' or 'Buddha ama cha'
>
> Are you sure it's not "fo shou" or "ma zhu"...could you give us more
> information on where you got it or something? Many green teas from
> around China just give it a name relative to the area it came from or
> to make the tea have a more interesting name, but in fact it's just a
> common green tea. Ma Zhu is an example of that.

thanks. but do not have any more information. apparently this Buddha ama
cha comes from Japan.

>thanks. but do not have any more information. apparently this Buddha ama
>cha comes from Japan.

Ah, sorry about that. I thought it was perhaps Chinese tea.

"Mydnight" > ha scritto nel messaggio
ups.com...
> >thanks. but do not have any more information. apparently this Buddha ama
> >cha comes from Japan.
>
> Ah, sorry about that. I thought it was perhaps Chinese tea.
>
The tea you mention came from japan, but it's not a "regular tea". The
leaves do not came from the camelia sinensis but from a montain "ortensia"
(sorry i cant find the translation right now, follow the link
http://images.google.it/images?q=ort...rca+con+Google ).It's
usually drinked on Buddha's birthday's celebration (Kambutsu-e).

Giovanni Vanni

The Palais des Thes in Paris has sold this tea for as long as I can
remember, BUT they've also unfortunately NEVER had any in stock in
perhaps ten years of my asking ...

Thanks Giovanni for the info.


Giovanni Vanni wrote:

> The tea you mention came from japan, but it's not a "regular tea". The
> leaves do not came from the camelia sinensis but from a montain "ortensia"
> (sorry i cant find the translation right now, follow the link
> http://images.google.it/images?q=ort...rca+con+Google ).It's
> usually drinked on Buddha's birthday's celebration (Kambutsu-e).
>
> Giovanni Vanni

I obtained some Ami Chi from Simpson and Vail ( www.svtea.com ) a few
years ago, but I do not see it listed in their current catalog. The
best I remember from the S&V description, this is indeed a Japanese
green tea. The leaves are rather large compared with most normal teas.
I suspect that it comes from a different family than ordinary tea. I
believe the write-up said it was served once a year at Buddha's
birthday. It has a strange sweetness as if sugar had been added, but
the tea is not sugared. Something in the plant causes this sweetness.
The sweetness lingers in the mouth for many minutes after the last sip.
This made it unsatisfactory for drinking with food for me. I would not
go out of my way to find it again, but it is worth tasting at least
once because it is so different. For me, Gyokuro is the best Japanese
tea by far. It can be quite expensive, but I believe Simpson and Vail
will sell a 1 oz sample for about $US 8.35 rather than forcing you to
buy the standard 1 pound package at about $ 128.75. Suggested brewing
conditions for Gyokuro are 122 - 140 degrees F for 1.5 - 2 minutes.This
tea can be infused a second time without much loss in quality. Brewing
with water near the boiling point will give a very inferior brew.