I know a few folks around here share my same strange love/addiction to
the vegetal "fishy" flavored green teas, and I think my addiction has
grown stronger because even the strongest fishy tasting greens I have
just aren't cutting it anymore and I don't know where to go for a
really strong "fishy" tasting green. I know there are many greens I've
never tried out there, so I turn to you all. My next step is to brew a
small cuttlefish with my fresh lawn clippings if I can't get my fix,
please help!

- Dominic

it's not too late to stop

Dominic T. wrote:
> I know a few folks around here share my same strange love/addiction to
> the vegetal "fishy" flavored green teas, and I think my addiction has
> grown stronger because even the strongest fishy tasting greens I have
> just aren't cutting it anymore and I don't know where to go for a
> really strong "fishy" tasting green. I know there are many greens I've
> never tried out there, so I turn to you all. My next step is to brew a
> small cuttlefish with my fresh lawn clippings if I can't get my fix,
> please help!

Add nuoc mam to any pu erh.

--Blair

"Dominic T." > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I know a few folks around here share my same strange love/addiction to
> the vegetal "fishy" flavored green teas, and I think my addiction has
> grown stronger because even the strongest fishy tasting greens I have
> just aren't cutting it anymore and I don't know where to go for a
> really strong "fishy" tasting green. I know there are many greens I've
> never tried out there, so I turn to you all. My next step is to brew a
> small cuttlefish with my fresh lawn clippings if I can't get my fix,
> please help!

Although you asked for green tea, I got an oolong sample from Special
Teas last year that was distinctly (and for me, unpleasantly) fishy. It was
#611 Organic Fancy Formosa Oolong, if you're interested.

What causes the fishiness? Fertilizer? Was the tea dried around fish like
Lapsang Souchong is smoky and wood-scented when dried over a wood fire? I
know teas take on a fruit or flowery aroma and flavor if they're grown
nearby or if the tea is dried with flower petals, but it never occurred to
me that tea would be dried in close proximity to fish.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

Bluesea wrote:
> Although you asked for green tea, I got an oolong sample from Special
> Teas last year that was distinctly (and for me, unpleasantly) fishy. It was
> #611 Organic Fancy Formosa Oolong, if you're interested.
>
> What causes the fishiness? Fertilizer? Was the tea dried around fish like
> Lapsang Souchong is smoky and wood-scented when dried over a wood fire? I
> know teas take on a fruit or flowery aroma and flavor if they're grown
> nearby or if the tea is dried with flower petals, but it never occurred to
> me that tea would be dried in close proximity to fish.
>
> --
> ~~Bluesea~~
> Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
> Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

The "fishy" taste is actually a vegetal flavor but it can be very
similar. It is actually hit or miss for me, I know that some sencha's
will be very pronounced while others not so much, but there is no easy
way to know before brewing... which is why I was hoping someone would
have a go to green tea for their "fishy" fix. Some oolongs can have
this taste too... and I will try out the one you mentioned just for the
halibut. (ooh, bad pun, ready tomatoes.)

- Dominic

"Dominic T." > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Bluesea wrote:
>> Although you asked for green tea, I got an oolong sample from Special
>> Teas last year that was distinctly (and for me, unpleasantly) fishy. It
>> was
>> #611 Organic Fancy Formosa Oolong, if you're interested.
>>
>> What causes the fishiness? Fertilizer? Was the tea dried around fish like
>> Lapsang Souchong is smoky and wood-scented when dried over a wood fire? I
>> know teas take on a fruit or flowery aroma and flavor if they're grown
>> nearby or if the tea is dried with flower petals, but it never occurred
>> to
>> me that tea would be dried in close proximity to fish.
>
> The "fishy" taste is actually a vegetal flavor but it can be very
> similar. It is actually hit or miss for me, I know that some sencha's
> will be very pronounced while others not so much, but there is no easy
> way to know before brewing... which is why I was hoping someone would
> have a go to green tea for their "fishy" fix. Some oolongs can have
> this taste too... and I will try out the one you mentioned just for the
> halibut. (ooh, bad pun, ready tomatoes.)

Thanks for the explanation. No tomatoes from me!

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

I personally like those "fishy" Senchas. My
theory is that they are not "fishy" at all, but
rather impart the smell of the sea and the
seaweed in and among which fish swim. It's
the fish association, not the fish per se. Well,
I could be wrong and probably am.
Michael


> Bluesea wrote:
>> Although you asked for green tea, I got an oolong sample from Special
>> Teas last year that was distinctly (and for me, unpleasantly) fishy. It was
>> #611 Organic Fancy Formosa Oolong, if you're interested.
>>
>> What causes the fishiness? Fertilizer? Was the tea dried around fish like
>> Lapsang Souchong is smoky and wood-scented when dried over a wood fire? I
>> know teas take on a fruit or flowery aroma and flavor if they're grown
>> nearby or if the tea is dried with flower petals, but it never occurred to
>> me that tea would be dried in close proximity to fish.
>>
>> --
>> ~~Bluesea~~
>> Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
>> Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.
>
> The "fishy" taste is actually a vegetal flavor but it can be very
> similar. It is actually hit or miss for me, I know that some sencha's
> will be very pronounced while others not so much, but there is no easy
> way to know before brewing... which is why I was hoping someone would
> have a go to green tea for their "fishy" fix. Some oolongs can have
> this taste too... and I will try out the one you mentioned just for the
> halibut. (ooh, bad pun, ready tomatoes.)
>
> - Dominic
>

Michael Plant wrote:
> I personally like those "fishy" Senchas. My
> theory is that they are not "fishy" at all, but
> rather impart the smell of the sea and the
> seaweed in and among which fish swim. It's
> the fish association, not the fish per se. Well,
> I could be wrong and probably am.
> Michael

Nope, you are dead-on correct. It is just a mental association. It took
me a long time to warm up to that taste and it happened once I finally
realized that it was not so much a fishy taste as it was a fresh and
clean taste. Green tea is pretty "pure" and unfooled around with as far
as fermentation and such, so it only makes sense that the taste
reflects that.

It is the green-ness and the actual tea flavor. I always compare it to
how it would be totally different to drink coffee made from un-roasted
beans when that is all you are used to. I just wish there was a way to
know beforehand which teas are more pronounced in this taste. I've yet
to discover a green tea that is always consistently strong flavored
like this, I'm really hoping I find a few to rely on. The search
continues.

- Dominic

"Dominic T." > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> Michael Plant wrote:
>> I personally like those "fishy" Senchas. My
>> theory is that they are not "fishy" at all, but
>> rather impart the smell of the sea and the
>> seaweed in and among which fish swim. It's
>> the fish association, not the fish per se. Well,
>> I could be wrong and probably am.
>> Michael
>
> Nope, you are dead-on correct.

Although our experiences are surely different, having grown up in Honolulu,
I'm going to disagree at this point. The fishy oolong that I tried was
distinctly, repulsively, fishy and didn't smell at all like the ocean or
even like fresh or dried seaweed. Besides, fresh fish doesn't smell fishy.
Dad taught me how to spearfish and Mom took me to the open air fish market
in Chinatown and taught me how to buy fish. If it smelled fishy, it was old,
not fresh.

"Fish and houseguests stink after three days."

That yours reminded you of the sea is something that I envy.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

Michael Plant wrote:
> I personally like those "fishy" Senchas. My
> theory is that they are not "fishy" at all, but
> rather impart the smell of the sea and the
> seaweed in and among which fish swim. It's
> the fish association, not the fish per se. Well,
> I could be wrong and probably am.

You're probably right. The dominant note in "fishy" smell is
trimethylamine. I believe that fish and other marine organisms replace
some of their sodium with ammonium ions to reduce density for buoyancy
control. Seaweed, AFAIK, does not emit such amines. It's all
association, as you say.

-DM

I had a Kabusencha from Upton some time back that was rather fishy. If you can't find something fishy enough, you might considering dropping a few pieces of seaweed in the pot while you're brewing.

Here's an article about fish tea, but alas, it's not really tea.
http://caymannetnews.com/2006/01/1007/tea.shtml

Thanks,
Bill

Tea Guy Speaks
http://wileng.blogspot.com

> If you can't find something fishy enough, you
> might considering dropping a few pieces of
> seaweed in the pot while you're brewing.

Doesn't work. (Yes, I've tried, :P)

--k

This doesn't directly address Dominic's request, as I wouldn't call
this tea strongly vegetal, but Upton's TV01 Vietnam Green Sencha
does have a unique character that relates to this thread. Reviewers
have described it as "oceanic" and "like being by the seaside". I've
tried it, and noted that character in the tea as well. I still prefer
Japanese Sencha Yamato, but if you have salt water in your veins,
you might wanna try a sample of TV01.


Randy

"Dominic T." > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I know a few folks around here share my same strange love/addiction to
> the vegetal "fishy" flavored green teas, and I think my addiction has
> grown stronger because even the strongest fishy tasting greens I have
> just aren't cutting it anymore and I don't know where to go for a
> really strong "fishy" tasting green. I know there are many greens I've
> never tried out there, so I turn to you all. My next step is to brew a
> small cuttlefish with my fresh lawn clippings if I can't get my fix,
> please help!
>
> - Dominic
>

When I first started on the journey beyond tea bags, I came to love this
savory, brothy, vegetal, fishy taste that I found in some of the green teas
that I tried, especially Senchas. I had a Formosa Chin Cha (Pouchong) from
Upton that reminded me of the savoriness of my mother's oyster stew (a milk,
butter, oyster and salt concoction), but with a bit of flower mixed in. I
loved it. At the time I had just started on a diet very limited in salt and
the savory flavor of the teas really hit the spot.

As time has passed, I don't find that flavor in teas anymore. I really miss
it. When I drink Pouchongs now, I just get the flower, with out the
savoriness. I still really enjoy green tea, especially Senchas, but I miss
that warm, brothy, ocean taste. I know some flavors change the more you have
them. My first memories of the taste of beer are nothing like what I taste
now. With beer, it's gotten better over time, but with greenish teas, I
kind of long for that initial taste.

Blues