Firstly... My favorite, ultimately always-drank tea is Sencha Green. It is
a stapel. I do sweeten it with a sugar substitute, but it's how I like it.
I favor the 2nd, and 3rd brewings by FAR compared to the 1st. Is this
typical? In the old days, I just threw the leaves away, but a very floral
character develops the 2nd time, and even more the 3rd time, if you allow it
to brew enough, though the color is fantastically lighter, and the brew time
a lot longer. I happen to enjoy it this way, but is there any reason not
to?

The other question I have, that burns itself indelibly into my mind, and
won't let me release it.. Is this:

The tea leaves I see have a *LOT* of stems in the mixture. I mean a *LOT*.
I do not think there's a lot of flavor to be had in the stems, but I was
wondering if this practice is done to maximize profit, weight, volume, etc.
While leaving a minimally accepted level of tea. I've taken the liberty of
taking out a bunch of the stems, and chewing them. They taste like HAY.
(Not that I go 'round eating hay mind you, but, it tastes the way hay smells
to me...)

My next question would be: Do they make a stem free loose leaf tea, and
furthermore, do they do it decaf?

Many thanks to those whom I anticipate will respond.

Dan

"Daniel J. Morlan" > wrote in message

> Firstly... My favorite, ultimately always-drank tea is Sencha Green.

That's a brand ?

> The tea leaves I see have a *LOT* of stems in the mixture.

Sencha is only the leaves, normally.

> I mean a *LOT*.
> I do not think there's a lot of flavor to be had in the stems,

The stems do have lots of flavor. They are sold separately as kukicha (stem
tea). The flavor is different. There are people that prefer it to that of
leaves, some that like both so they drink blends (what you have obviously).
The price...well, usually at the same quality, the stems or the blend stems+
leaves should be cheaper than the leaves. But good stems can cost more than
bad leaves...

> My next question would be: Do they make a stem free loose leaf tea,

Yes.

> furthermore, do they do it decaf?

No idea. I have heard that the stems contained less cafeine than the leaves.
But how much less ?

Kuri

The BRAND is culinaryteas.com. I don't know where they get their stuff.
I've been reasonably satisfied with their prices, and the quality of their
product, so that's what I buy. Caffeine is a no-no with my diet right now,
so I can't have any, even in teach, which makes my selection much more
limited. I like how it tastes, really, but to see so many stems in the
stuff makes me wonder if I were somehow being cheated.

The tea itself tastes fine, and I do like it. I just thought perhaps I was
getting skiffed...

Regards

Dan
"kuri" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Daniel J. Morlan" > wrote in message
>
>> Firstly... My favorite, ultimately always-drank tea is Sencha Green.
>
> That's a brand ?
>
>> The tea leaves I see have a *LOT* of stems in the mixture.
>
> Sencha is only the leaves, normally.
>
>> I mean a *LOT*.
>> I do not think there's a lot of flavor to be had in the stems,
>
> The stems do have lots of flavor. They are sold separately as kukicha
> (stem
> tea). The flavor is different. There are people that prefer it to that of
> leaves, some that like both so they drink blends (what you have
> obviously).
> The price...well, usually at the same quality, the stems or the blend
> stems+
> leaves should be cheaper than the leaves. But good stems can cost more
> than
> bad leaves...
>
>> My next question would be: Do they make a stem free loose leaf tea,
>
> Yes.
>
>> furthermore, do they do it decaf?
>
> No idea. I have heard that the stems contained less cafeine than the
> leaves.
> But how much less ?
>
> Kuri
>